Ronald Koeman

Ronald Koeman
Ronaldkoeman.jpg
Personal information
Date of birth 21 March 1963 (1963-03-21) (age 47)
Place of birth Zaandam, Netherlands
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Playing position Defender (1985–1997)
Midfielder (1980–1985)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1980–1983 Groningen 89 (33)
1983–1986 Ajax 94 (23)
1986–1989 PSV 98 (51)
1989–1995 Barcelona 192 (67)
1995–1997 Feyenoord 60 (19)
Total 533 (193)
National team
1983–1994 Netherlands 78 (14[2][3])
Teams managed
1997–1998 Netherlands (assistant)
1998–1999 FC Barcelona (assistant)
1999–2001 Vitesse
2001–2005 Ajax
2005–2006 Benfica
2006–2007 PSV
2007–2008 Valencia
2009 AZ
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Ronald Koeman (born 21 March 1963 in Zaandam, Noord-Holland) is a former Dutch footballer and former manager of AZ. He is the younger brother of former Feyenoord coach Erwin Koeman and the son of former Dutch international Martin Koeman. He was renowned for his long-range accuracy, especially in free kicks.[4]

Contents

Club career

In 1980 Koeman started his professional career at Groningen. After playing for Ajax, PSV and FC Barcelona, he finished his career in Feyenoord. During his career he won two UEFA European Cup titles, five Dutch championships, three Dutch Cups, four Spanish championships, one Spanish Cup and he was also in the winning Dutch national team at the UEFA Euro 1988.

Besides being a defender at the centreback position, Koeman was also known for his powerful right-footed freekicks and deadball ability where he scored many vital goals for the team, and it was from a free kick that he scored Barcelona's winning goal in the 1992 European Cup final.[5]

International career

He represented his nation in the 1990 World Cup and World Cup 1994 and picked up a total of 78 caps for The Netherlands, scoring 14 goals. In 1988, after the semi-final against Germany 2–1 in Hamburg, he, in front of German supporters, provocatively pretended to wipe his backside with the shirt of Olaf Thon, an action Koeman later regretted.

After scoring the winning free kick goal in the 1992 European Cup final, he became the first player to score a goal in two consecutive Cup Finals of different European competitions, having earlier scored Barcelona's consolation goal against Manchester United in the 1991 European Cup Winners' Cup Final.

Koeman scored 193 league goals in 533 matches (ahead of Daniel Passarella, who netted 182 goals in 556 matches) during his career, more than any other defender in the history of football.

Managerial career

Having retired as a player after his stint with Feyenoord, Koeman became member of the coaching staff of Guus Hiddink during the 1998 World Cup along with Johan Neeskens and Frank Rijkaard. After the tournament Koeman was appointed the assistant coach of Barcelona. In 2000, he was handed his first managerial job as the head coach of Vitesse where he led the team to a UEFA Cup spot on a relatively limited budget.

Ajax

Koeman was appointed the manager of Ajax in 2001. Ajax' fortunes suffered a steady decline after Koeman got off to a successful start at the Amsterdam ArenA, winning a domestic double in 2001–02. Despite regaining the title in 2003–04, Ajax had fallen eight points behind rivals PSV in the Eredivisie. Coupled with Ajax being knocked out of the UEFA Cup by Auxerre, 3–2 on aggregate, lead Koeman to resign the following day on 25 February 2005.[6]

Benfica

Koeman bounced back quickly from a disappointing end to his reign at Ajax in February 2005, taking up the vacant position at Portuguese champions Benfica following the departure of legendary Italian Giovanni Trapattoni. In Benfica, against whom he won the 1988 European Cup final as a player with PSV, Koeman only won the Portuguese Supercup: the team finished the Portuguese League in third place (behind rivals Porto and Sporting) and was knocked out of the Portuguese Cup in the quarter-finals (after losing to Vitória de Guimarães). This, along with an offer from PSV, sufficed for the manager to leave one year before the end of his contract, even though Benfica reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League before losing to Barcelona, who ended up winning the trophy.

PSV

In the 2006–07 season, Koeman served as head coach of PSV, as successor of Guus Hiddink. PSV dominated the first season half, putting competitors as AZ and Ajax at a reasonable distance and PSV was almost destined to become champions again. However, PSV suffered in the second half of the season, also because of injuries of players Jefferson Farfán, Alex and Ibrahim Afellay, obtaining only 19 out 39 possible points.[7] AZ and Ajax regained their momentum, making for a close finish, with all three teams tied at 72 points before the last competition day.[8] AZ played struggling Excelsior in their final match, but did not manage to win. Ajax played at Willem II, but did not score enough goals; it was PSV eventually who triumphed against all odds, winning at home 5–1 against Vitesse Arnhem, and thereby becoming Eredivisie champions on goal difference.

Valencia

On 31 October 2007 Koeman agreed to be the new coach of Valencia after the sacking of Quique Flores.[9] With Valencia he won the 2007–08 Spanish Cup, a tournament he previously won as a player of Barcelona. This was Valencia's first Copa del Rey since 1998–99.[10] The remainder of his tenure at Valencia would prove disappointing. The team would slump to 15th in the league, only two points above the relegation zone. A 5–1 defeat by Athletic Bilbao would prove the final nail in Koeman's time with Valencia. He was sacked the following day, on 21 April 2008.[10]

AZ

He was appointed manager of AZ on 18 May 2009,[11][12] after Louis van Gaal, who won the Eredivisie 2008-09 with AZ, joined Bayern Munich.[13] On 5 December 5, 2009, AZ announced that Koeman no longer was in charge of AZ, after losing 7 of the first 16 games in the Dutch competition.[14]

Personal life

Koeman married Bartina Koeman in 1985. They have three children, two of them named Tim and Ronald.[15]

Honours

Player honours

Club honours

International honours

The boots Koeman wore for the 1992 European Cup Final. His goal in the final lead to FC Barcelona's first European Cup triumph.

