Patrick Kluivert Biography

Patrick Kluivert born on 1976 in Amsterdam, is a former Dutch footballer and current coach who made his name as a player in the 1990s and 2000s. He is the third-highest scorer in the history of the Dutch national team with 40 goals in 79 international appearances, behind only Robin Van Persie and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, and is the 12th highest scorer in the history of FC Barcelona.

A centre-forward and playmaker, he possessed great technical quality and a strong physique (he is 1.88m tall). He was a team striker with great skills, his game was characterized by his tendency to give the finishing pass to his team-mates. Considered in his day as the best striker in the world playing with his great skills, however, he lacked a more accurate shot on goal to be considered a real "Killer" in the penalty area, even so, he scored more than 250 goals in his career.

One of the best strikers of his generation, he made his debut with Ajax, with whom he won two championships, two national Super Cups, a Champions League, a European Super Cup and an Intercontinental Cup; then he moved to AC Milan and, after only one season, to Barcelona, with whom he won La Liga. After a spell at Newcastle United, he returned to Spain, to Valencia, and then to the Netherlands, to PSV, where he won another league title. He ended his career with Lille.

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All You Need to Know About Patrick Kluivert Biography

He was Louis Van Gaal's assistant with the Dutch national team at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. In 2016 he was introduced as coach of the Curaçao national team. From July 2019, he is the director of the youth academy at F. C. Barcelona.

Patrick Kluivert Information

Now that we know him much better, in this section of

Patrick Kluivert biography

we want to share some general information such as

Patrick Kluivert nationality

.

Patrick Kluivert Bio

• Full Name: Patrick Stephan Kluivert

• Nickname: N/A

• Profession: Professional Footballer

Patrick Kluivert Physical Stats

• Weight: 81 Kg

• Height: 1.88 m

• Eye Color: Brown

• Hair Color: Black

Patrick Kluivert Football Information

• Position: Striker

• Jersey Number: 9

• Professional Debut: 1994

Patrick Kluivert Date of Birth and Personal Info

• Date of Birth: 1 July 1976

• Birth Place: Amsterdam, Netherlands

• Zodiac Sign: Cancer

• Nationality: Dutch

In this section of

Patrick Kluivert biography

, we want to take a look at things likes

Patrick Kluivert childhood

, so stay tuned.

Patrick Kluivert Early Life

Kluivert was born in Amsterdam. His father was originally from Suriname and his mother from Curaçao. He learned to play football in the streets. He spent most of his free time at the red square on the Naardermeerstraat in Amsterdam-Noord, where he played with Edgar Davids and others.

He also played for the local football club Schellingwoude for two years. There he quickly attracted attention because of his many goals. At the age of seven, Tonny Bruins Slot invited him to join the Ajax youth academy. There, he progressed quite easily. Through the years, he was used in every position imaginable, even in the central defence.

After

failed to acquire the Brazilian talent Ronaldo (who went from Cruzeiro EC to rival

for 10.8 million guilders), coach Louis van Gaal decided to bring Kluivert to the first team. The striker ended up in a team with talents such as Clarence Seedorf, Marc Overmars, Edgar Davids, Edwin van der Sar, Jari Litmanen and the De Boer brothers, as well as experienced forces such as captain Danny Blind and the returnee Frank Rijkaard. In this young team, Kluivert was supposed to replace Stefan Pettersson, who had returned to

.

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Patrick Kluivert Profile

The young player of Surinamese origin quickly became the favorite player of his coach, Louis van Gaal, who was his real mentor. Kluivert scored his first goal in his first match for Ajax's professional team on 21 August 1994 in the Dutch Super Cup against rivals

.

Patrick Kluivert made his first European appearance on the evening of 24 May 1995 when he came on as a substitute for Ajax Amsterdam in the

final against

, scoring the only goal of the game to help Ajax win the title.

The next two years were difficult for Kluivert, who struggled to cope with his new role. Although he single-handedly helped the

qualify for Euro 96 by scoring two goals against Ireland in the play-off match against them, he was once again a substitute in the Champions League final lost against

in 1996.

