From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rudolf ("Ruud" or "Rudi") Jozef Krol (born March 24, 1949 in Amsterdam) is a retired Dutch footballer who was capped 83 times for his native country. He began his career at Ajax Amsterdam under the legendary Rinus Michels. In his first season at the club he didn't play much. After the departure of leftback Theo van Duijvenbode in the summer of 1969 to Feyenoord, Krol became a regular player. When Ajax reached the European Cup in 1971, and won, Krol didn't play because of a broken leg. Krol did play in the European Cup finals of 1972 and 1973. While others such as Cruyff and Johan Neeskens left for pastures new, Krol stayed at Ajax until 1980. (He later regretted staying so long). He moved to the NASL to play for the Vancouver Whitecaps, but stayed just one season. He then joined SSC Napoli where he played for in the next four seasons. His last club before he retired was the French club AS Cannes, and he retired from club football in 1986.

Internationally, Krol made his Holland debut in 1969 against England, and earned 83 caps, retiring from international football in 1983. He was a crucial component in the Total Football side of the 1970's. A versatile defender, he could play in any position along the back four or midfield. In the 1974 FIFA World Cup, in which Holland reached the final, Krol primarily played at left-back and excelled - his creation of Cruyff's goal against Brazil and his 25-yard screamer against Argentina will live long in the memory. They fell at the final hurdle, losing 2-1 to West Germany.

By the time the 1978 FIFA World Cup came about, Krol had switched to playing as a sweeper and had earned the captain's armband after the retirement of Cruyff. Krol had a fine tournament, but was unable to prevent Holland from falling to their second Final defeat, this time losing 3-1 to Argentina.

Krol played for Holland as captain at the 1980 European Championship, but they disappointed, being knocked out in the first round by West Germany and Czechoslovakia. They also failed to qualify for the 1982 FIFA World Cup. He played for part of the qualifying for Euro 84, and played his last international in 1983, in a 1-0 European Championship qualifiying defeat against Spain. His record cap haul was first surpassed by Aron Winter, during the Euro 2000 tournament.

In his managerial career, he has been head coach of Egypt, and has been assistant manager of Holland (under Louis van Gaal) and Ajax (under Ronald Koeman). He has recently acted as interim manager of Ajax, after the resignation of Koeman. He is now manager of AC Ajaccio in France Ligue 2.

	Netherlands squad - 1974 FIFA World Cup Runners-up
1 Geels | 2 Haan | 3 van Hanegem | 4 van Ierssel | 5 Israël | 6 Jansen | 7 de Jong | 8 Jongbloed | 9 Keizer | 10 R. van de Kerkhof | 11 W. van de Kerkhof | 12 Krol | 13 Neeskens | 14 Cruijff | 15 Rensenbrink | 16 Rep | 17 Rijsbergen | 18 Schrijvers | 19 Strik | 20 Suurbier | 21 Treijtel | 22 Vos | Coach: Michels

	Netherlands squad - 1978 FIFA World Cup Runners-up
1 Schrijvers | 2 Poortvliet | 3 Schoenaker | 4 van Kraay | 5 Krol | 6 Jansen | 7 Wildschut | 8 Jongbloed | 9 Haan | 10 R. van de Kerkhof | 11 W. van de Kerkhof | 12 Rensenbrink | 13 Neeskens | 14 Boskamp | 15 Hovenkamp | 16 Rep | 17 Rijsbergen | 18 Nanninga | 19 Doesburg | 20 Suurbier | 21 Lubse | 22 Brandts | Coach: Happel