Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard (©Getty Images)Frank Rijkaard
Date of birth: 30 September 1962
Nationality: Dutch
Playing career: AFC Ajax (twice), Sporting Clube de Portugal, Real Zaragoza, AC Milan
Coaching career: Netherlands, Sparta Rotterdam, FC Barcelona
At the end of his third season at FC Barcelona, Frank Rijkaard became only the fifth man – the others being Miguel Muñoz, Giovanni Trapattoni, Johan Cruyff and Carlo Ancelotti – to have lifted the European Champion Clubs' Cup as both a player and coach.
Cruyff was his mentor as a youngster. The Dutch legend groomed Rijkaard at AFC Ajax in 1979 where the defender progressed so quickly that he was pulling on the Netherlands shirt aged just 19. In 1987, Rijkaard left Amsterdam and had brief spells in Portugal and Spain before committing the key years of his career to AC Milan with whom he twice won the European Cup. Rijkaard played in midfield for Milan but in central defence for his country as they lifted the 1988 UEFA European Championship.
He returned to Ajax in 1993 and helped them defeat Milan in the 1995 UEFA Champions League final in Vienna. When he retired, heads turned as Rijkaard was appointed Netherlands coach before UEFA EURO 2000™. A semi-final place followed but Rijkaard left to pursue a club management career. His first stint ended poorly, as he resigned from Sparta Rotterdam in May 2002 when they were relegated from the Dutch Eredivisie for the first time, although Barça were not put off and have since seen their faith repaid handsomely with league titles in 2004/05 and 2005/06 before UEFA Champions League glory was achieved with a 2-1 win against Arsenal FC in Paris in May 2006.
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