His performances, affected by repeated injuries, were also damaged by a gloomy record of involuntary murder. As the driver of a car that caused the death of a woman, he faced a heavy prison sentence for many months. Morally weakened and injured, he missed the semi-final of the Champions League during which Ajax was humiliated by Zinedine Zidane's Juventus. Following the 1996-1997 season, Kluivert left his youth club, which had been criticised by a part of the Dutch fans and wanted to respond positively to the Italian clubs.

In this section of

Patrick Kluivert biography

, we will take a look at things likes his AC Milan career.

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AC Milan

Kluivert continued his career at the Italian side AC Milan. There, he was reunited with Edgar Davids and Michael Reiziger, who left Ajax a season earlier. Winston Bogarde also left for the red-and-black team. Besides the presence of some familiar faces, there was another reason for his choice. His childhood idols Marco van Basten and Frank Rijkaard had their greatest successes with the Italian giants, and Kluivert wanted to follow in their footsteps.

In

, however, things only got worse for the 21-year-old striker. He had a promising start; in the match of the Trofeo Berlusconi, he found the net against rival Juventus. In the league, the Amsterdam striker was less successful. In a tough year for Milan, who ultimately finished in tenth place, Kluivert could not live up to his status. The critical supporters wanted to see a lot of goals. When these failed to happen, the striker was given a hard time by the fans.

He was booed almost every game and was given nicknames like Il Bergkamp Nero (the black Bergkamp, referring to his lesser period with fellow town-team Internazionale). Coach Fabio Capello also showed little confidence. The coach quickly put him on the bench, and halfway through the season, he brought in Maurizio Ganz to strengthen the attack.

Kluivert eventually found the net six times in the league. Only George Weah scored more for AC Milan that season. In the Italian Cup, Kluivert played his part in reaching the final with three goals. However, he was not included in the final. He watched SS

win the

from the bench.

After the

in France, things were different again. Milan had sacked Capello and Zaccheroni replaced him. In the preparation for the new season, Kluivert seemed to get a second chance, despite the arrival of the top player Oliver Bierhoff. Several big clubs, including Manchester United and

, also wanted to sign him.

Nevertheless, Kluivert seemed to start the next season at AC Milan, but on the last day of the transfer window, Louis van Gaal personally took a plane to Milan to bring Kluivert to Barcelona. The Milan club received the equivalent of 15 million euros for the striker.

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Barcelona

In

, he was reunited with the coach who had trusted him the most at Ajax, the Dutchman Louis Van Gaal. In addition, he also met up with seven of his fellow countrymen in Barcelona: Phillip Cocu, Michael Reiziger, Boudewijn Zenden, Ruud Hesp, Frank de Boer, Ronald de Boer and Winston Bogarde, who made it easier for him to adapt to the Catalan team.

He played his first match for Barcelona in a match against Palamós on 2 September 1998, replacing Sonny Anderson, and made his league debut on 13 September 1998. His first season was his best with the Barcelona team. As a first-choice starter, he was able to show the best of his football. In addition to the Dutchmen mentioned above, FC Barcelona also had players of the stature of Rivaldo, Luis Figo, Guardiola, Luis Enrique, Abelardo, a very young Xavi and Sergi. A great team that won the

title by a comfortable 11 points ahead of second-placed

. Kluivert played 35 games in La Liga and scored 15 goals.

In the following four seasons, his performance was inconsistent, going from less to more, with acceptable goal statistics, but insufficient for a star striker of a club that aspired to win everything. Although his goalscoring stats were, respectively: 18, 18, 18 and 16 goals during those four seasons, the truth is that Kluivert was always criticised for his goalscoring problems. In his last season 2003-04 at F. C. Barcelona, he would only score 8 goals, largely due to his poor form and injuries.

