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| Ruud van Nistelrooy* |
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| Ruud van Nistelrooy* |
Van Nistelrooy signed a five-year contract after passing his medical.[6] He downplayed United's £19 million investment to reporters, saying "The price is not heavy for me – it lifts me up because it means United have big confidence in me."[4] During his first season, Van Nistelrooy scored 23 goals in 32 league games. He broke the record he shared with Mark Stein, Alan Shearer and Thierry Henry, by scoring in eight consecutive league games. He also scored 10 Champions League goals, and was named the PFA Players' Player of the Year. The following season, he finished as the top Premier League scorer with 25 in 34 games, including three hat-tricks, and he ended the season on another eight-game scoring streak.[7] He started the 2003–04 season by scoring twice in his first two league matches, which boosted his goals in consecutive games record to 10 matches in a row. He scored his 100th goal for the club in a 4–3 victory over Everton on 7 February 2004. He scored two goals, one a penalty, in United's victory over Millwall in the 2004 FA Cup Final.[8]
Van Nistelrooy missed most of the 2004–05 season due to injury, but nonetheless scored a Champions League-best eight goals. One of them was his thirtieth career European goal, which he scored in a 2–2 Champions League group stage draw with Lyon on 16 September 2004, overtaking Denis Law's previous club record of 28 goals. Law later said to reporters, "I'm delighted for Ruud. It could not happen to a nicer guy."[9] Manchester United were eliminated by eventual finalists Milan in the knockout stage after going scoreless in both legs.
At the start of the 2005–06 season, Van Nistelrooy scored in United's first four Premier League games. He finished as the second-highest league scorer with 21 goals, behind Arsenal's Thierry Henry. By the end of his fifth season with United, Van Nistelrooy had amassed 150 goals in fewer than 200 starts.
Van Nistelrooy was benched for the League Cup final against Wigan Athletic, fuelling speculation of a rift between him and coach Alex Ferguson, which Van Nistelrooy denied. He was nonetheless left on the bench for six consecutive league matches, and though he then returned to the starting line-up and scored match-winners against West Ham United and Bolton Wanderers, fresh doubt spread over Van Nistelrooy's future when he was benched for United's season finale win over Charlton Athletic. Ferguson claimed that Van Nistelrooy was angry at the decision and left the stadium three hours before kick-off.
On 9 May 2006, Setanta Sports reported that Van Nistelrooy's exclusion from the squad was due to a training session fight between him and team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo. Van Nistelrooy allegedly criticised Ronaldo's tendency to hold onto the ball instead of passing to his team-mates, which sparked the fight, after which Van Nistelrooy remarked, "Go crying to your daddy." The article claimed that this was not a reference to Ronaldo's father (who had died earlier in the season), but to United's Portuguese assistant coach, Carlos Queiroz.[10]
Van Nistelrooy signed with Spanish side Real Madrid on 28 July 2006, departing Manchester United after five seasons with a total of 150 goals in 220 appearances, as well as the club's all-time European scoring record with 38 goals.
Real Madrid
On 15 July 2006, Ferguson confirmed that Van Nistelrooy wanted to leave Manchester United, and Real Madrid announced two weeks later that he had signed a three-year contract after being purchased for €24 million.[11]
Van Nistelrooy scored a hat-trick in his second league match against Levante and, on 12 November 2006, he scored all four of Real Madrid's goals in a 4–1 victory over Osasuna. He won the league's Pichichi award with 25 goals as Real Madrid took home the 2006–07 title, and he also equalled the longest consecutive scoring streak in La Liga history with seven straight matches, tying a league record shared by Hugo Sánchez.[12]
In January 2008, Van Nistelrooy signed a contract extension keeping him with Madrid until 2010, with the expiration date one day shy of his 34th birthday.[13] He underwent ankle surgery in March,[14] and returned for the El Clásico derby against Barcelona on 7 May, in which he netted a penalty two minutes after coming on as a substitute.[15] He finished the season with 20 goals in 32 appearances.
In November 2008, Real Madrid announced that Van Nistelrooy would miss the remainder of the 2008–09 season after exploratory arthroscopic surgery revealed a partially torn meniscus in his right knee, with an expected recovery time of six to nine months following a second operation to repair the damage.[16] Van Nistelrooy travelled to the United States to see specialist Richard Steadman, who had previously operated on the same knee back in 2000. At the time of his injury, he had 10 goals in 12 club appearances for the season.[17] Following the injury, he was de-registered by Real Madrid for the rest of the 2008–09 season, and his shirt number was given to Dani Parejo. In the last preseason game before the start of La Liga, Van Nistelrooy stepped on the pitch for the first time since his injury and played the last fifteen minutes of the game against Rosenborg, substituting Kaká.[when?] Van Nistelrooy came on for Cristiano Ronaldo in the 80th minute against Xerez in his first La Liga match since recovering from his injury. In the 81st minute, he provided the assist for a Benzema goal, following it with his own 88th minute goal. However, during his strike, he picked up a thigh injury. It was revealed by Real Madrid that he would be out from first team action for up to six weeks.[18] On 27 October, Van Nistelrooy made his second comeback of the season coming on as a substitute for Raúl in the 71st minute against Alcorcon in the Copa del Rey
Hamburger SV
On 23 January 2010, Van Nistelrooy signed an 18-month contract with Hamburg with the German club until June 2011.[19][20] He made his first appearance for the club, coming off the bench in the last two minutes of Hamburg's 3–3 draw with Cologne on 6 February.[21] Van Nistelrooy scored his first two goals for Hamburg on 13 February 2010 against Stuttgart in the 75th and 77th minutes of a 3–1 win, after entering the game just a few minutes prior.[22] On 11 March 2010, Van Nistelrooy scored his first Europa League goal in the 40th minute of Hamburg's match against Anderlecht.[23]
On 15 August 2010, Van Nistelrooy scored his first competitive hat-trick with Hamburg, in a 5-1 win over Torgelower SV Greif during round 1 of the 68th season of the DFB-Pokal.[24] On 21 August 2010, he scored a brace in the season opener against Schalke 04, which Hamburg won 2–1. During that match he played against his friend and former team-mate Raúl.[25]
[edit] International career
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| Ruud van Nistelrooy* |
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| Ruud van Nistelrooy* |
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| Ruud van Nistelrooy* |
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| Ruud van Nistelrooy* |
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