Friday, December 23, 2011

Ruud van Nistelrooy

Rutgerus Johannes Martinus "Ruud" van Nistelrooy, (born 1 July 1976), is a Dutch footballer who plays as a striker for Málaga CF in Spain's La Liga. He is the second-highest goalscorer in Champions League history with 60 goals. He is a three-time Champions League top scorer, as well as a top scorer in three different European domestic leagues.

Van Nistelrooy began his career with Den Bosch, before moving onto Heerenveen, eventually making a name for himself at PSV Eindhoven where he won two Dutch leagues. His goalscoring record at PSV attracted attention from Manchester United; a deal was in place in the summer of 2000, but because of injury problems his move was secured a year later for a then British record fee of £19 million. His time at United was successful, winning the Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup and FA Community Shield, along with winning the Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year twice. Van Nistelrooy hit 150 goals in just 219 games for United, as well as being their all time European record goalscorer, but fell out of favour towards the end of his tenure. Real Madrid then secured his services in 2006. Although an injury blighted the end of his days with Madrid, he did win La Liga twice and the Supercopa de España before signing for Hamburg during the January transfer window in 2010. After a season-and-a-half with Hamburg, he moved back to Spain with Málaga CF in the summer of 2011.

Personal life
Family : Van Nistelrooy married his girlfriend, Leontien Slaats, in July 2004. The couple had their first child, a girl named Moa Annette, in September 2006, and a son named Liam in March 2008.

Charity work : Van Nistelrooy and his wife are both heavily involved with the charity organization SOS Children's Villages. The organisation has been around since 1949 and is an international development charity which serves to protect the interests and rights of children. Van Nistelrooy was officially appointed "FIFA for SOS Children's Villages" Ambassador in the Netherlands on 1 September 2001.

On 17 November 2009, van Nistelrooy and his wife hosted SOS at Real Madrid City. The purpose of the event was to help create a calendar which would be sold to benefit the organization.

From : www.wikipedia.org