In the summer of 2003, Joan Laporta became president of the club and the new board of directors tried to sell Kluivert. The Dutchman was the highest-paid player in the squad (10.5 million euros gross per year) and his contract was to increase, and if these increases were not met, his termination clause would drop from 36 to 1.8 million euros. The new management not only did not comply with the increase, but also lowered his salary, and Kluivert was so dubious that, despite the fact that his price had dropped to only 1.8 million euros, no team was interested in signing him.

But the new coach Frank Rijkaard had confidence in him and was keen to keep him in the team. This decision would later prove to be a mistake. During the 2003-2004 season, his performance was not good. Kluivert's relationship with the fans was totally over, and he was even booed at the Camp Nou. In addition to this, an injury kept him out of the team for almost three months and he finished the season with a sad balance of only eight goals.

He was dropped from the starting eleven and scored his last goal for Barcelona in a Clasico against Real Madrid at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, which Barcelona won 1-2. It was his last season with the Barcelona team and at the end of the season, Kluivert would leave FC Barcelona. In his position, Samuel Eto'o arrived at the club.

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Newcastle United

Kluivert joined

on a free transfer. Although it was chairman Shepherd who recruited the striker, coach Bobby Robson had a lot of faith in the Dutchman. He saw Kluivert as a worthy successor to club legend Alan Shearer. Robson was sacked after just a few games, and his successor Graeme Souness was clearly less impressed with the Dutch striker. The Scot regularly left Kluivert on the bench or took him off well before the final whistle.

In combination with the various injuries that Kluivert suffered in England, it became a completely failed adventure. In the British newspaper The Guardian, "Nightclub Patrick" was voted by readers as one of the top three worst footballers of the season, and he did not perform well in the league.

He did better in the cup competitions than in the league. In the FA Cup, he scored the winning goals against Chelsea FC and Tottenham, leading the club to the semi-finals. In the UEFA Cup tournament, he scored five goals, taking Newcastle to the quarter-finals. In EPL, the club finished in fourteenth place. Both Kluivert and Newcastle appeared not to have the intention to continue their collaboration, so it 

remained at a one-year contract. According to British media, the nightclub owners were the only ones who will miss Kluivert.

Valencia CF

After two medical examinations, a return to

followed.

CF brought the former Barcelona top scorer back to the La Liga, where he scored in the Intertoto Cup against AA Gent by dribbling past four men, before finishing with the outside of his right foot. Roda JC coach Huub Stevens recommended him to national coach Van Basten after seeing Kluivert in action against his club in the semi-finals, but early in the season, Kluivert fell back into a vicious circle of injuries and rehabilitation.

The new striker David Villa had quickly won a permanent place in the forward, and Mista was usually his replacement. When Kluivert was fit, he had to make do with short substitutions. Over the whole season, he played just under 200 minutes, spread over ten matches. He only started once on the team.

Halfway through the season, Hamburger SV approached for the Kluivert, but Valencia rejected the offer. Ajax also inquired about Kluivert, in case Huntelaar's transfer did not go through.

His lack of playing time led to a bad relationship with coach Flores, who excluded him from the squad in the run-up to the new season. His number had already been given to newcomer Fernando Morientes.

As a result, Kluivert had to train for himself throughout the summer. Although he still had a contract until mid-2008, he no longer featured in Flores' plans and was once again allowed to leave on a free transfer. For a long time, it seemed that he would move to HSV after all, but in the end, the transfer was cancelled for medical reasons.

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PSV

PSV was looking for a short-term successor for Vennegoor of Hesselink who left for Celtic at the end of August 2006. Just before the transfer deadline, PSV signed the former Ajax player for a year. It was a move that caused controversy because of his past, and his debut was not imminent. As he did not arrive at PSV fit due to missing a season preparation, it took time for him to get match fit. A week after his debut, he injured his right knee and had to undergo rehabilitation again.

In mid-December, he returned, and at that time PSV had a good lead on the competition. In the final weeks of the year, he made four appearances, scoring twice and providing three assists. In the first game after the winter break, Kluivert was given a place in the starting line-up and after the match, the coach said that PSV were stronger with Kluivert than without him.