Individual honours

Managerial honours

Statistics

[16] [17]

Club performance League Cup League Cup Continental Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Netherlands League KNVB Cup League Cup Europe Total
1980–81 Groningen Eredivisie 24 4
1981–82 32 15
1982–83 33 14
1983–84 Ajax Eredivisie 32 7 3 1 2 0 37 8
1984–85 30 9 2 1 4 3 36 13
1985–86 32 7 6 1 2 0 40 8
1986–87 PSV Eredivisie 34 16 2 0
1987–88 32 21 8 1
1988–89 32 14 4 2
Spain League Copa del Rey Copa de la Liga Europe Total
1989–90 FC Barcelona La Liga 36 14 5 2 4 1 45 17
1990–91 21 6 6 3 7 4 34 13
1991–92 35 16 2 0 11 1 48 17
1992–93 33 11 3 0 3 0 39 11
1993–94 35 11 2 0 12 8 49 19
1994–95 32 9 1 0 8 1 41 10
Netherlands League KNVB Cup League Cup Europe Total
1995–96 Feyenoord Eredivisie 31 10 7 3
1996–97 29 9 5 0
Total Netherlands 341 126 11 3 34 9
Spain 192 67 19 5 44 15
Career total 533 193 30 8 84 24 647 225

Managerial statistics

Team Nat From To Record
G W L D GF GA +/- Win %
Vitesse Netherlands 2000 2001 &000000000000003400000034 &000000000000001600000016 &000000000000001100000011 &00000000000000070000007 &000000000000005600000056 &000000000000004300000043 +13 &000000000000004706000047.06
Ajax Netherlands 2001 25 February 2005 &0000000000000136000000136 &000000000000009700000097 &000000000000002200000022 &000000000000001700000017 &0000000000000322000000322 &0000000000000130000000130 +192 &000000000000007131999971.32
Benfica Portugal 2005 2006 &000000000000003400000034 &000000000000002000000020 &00000000000000070000007 &00000000000000070000007 &000000000000005100000051 &000000000000002900000029 +22 &000000000000005882000058.82
PSV Netherlands 2006 2007 &000000000000003400000034 &000000000000002300000023 &00000000000000060000006 &00000000000000050000005 &000000000000007500000075 &000000000000002500000025 +50 &000000000000006765000067.65
Valencia Spain 31 October 2007 21 April 2008 &000000000000002200000022 &00000000000000040000004 &00000000000000060000006 &000000000000001200000012 &000000000000001900000019 &000000000000003500000035 −16 &000000000000001817999918.18
AZ Netherlands 18 May 2009 5 December 2009 &000000000000002300000023 &000000000000001100000011 &00000000000000030000003 &00000000000000090000009 &000000000000004400000044 &000000000000003000000030 +14 &000000000000004782999947.83
Total &0000000000000260000000260 &0000000000000160000000160 &000000000000005200000052 &000000000000004800000048 &0000000000000523000000523 &0000000000000262000000262 +261 &000000000000006153999961.54
As of 5 December 2009

References

  1. "Biography for Ronald Koeman". http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1408585/bio. 
  2. National Football Teams Player Profile - Ronald Koeman at www.national-football-teams.com
  3. Stokkermans, Karel (6 February 2008). "Ronald Koeman – International Appearances". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/rkoeman-intl.html. Retrieved 6 March 2009. 
  4. Arts, Maarten (2003). De coach en zijn keeper. Eisma Businessmedia. pp. 7, 111–13. ISBN 9789053220214. http://books.google.com/books?id=U_nDXdx4GfgC&pg=PA7. 
  5. "Benfica-coach Koeman hoopt op stunt tegen Barcelona". Nu.nl. 27 March 2006. http://www.nu.nl/sport/701183/benfica-coach-koeman-hoopt-op-stunt-tegen-barcelona.html. Retrieved 16 August 2010. 
  6. "Koeman quits Ajax". London: The Guardian. 25 February 2005. http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2005/feb/25/newsstory.ajax. Retrieved 22 December 2008. 
  7. PSV roept rampspoed over zich af – Sport – de Volkskrant
  8. nrc.nl – Sport – Koeman is niet langer de ideale hoofdtrainer
  9. "Koeman agrees to join Valencia". London: The Guardian. 31 October 2007. http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2007/oct/31/europeanfootball.psveindhoven. Retrieved 22 December 2008. 
  10. 10.0 10.1 Lowe, Sid (21 April 2008). "King's Cup half empty for Koeman". London: The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/apr/21/europeanfootball.sport. Retrieved 22 December 2008. 
  11. AZ stelt Ronald Koeman aan als opvolger Van Gaal
  12. "Koeman succeeds Van Gaal at AZ". Uefa.com. 2009-05-17. http://www.uefa.com/footballeurope/news/kind=2/newsid=830593.html. Retrieved 2009-05-18. 
  13. Ronald Koeman zu AZ.
  14. Alkmaar entlässt Koeman
  15. Ronald Koeman – Biography
  16. Ronald KOEMAN
  17. http://www.world-soccer.org/p-21002.htm

External links