Jaap Stam

Jakob "Jaap" Stam (born 17 July 1972 in Kampen) is a retired Dutch football player who was twice voted best defender in the 1998–99 and 1999–2000 UEFA Champions League.

Jaap Stam started his career with local amateur football club DOS Kampen. On 15 August 1992, Stam made his professional debut for FC Zwolle in a 1–1 draw against SC Heracles in the Eerste Divisie. He became a first team regular right away and moved to Eredivisie side Cambuur Leeuwarden for the following season, but relegated in his first season which brought him back into the Eerste Divisie. Two seasons at Cambuur earned him a transfer to Eredivisie side Willem II. At Willem II he impressed at the Eredivisie level straight away, which meant his final breakthrough. A shock 1–0 home victory over Ajax led to Stam's transfer to PSV Eindhoven in the same season in which they eventually won the KNVB Cup, his first professional trophy.

Jaap Stam was a key player for PSV in the 1996–97 season, as the team won the Eredivisie Championship and the Johan Cruijff-schaal (the Dutch Super Cup); Stam won the VVCS Footballer of the Year award. In 1998, Stam became the then most expensive Dutch football player in history and the most expensive defender in history, when Manchester United bought him for £10.6 million.

Jaap Stam spent three seasons at Manchester United, during which time United won three Premier League titles, one FA Cup, the Intercontinental Cup and the UEFA Champions League. He scored his only goal for the club in a 6-2 away victory against Leicester City.

Early in the 2001–02 season, Jaap Stam was controversially sold to Lazio in Italy, after Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson was reportedly furious with allegations Stam had made in his autobiography Head to Head about himself and the club. Stam made numerous statements in the book about his views on opposing players, and notoriously alleged that Ferguson's approach to buy him was done without the permission of PSV Eindhoven. Laurent Blanc was signed as his replacement.

During his time with Lazio, Jaap Stam was found guilty of having the banned steroid nandrolone in his system following a Serie A game, and received a five-month ban, which was eventually reduced by a month after appeals. In his last season at the club, he won the Coppa d'Italia with Lazio.

Jaap Stam joined A.C. Milan after Euro 2004. He reached his second Champions League final with the Italian team in 2005, but was a runner-up after being defeated by Liverpool. On 30 January 2006, it was announced that he would return to the Eredivisie and play for Ajax, where he signed a two-year contract for €2.5 million transfer fee. Jaap Stam was named team captain upon his arrival in Amsterdam. In his first season, he won both the Johan Cruijff-schaal and the KNVB Cup, and another Johan Cruijff-schaal was added at the start of the 2007–08 season.

Jaap Stam made his debut for the Netherlands on 24 April 1996, in the 1–0 defeat to Germany. He was also an important player in the Dutch team that finished fourth in the 1998 FIFA World Cup. Stam reached his third semi finals in an international competition with his nation during Euro 2004 in Portugal and retired from international football after the tournament. The reason for his international retirement was that he wanted to focus on his new team AC Milan and his family. In total he played 67 matches for the Netherlands, scoring 3 goals. [source : Jaap Stam]

Jaap Stam Pictures and Wallpapers

 

Edwin van der Sar

Edwin van der Sar  (born October 29, 1970) is a Dutch footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for English club Manchester United. He is the most capped player in the Netherlands national football team's history.

Van der Sar started his senior career at Ajax and remained there for nine years before moving to Italian club Juventus and then to England, first to Fulham and then to Manchester United. He is one of the few footballers to have won the UEFA Champions League with two different teams, having won it with Ajax in 1995 and Manchester United in 2008, the latter where he was named UEFA Man of the match; he also won the UEFA Cup with Ajax in 1992. Van der Sar was named Best European Goalkeeper in 1995 and 2009, spanning the 14-year period between his first and second Champions league victories.

In 2008-09, he went 1,311 minutes without conceding in the league - setting a new single-season world record. With a total of 21 clean sheets he won the Best European Goalkeeper award from UEFA and sealed his reputation as one of the best in the world. Ahead of the 2009-10 season many touted Ben Foster as a permanent replacement for Van der Sar but both he and Thomas Kuszczak failed to depose the Dutchman, who remains Ferguson's No.1. 

Van der Sar was included in the Netherlands's 1994 World Cup squad but did not play. He had to wait until 7 June 1995 for his international debut, against Belarus. He was in goal for three successive eliminations from major competitions by penalties: Euro 96, France 98 and Euro 2000. The Netherlands failed to qualify for the 2002 World Cup after failing to compete with Portugal and the Republic of Ireland and so during all of his career with the Netherlands, he had missed one tournament. Van der Sar has represented the Dutch national team 130 times, which makes him the country's most capped player. This puts him in the top thirty most capped players of all time. [source : Edwin van der Sar]

Van der Sar Pictures and Wallpapers

Marco van Basten

Marcel "Marco" van Basten (31 October 1964) is a Dutch football manager and former head coach of Eredivisie side AFC Ajax and the Dutch national team. 

Previously, he was a football player who played for Ajax and A.C. Milan in the 1980s and early 1990s. He is regarded as one of the greatest forwards of all time and scored 277 goals in a career cut short by injury. 

Young van Basten and Kluivert

Marco van Basten was known for his strength on the ball, his tactical awareness and spectacular strikes and volleys, van Basten was named European Footballer of the Year three times (1988, '89 and '92) and FIFA World Player of the Year in 1992. Van Basten was voted eighth in a poll organised by the French weekly magazine France Football consulting their former Ballon d'Or winners to elect the Football Player of the Century. 

In 2004, a nationwide pool was held for the 100 greatest Dutch people (De Grootste Nederlander) and van Basten was number 25, the second highest for a football player. [source : Marco van Basten]

Pictures

Johann Cruyff : The Dutch Meister

Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (born  April 25, 1947, in Amsterdam), is a Dutch football legend. He won the Ballon d'Or three times—in 1971, 1973 and 1974, which is a record jointly held with Michel Platini and Marco van Basten. Cruyff was the most famous exponent of the football philosophy known as Total Football explored by Rinus Michels, and is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time.

After his retirement from playing in 1984, Cruyff became highly successful as manager of Ajax and later Barcelona; he remains an influential advisor to both clubs. His son Jordi has also gone on to play football professionally.

In 1999, Cruyff was voted European Player of the Century in an election held by the IFFHS, and came second behind Pelé in their World Player of the Century poll. He came third in a vote organised by the French weekly magazine France Football consulting their former Ballon d'Or winners to elect their Football Player of the Century.

On November 2, 2009, Cruyff was named as manager of the Catalonian national team in place of Pere Gratacòs. This is his first coaching job in thirteen years. [source : Cruyff]

Johann Cruyff's Pictures