Patrick Kluivert

At 47 years old, Patrick Kluivert has this physical status:

Club career

Kluivert was a member of Ajax's Golden Generation of the 1990s. In the Dutch Supercup victory over Feyenoord, in which he scored his first goal, he made his debut in the senior team of Ajax on August 21, 1994 at the age of 18. Louis van Gaal's team won the Dutch championship without losing a single game as he went on to top score for Ajax in the 1994-1995 Elymo with 18 goals in 25 appearances.

Kluivert made his mark in the UEFA Champions League, as well as a slew of youngsters from Ajax's youth academy, including Edgar Davids, Clarence Seedorf, and Edwin van der Sar. In the 1995 Champions League Final against A.C. Milan in Vienna, Austria, Kluivert came off the bench to score an 85th-minute winner. When he was just 18 years, ten months, and 23 days old, he was the youngest player to play in a final of Europe's biggest tournament.

He scored 15 goals in 28 appearances for Ajax in 1995–96, including the Ethical Championship, winning five trophies. In the 1995 UEFA Super Cup, he scored the winning goal in extra time of the season's first Dutch Supercup against Feyenoord and also scored the team's away goal.

Kluivert was the only Ajax player to miss his kick in the 4–3 penalty shootout victory over Grêmio in Tokyo that saw de Godenzonen win the Intercontinental Cup on November 28. Kluivert was also in good form during Ajax's Champions League defense, scoring in away victories at Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund, but a knee injury prevented him from playing for the entire 90 minutes in the team's loss to Juventus in the 1996 UEFA Champions League Final.

Kluivert, who made just 17 league appearances during the 1996-97 season, joined AC Milan on a Bosman transfer after rejecting Ajax's offer of a new deal. With 39 goals from 70 Ethisie games, he brought an end to his time at the Amsterdam club.

Kluivert's career in Milan began well, with the striker scoring a spectacular goal against Juventus in the Trofeo Berlusconi tournament. However, the Rossoneri finished in 10th place after spending only one season at San Siro, scoring six times in 27 Serie A matches.

Kluivert agreed to a four-year deal with FC Barcelona on August 28, 1998, an hour before the transfer deadline, for £8.75 million. Kluivert was reunited with Louis van Gaal, a mentor from his days in Ajax. Kluivert scored 16 goals and established a fruitful partnership with Rivaldo, which allowed Barça to defend the Spanish La Liga in 1998-1999. Kluivert's subsequent season was also a fruitful one. Despite Barcelona's loss of their third straight league title, Kluivert finished the season as the club's top scorer with 15 goals. After winning the title in 1999, Kluivert went on to top score twice more in his next four seasons at Camp Nou, but the team went through a five-year absence without a major trophy.

Kluivert was one of four Dutch players released by Barcelona in the summer of 2004. With 124 goals from 249 appearances, he concluded his Barça career. The Dutchman appeared for Barca again in a historic game against Uganda all stars where he scored an amazing goal.

Kluivert joined Newcastle United on a free transfer in July 2004. He explained that his reasons for joining Newcastle were due to the overwhelming response he received while playing for Barcelona against Newcastle in a preseason friendly as well as teaming up with Newcastle's top players, including Alan Shearer. In the FA Cup, Kluivert scored some classy and vital goals both inside and outside St James' Park, notably in winning strikes against Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur, with both teams losing 1–0 to Newcastle. In the first leg of the UEFA Cup, he scored away against Olympiakos in a 3–1 victory. In that season's UEFA Cup, Kluivert scored five goals in all. In his debut season as Newcastle's second highest goal scorer for the 2004–05 season, he scored 13 goals. Kluivert was then released by Newcastle in the summer of 2005 despite these feats.

Kluivert returned to Spain to compete at Valencia CF's Mestalla. Valencia finished third in La Liga, thus qualifying for the Champions League after a one-season absence during the 2005–06 season. Kluivert played for 202 minutes, despite the fact that he missed the majority of the season due to injuries.

Despite widespread rumors that Kluivert would return home to Johan Cruyff Arena, Kluivert's return to the Ecudie was planned with PSV, with whom he signed a one-year contract in 2006. Kluivert made his PSV debut against Feyenoord in a 2–1 victory, losing as a replacement on his debut for Ajax. He had two injuries in the first half of the season, which limited his playing time. Kluivert refused to celebrate after scoring a goal against his former club in a game against Ajax at the Philips Stadion. He was finally released in July 2007.

Kluivert joined Lille's French side on July 25, 2007.

International career

Kluivert made his international debut against the Czech Republic on November 16, 1994, defeating Youri Mulder after 13 minutes of a 0–0 draw in Rotterdam. He replaced Ronald de Boer after 77 minutes in his second match, and seven minutes later he scored his first international goal in a 4–0 home qualification victory over Malta.