Immediately afterwards, however, he was mainly used as a playmaker behind Arouna Koné by Ronald Koeman. When he was injured again, a back injury, the confidence in the striker was lost. Once he returned he did score against his old club Ajax. With a goal difference of only one goal, PSV snatched the title from Ajax in the end. Kluivert refused to celebrate the goal out of respect for his old employer.

Besides winning the league title, he and PSV reached the quarterfinals of the Champions League, where PSV was eliminated by Liverpool. Kluiverts performance in the Champions League was limited to three appearances. His three goals and three assists in the league were not enough for a longer stay. In May 2007, it was announced that his contract would not be extended.

Lille

Kluivert signed for Lille on Thursday 31 August 2007. The LOSC, which was looking for an experienced player to mentor its young summer recruits, took the gamble of reviving the Dutchman's career. In order not to put his club in financial difficulty, the Dutchman agreed to be paid on a performance-related basis.

After a few weeks of getting back into shape, Patrick Kluivert returned to the field with a goal in his first appearance for Lille against Valenciennes. Despite his technical ease and great physical efforts that made him lose almost 15 kg, Claude Puel's playing system was not the one the Dutch star was used to playing in. Kluivert played most of his matches for him as an offensive midfielder, a position where he was not really comfortable.

However, he did score a few goals, including a double against Rennes. The Dutch giant was thought to be finally back on track, but after that match against Rennes, Kluivert lost his starting place. In the league, he scored two goals from penalties and two in the game, in thirteen matches.

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Netherlands National Team

In the Dutch national team, Kluivert was the record scorer with 40 goals from 79 appearances until 11 October 2013, when he was surpassed by Robin van Persie, who scored his number 39, 40 and 41 international goals in the 8-1 win over Hungary.

His performance, however, was crowned by a few successes. At the 1996 European Championship, they were eliminated in the quarter-finals. Two years later, at the 1998 World Cup in France, the Dutch team showed a marked improvement and advanced to the semi-finals. There, however, they were beaten by Brazil after a penalty shoot-out. For Kluivert, the 1998 World Cup finals began with a negative experience. He was sent off in the first group match against Belgium. However, he scored a goal against Argentina in the quarter-finals and against Brazil in the semi-finals.

The Dutch forward's last major highlight came at the European Championships 2000 in his own country. In the quarter-final match against Yugoslavia, Kluivert scored three goals in a 6:1 win, almost single-handedly dispatching his opponents. He became the top scorer of the European Championship with five goals. The Netherlands, however, was eliminated after a memorable semi-final match against Italy. Kluivert missed a penalty kick during normal time and was the only player to score in the penalty shoot-out.

At the 2004 European Championship, he was the only Dutch player not to play in any match. The Netherlands went to the 2006 World Cup without Patrick Kluivert. Team manager Marco van Basten did without Kluivert because he had hardly any match practice due to long injury breaks.

In this section of Patrick Kluivert biography, we will take a look at things likes his coaching career.

Coaching Career

After joining the coaching staff of NEC Nijmegen in the 2010/11 season, Kluivert took over as coach of the second team Jong FC Twente for the 2011/12 season. In the first three games under his guidance, the team won three times, including 4-0 at Jong Ajax, scoring 15 goals and conceding only one. At the end of the season, Kluivert and his team won the league championship in the junior division. The decisive match, a 2-1 win on the third last matchday against Jong FC Groningen, took place at the De Grolsch Veste stadium in front of a crowd of 15,000.

In August 2012, Kluivert became assistant coach to new Dutch national team manager Louis van Gaal, alongside Danny Blind; he held this position alongside his coaching role at FC Twente until 2014. He participated as an assistant coach in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, where the Netherlands finished 3rd.

