Rutgerus Johannes Martinus van Nistelrooy 

Born: 1 July 1976, Oss.
Nationality: Dutch.
Height: 1.88m.
Weight: 80.00kg.
Position: Striker.
Clubs: Den Bosch (Sept 93/Aug 97); Heerenveen (Sept 97/Aug 98); PSV Eindhoven (Sept 98/June 01) and Manchester United (July 01/present day).
Debut: September '93 for Den Bosch.
International debut: 18th Nov 1998 in a 1-1 draw in Gelsenkirchen against Germany.
International caps/goals: 25/11.
Last transfer fee: £19m, PSV to United, 2001.
Man Utd debut: Aug 2001 in Cardiff in a 2-1 defeat to Liverpool in the FA Community Shield. United scoring record: 80 in 97 (all competitions).
Trophies: Eredivisie title with PSV in 1999/00 and the FA Premiership with United in 2002/03.

Strengths: Knows exactly where the goal is and is the king of the penalty box, with all of his 44 strikes for United in all competitions last season coming from inside the area. He is also a lethal penalty taker, having successfully converted his last 17 in a row having missed his very first for United. And, while recuperating from a knee injury in 2000/01, he became physically stronger, which allied to his great close control and an insatiable will to win, makes the Dutchman one of Europe's most deadly strikers.

Weaknesses: Does not score from outside the box, although that hardly matters with the number of times he hits the target from inside it. Also has a tendency to overdo the theatrics.

Career highs: League triumphs with both PSV and United, winning the PFA Footballer of the Year in 2001/02 having hit 36 goals in all competitions, winning the Golden Boot last season having scored 25 times in the Premiership, as well as being the leading scorer in last season's European Cup with ten strikes.

And, between December 2001 and January 20002, he set a new Premiership record by scoring in nine consecutive matches, while at the end of the last campaign he notched 12 in 12 for club and country.

Career lows: Domestically it is undoubtedly the cruciate knee ligament injury that he sustained on 28 April 2000, delaying his dream move to United by a year, although internationally the Netherlands failing to qualify for the 2002 World Cup finals is perhaps his greatest disappointment on the football field.

Did you know: He scored a hat-trick before half-time on his debut for PSV, while also scoring on his first competitive start for United in the Charity Shield, and then on his League debut at Old Trafford against Fulham.

Quote:
"You know Ruud has the same feeling in his feet that other people have in their hands." (Foppe de Haan, coach at Heerenveen, 1997)
"You can frame almost every one of his goals." (Frank Rijkaard, former Dutch national coach)

Ruud van Nistelrooy: Season by season

Year

Club

Apps.

Goals

1993/94

Den Bosch

2

0

1994/95

Den Bosch

15

3

1995/96

Den Bosch

21

2

1996/97

Den Bosch

31

12

1997/98

Heerenveen

31

13

1998/99

PSV Eindhoven

34

31

1999/00

PSV Eindhoven

23

29

2000/01

PSV Eindhoven

10

2

2001/02

Manchester Utd

32

23

2002/03

Manchester Utd

34

25


Thierry Daniel Henry

Born: 17.8.77, Paris.
Nationality: French.
Height: 1.80m.
Weight: 79.00kg.
Position: Forward
Clubs: Monaco (Sept 95/Jan 99); Juventus (Jan 99/Aug 99) and Arsenal (Aug 99/present day).
Debut: Sept '95 for Monaco.
International debut: eleventh Oct 1997 in a 2-1 win against South Africa.
International goals/caps: 18 in 45.
Last transfer fee: £10.5m, Juventus to Arsenal, 1999.
Arsenal debut: Aug '99 against Leicester City at Highbury in the Premiership.
Arsenal scoring record: 112 in 204 (all competitions).
Trophies: Ligue 1 with Monaco in 96/97, the FA Premiership and Cup Double in 2001/02 and the FA Cup in 03, both with Arsenal. Also a winner of the World Cup in 1998 and the European Championships in 2000 with Les Bleus.

Strengths: Genuine out-and-out pace that frightens the living daylights out of opposition defences- there are few players quicker than the Frenchman in world football. He also has a rare quality for a frontman in that he is just as interested in creating goals as scoring them, as demonstrated by his name being at the head of last season's Premiership assists table.

Weaknesses: If you ever see Henry scoring with a header, then it's not him! Also needs to be more ruthless in front of goal, focussing on tap-ins rather than sensational strikes, although those spectacular strikes are often a sight to behold.

Career highs: Obviously winning both the World Cup and the European Championships with France takes some beating, but he also netted 32 goals in all competitions as Arsenal won the Double in 2002, while last season he won both the PFA and the FWA Footballer of the Year awards having hit 34 goals for the Gunners in all competitions, including 22 in the Premiership.

Career lows: His 12 games in six months as a Juve player in 1999 and his red card against Uruguay in the 2002 World Cup, a tournament in which both Henry and France gravely disappointed as the holders were eliminated in the group stages having failed to score a goal.

Did you know: His current manager at Highbury, Arsène Wenger, was also his coach when he played for Monaco.

Quote:
"You see Thierry and it's beautiful." (van Nistelrooy, April 2003)
"He's very, very fast". (David Trezeguet, December 2001)

Thierry Henry: Season by season

Year

Club

Apps.

Goals

1994/95

Monaco

8

3

1995/96

Monaco

18

3

1996/97

Monaco

36

9

1997/98

Monaco

30

4

1998/99

Monaco

13

1

1998/99

Juventus

16

3

1999/00

Arsenal

31

17

2000/01

Arsenal

35

17

2001/02

Arsenal

33

24

2002/03

Arsenal

37

24


by Richard Morgan

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