Kluivert scored both goals in the Netherlands' 2–0 UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying play-off victory over the Republic of Ireland at Anfield, qualifying the Oranje for UEFA Euro 1996. Kluivert missed the bulk of the tournament due to a knee injury, but he did well against host country England, allowing the Netherlands to qualify for the knock-out round against Scotland on goals scored. They lost in a penalty shootout to France, but not there.

Kluivert was sent home by referee Pierluigi Collina after elbowing Lorenzo Staelens at the 1998 FIFA World Cup. He made amends by being voted to compete against Argentina in the quarter-finals of the same tournament, where he scored the first goal. In the next round, he scored a late equalizing goal from a header to keep his team level with Brazil in the semi-finals, but the Netherlands lost the penalty shootout.

Kluivert scored a hat-trick in Yugoslavia's 6-1 quarter-final destruction of Yugoslavia; he was originally credited with four goals, but later determined as an own goal by Yugoslavia's Dejan Govedarica after Kluivert denied not getting a touch on Paul Bosvelt's cross. Kluivert would have been the first player to score four times in a European Championship finals match if all four goals had been scored. The Dutch were disqualified in the semi-finals by Italy on penalties; he missed one of their two spot-kicks in normal time, but did score in the penalty shoot-out. He won the Golden Boot with Savo Miloevi and five goals in as many games.

Kluivert will wear his country's iconic #9 jersey with his country in the tournament's semi-finals.

Kluivert was not allowed to participate in any of the qualifying games leading up to the World Cup, as well as being left out of the 2006 FIFA World Cup squad by coach Marco van Basten. This was due to the fact that he suffered persistent injuries that barred him from playing for his club during the 2005-06 season. Kluivert, the Dutch national team's all-time leading goalscorer with 40 goals, was unbeaten until 2013 by Robin van Persie.

Coaching career

Kluivert will study at the Dutch Football Association (KNVB) to become a professional football coach on April 29, 2008, according to Dutch media. All coaching badge candidates must complete this apprenticeship, according to the KNVB.

Kluivert will be spending the 2008–09 season as a member of Ezvite's backroom coaching staff, according to a newspaper on July 18, 2008. Kluivert explained his role in training the strikers at AZ later this afternoon in an interview on Soccer AM.

Kluivert took up as an assistant coach for Australian A-League team Brisbane Roar FC under head coach Ange Postecoglou in January 2010.

Kluivert denied journalists that he had turned down a comeback as a footballer on May 19th. He was an assistant-coach for N.E.C., instructing the strikers from August 2010 to August. He stepped up and took charge of the FC Twente youth and reserve teams, as well as teaching Jong FC Twente to a national championship in the Beloften Elementivisie in 2011.

Kluivert joined the Netherlands national team coaching staff in August 2012 under head coach Louis van Gaal. Kluivert's time with the Netherlands culminated in a third-place finish in the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Kluivert will take over as head of the Curaçao national football team for the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification, according to the publication on March 5th. Curaçao advanced to the first two qualifying rounds, defeating Montserrat and Cuba. Curaçao was disqualified in the 2018 FIFA World Cup third qualifying round by El Salvador on September 8, losing 2–0 on aggregate results. Kluivert announced on September 10th, 2015, after leading the nation to their best showing in World Cup qualifying, he announced his resignation as the team's head coach. He continues to be a close advisor to the Curaçao Football Federation despite being busy with other ventures.

Kluivert declared on February 24th that he intends to remain head coach of Curaçao ahead of the teams' Caribbean Cup qualifying matches against the Dominican Republic and Barbados. Kluivert was announced on May 2nd that he would take over as head coach of the Ajax A1 (under-19) squad, where he will oversee his son Justin Kluivert, who had earned a spot in the UEFA Youth League the previous year.

Kluivert remained head coach of Curaçao for round two of the Caribbean Cup qualifiers, where they faced Guyana and the Virgin Islands in group 3. In his last match as the island nation's head coach, Curaçao won both of their matches at home, defeating Guyana 5–2 and the United States Virgin Islands 7–0. Kluivert will no longer coach the Under-19 team of Ajax, but that he will instead take over as head of football for French club Paris Saint-Germain. He said he wanted to stay in Ajax but that he could not refuse PSG's offer.

Curaçao's national team's efforts for the national team were not without merit as the team qualified for both the 2017 Caribbean Cup and the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup, where they will compete for the first time in 40 years under the direction of Remko Bicentini and Kluivert.

Kluivert joined Seedorf's assistant at the Cameroon national football team in August 2018 before being fired in July 2019.

A few days after leaving Cameroon, Kluivert became FC Barcelona's academy director. In March 2021, the club announced that his deal would come to an end in June.

Kluivert returned to the Curaçao national team on an interim basis in May 2021, though compatriot Guus Hiddink recovered from COVID-19. Due to a outbreak of the same virus in July, the team was barred from the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

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