RONALD KOEMAN

'Ronald Koeman' (born March 21 1963 in Zaandam) is a former Dutch football defender and current manager of PSV Eindhoven. He is the brother of former Feyenoord coach Erwin Koeman.

Contents

Career

Player

Manager

Personal

Player honours

Manager honours

Footnotes

Career

Player

In 1980 Koeman started his professional career at FC Groningen. After playing for Ajax Amsterdam, PSV Eindhoven and FC Barcelona, he finished his career in Feyenoord Rotterdam. During his career he won 2 UEFA European Cup titles, 5 Dutch championships, 4 Spanish championships, 1 Spanish Cup and he was also in the winning Dutch national team at the 1988 European Championship.
In 1988, after the semi-final against Germany (2:1) in Hamburg, he, in front of German supporters, provocatively pretended to wipe his backside with the shirt of Olaf Thon as if it were toilet paper, an action Koeman later regretted. ^[1]
Besides being a steadfast defender at the centreback position, Koeman was also renowned for his powerful right-footed freekicks and deadball expertise where he scored many vital goals for the team, and it was from a free-kick that he scored FC Barcelona's winning goal in the 1992 European Cup final. He is arguably amongst the best dead-ball and freekick experts in football history. He represented his nation in the World Cup 1990 and 1994 and picked up a total of 78 caps for Holland, scoring 14 goals.
He is also often remembered by England fans for a tackle on David Platt, in a game that England had to win to qualify for the 1994 FIFA World Cup finals. Platt was through on goal with only the goalkeeper to beat when Koeman dragged him to the ground. He later said that he expected to see the red card, yet he did not receive a card at all. Koeman later scored a free kick as Holland won 2-0.
After scoring the winning free kick goal in the 1992 European Cup final, he became the first player to score a goal in two consecutive Cup Finals of different European competitions.

Manager

Having retired as a player after his stint with Feyenoord, Koeman became member of the coaching staff of Guus Hiddink during the World Cup 1998 along with Johan Neeskens and Frank Rijkaard. After the tournament Koeman was appointed the assistant coach of FC Barcelona. In 2000, he was handed his first managerial job as the head coach of Vitesse Arnhem where he led the team to a UEFA Cup spot on a relatively limited budget.
Koeman was appointed the manager of Ajax Amsterdam in 2001. Ajax' fortunes suffered a steady decline after Koeman got off to a successful start at the ArenA, winning a domestic double in 2001-02. Despite regaining the title in 2003-04, Ajax had fallen behind rivals PSV Eindhoven as the Netherlands' top team, and Koeman resigned after the Amsterdam side were knocked out of the UEFA Cup by AJ Auxerre.
Koeman bounced back quickly from a disappointing end to his reign at AFC Ajax in February 2005, taking up the vacant position at Portuguese champions SL Benfica following the departure of legendary Italian Giovanni Trapattoni. In Benfica, against whom he won the 1988 European Cup final as a player with PSV Eindhoven, Koeman only won the Portuguese Supercup: the team finished the Portuguese League in third place (behind rivals F.C. Porto and Sporting) and was knocked out of the Portuguese Cup in the quarter-finals (after losing to Vitória de Guimarães). This, along with an offer from PSV Eindhoven, sufficed for the manager to leave one year before the end of his contract, even though Benfica reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League before losing to FC Barcelona, who ended up winning the trophy.
In the 2006/2007 season, Koeman serves as head coach of PSV Eindhoven, as successor of Guus Hiddink. PSV dominated the first season half, putting competitors as AZ and Ajax at a reasonable distance and PSV was almost destined to become champions again. However, PSV suffered in the second half of the season, also because of injuries of players Jefferson Farfán, Alex and Ibrahim Afellay, obtaining only 19 out 39 possible points.[1]. AZ and Ajax regained their momentum, making for a close finish, with all three teams tied at 72 points before the last competition day.[2] AZ played struggling Excelsior in their final match, but did not manage to win. Ajax played at Willem II, but did not score enough goals; it was PSV eventually who triumphed against all odds, winning at home 5-1 against Vitesse Arnhem, and thereby becoming Eredivisie champions on goal difference.

Personal

Koeman is married to Bartina Koeman, they have three children.

Player honours

★ 1 x European champion with the Netherlands at Euro 88

★ 2 x UEFA European Cup: 1987-1988, 1991-1992

★ 1 x European Super Cup: 1992-1993

★ 4 x Dutch Eredivisie champion: 1984-1985, 1986-1987, 1987-1988, 1988-1989

★ 3 x Dutch Cup winner: 1985-1986, 1987-1988, 1988-1989

★ 4 x Spanish La Liga champion: 1990-1991, 1991-1992, 1992-1993, 1993-1994

★ 1 x Spanish Cup winner: 1989-1990

★ 3 x Spanish Super Cup: 1991-1992, 1992-1993, 1994-1995

Manager honours

★ 3 x Dutch Eredivisie champion: 2001-2002 (Ajax), 2003-2004 (Ajax), 2006-2007 (PSV)

★ 1 x Dutch Cup winner: 2001-2002

★ 1 x Johan Cruijff-schaal winner: 2002-2003

★ 1 x Portuguese Supercup: 2005-2006

★ 4th place as assistant manager for the Netherlands at the 1998 FIFA World Cup

Footnotes

1. "Cheeseheads vs Krauts": 30 Years of Enmity, ''Ajax-USA.com'', June 14, 2004