From March 2015 to June 2016, Kluivert was team manager of the national team of Curaçao, his mother's home country, as a supervisor. He led the team to the third round of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup in his first few weeks in charge. After his time as Curaçao national team coach ended, Patrick Kluivert was sporting director of Paris Saint-Germain. On 25 July 2019, he was appointed as the new head of FC Barcelona's youth department, a week after his dismissal as assistant coach of the Cameroonian national team.

Style of Play

Kluivert is often described as a true Ajax striker, a creative, technically skilled centre forward who can score as well as provide assists. With his physical strength and technique, he was often able to hold onto the ball between several defenders until a team-mate came on board. In doing so, he often got rid of his direct opponents by outrunning them or by a passing move.

In addition to his ability to hold onto the ball, Kluivert was also known for his excellent headers. When played through the air, he often kept the ball, and with his height, jumping power and heading qualities, he won a large proportion of his duels. The striker rarely shot at goal from an unlikely angle, but almost always looked for a team-mate who is in a better position.

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Reception

Manu fans and pundits consider Patrick Kluivert to be amongst the best strikers in the history of Dutch football and his record and the national team just proves that.

Goal Celebration

As a striker, Kluivert scored many goals during his career and as he never had a signature goal celebration, we saw many different ones from him. For example, his sliding goal celebration was one of those that we saw him doing on the club and international goals.

Patrick Kluivert outside Football

Patrick Kluivert played in many commercials for companies like Nike and Adidas during his career peak days.

In addition to his sponsorship activities, Kluivert was co-owner of lounge club Carpe Diem in Barcelona between 2003 and 2008. He also invested in other various projects.

Patrick Kluivert Personal Life

In this section of Patrick Kluivert biography, we will take a look at his Personal life and share some stuff like

Patrick Kluivert life story

and

Patrick Kluivert religion

.

Family, Children and Relationships

Patrick Kluivert was raised in a Roman Catholic family with his brother and sister. Football dominated his life from an early age, first in the street and from the age of seven at the Ajax youth academy. He also followed a secondary school education, which he completed successfully at the age of fifteen.

Kluivert has been married twice and has three children from his first marriage, including footballer Justin Kluivert, and one child from his current marriage.

Philanthropy

From time to time, we have seen Patrick Kluivert participate in charity football matches. Other than that, there are no reports on the media about his charity activities. In this section of Patrick Kluivert biography, we will take a look at things likes his legal issues.

Legal Issues

On 9 September 1995, Kluivert was involved in a collision in Amsterdam, in which the Vlaardingen theatre director Marten Putman was killed and his wife seriously injured. The judge concluded that the speed was at least 89.2 km/hour, which deviated from Kluivert's own statement that he was driving between 70 and 75 km/hour. The maximum speed permitted at the location was 50 km/hour. The accident happened at a point where the victim was just turning around. Kluivert was sentenced to 240 hours of community service.

Patrick Kluivert Career Statistics

In this section of Patrick Kluivert biography, we will take a look at his career stats, so stay tuned!

Club

During his career as a footballer on the club level, Kluivert has played a total of 468 matches and scored 205 goals. He had a rather short 14-years career where usually footballers play for 18 to 20 years. His career peak was at Barcelona where he scored 120 goals in 257 matches.

International

For 10 years between 1994 and 2004, Kluivert was a member of the Dutch national team and managed to score 40 goals for his country in 79 matches. His last international goal was scored against Moldova in a UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying match.

Managerial

As a head coach, he has managed the Curaçao national team in 12 matches. His team has won 6, drawn 3 and lost 3 matches. His win ratio there was 50 percent.

Patrick Kluivert Honors

Kluivert has won most of his club career awards at Ajax. Of his notable club titles, we can include Eredivisie, UEFA Champions League, Intercontinental Cup, La Liga and UEFA Super Cup.

With Dutch national team, he finished fourth at 1998 World Cup and was third-placed at Euro 2000.

As a manager he has won Beloften Eredivisie with Jong FC Twente.

Of his notable individual titles, we can include UEFA Euro 2000 Golden Boot, FIFA 100, Dutch Football Talent of the Year and many others.

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