Ruud Van Nistelrooy

One simple word: goals. Ruud van Nistelrooy is the epitome of the power forward.


Rutgerus Johannes Martinius van Nistelrooy (originally spelled Van Nistelrooij) (born July 1, 1976 in Oss, North Brabant, Netherlands) is a Dutch footballer who plays in the position of centre forward for Real Madrid. He has previously starred for the Dutch national team and Manchester United, where he holds the record of being the club's top scorer in the European Cup.
For the Netherlands, Ruud van Nistelrooy has a return of more than a goal every other game, scoring 28 times in 54 appearances. For Manchester United he has scored 150 goals in 219 games. Spanning his time at PSV Eindhoven and Manchester United, Van Nistelrooy has scored 43 goals in 54 UEFA Champions League matches, an enviable return for any striker.
However, despite being the English Premiership’s second highest scorer with 21 goals in the 2005–06 season, Van Nistelrooy had to settle for a place on the substitutes’ bench after being dropped for the Carling Cup final against Wigan Athletic. He scored against West Ham on his return to the first team on March 29 but was dropped to the bench again for the next match against Bolton. He did come on as a second half substitute, though, and scored the winner in a 2–1 victory. It was his 150th and final goal for Manchester United. During the World Cup there was considerable doubt as to whether Van Nistelrooy would continue to be a United player, with strong rumours that he might go to Germany or Spain. On July 14 it was confirmed that he wanted to leave the club. On July 26 he passed a medical at Real Madrid.
He married his girlfriend Leontine Slaats, in July 2004.
The couple had their first child, a baby girl named Moa Annette on 26 September 2006.

Real Madrid
1 July 1976
Source: Wikipedia