Football Legends - Ruud Krol

Rudolf Jozef “Ruud” Krol, born in Amsterdam, played most of his career for his hometown club Ajax. 

He was only 20 when he was called up to the national team squad for the first time and stayed there for the next fourteen years. With Ajax, he was part of some of the best clubteams European football has ever seen. Three straight European Cups were won in the early seventies and many of his colleagues in Ajax, for instance Johann Cruyff, were also key-players for Holland.

Krol was a versatile defender who could play anywhere that was required. He was a great reader of the game which also made him successful as a sweeper in the 1978 World Cup. Four years earlier he had been equally successful at left-back. 

The Dutch team of 1974 is always mentioned when people talk about great teams that never won the World Cup. Krol played in every minute in all seven games and also scored a goal, a cracking shot against Argentina in the 4-0 second phase win.

Krol was made captain by coach Ernst Happel for the 1978 World Cup and Holland advanced through the rounds much thanks to Krol’s presence. The team suffered from the lack of Cruyff in a creative midfield role, but neither Italy or West Germany could prevent Holland from reaching a second World Cup final in a row. 

Holland and Krol, once again an ever-present, could not stop Argentina and Kempes in extra-time as the hosts ran out 3-1 winners.

Ruud moved to Canada to play for the Vancouver Whitecaps in 1980. He returned back to Europe the following year to play four seasons for Napoli and later for Cannes in the French second division where he also ended his career. 

He was capped 83 times for Holland, a record until Aron Winter broke it during Euro 2000. 

Ruud Krol is currently manager of Raja Casablanca in Morocco

  
  

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FA Face Questions About Eva

Football Association officials are to be questioned next month on their handling of anti-discrimination cases – including that of the former Chelsea doctor Eva Carneiro.

Members of the FA’s Inclusion Advisory Board (IAB) say they have “deep concerns” about a number of cases and will question the chief executive, Martin Glenn, and director of governance, Darren Bailey, about the issues raised at a meeting in November.

Top of the list of concerns will be the FA investigation into the independent board member Heather Rabbatts, the chair of the IAB, which was launched after a complaint from two FA councillors about her criticism of the FA’s handling of the Carneiro case.

Carneiro parted company with Chelsea after being dropped from first-team duties following criticism from manager José Mourinho for going on to the pitch at the referee’s request to treat the injured Eden Hazard on the opening day of the season.

Independent members of the IAB, including the former Chelsea players Graeme Le Saux and Paul Elliott, have written a joint letter to the FA chairman Greg Dyke and all FA councillors backing Rabbatts and criticising the investigation. The letter, a copy of which has been seen by Press Association Sport, states: “The FA Inclusion Advisory Board [IAB] members have expressed deep concerns about a number of recent anti-discrimination cases.

“To this end, we are looking forward to meeting with Martin Glenn and Darren Bailey to discuss these issues in more depth and in the hope that we can continue to support the FA and its values to see inclusion and diversity developed across the game. In the meantime, we wish to express our unwavering support for Heather Rabbatts and further, to seek reassurance that she still has the full support of the FA board.

“We were concerned to see two members of the FA Council question Heather’s integrity this week with an FA enquiry now under way. Their seeming priorities surely serve only to distract from the real issues at stake within football such as fairness, equality and respect.”

The letter says Rabbatts’ mandate is to champion equality and diversity in football. It adds: “We would question whether Heather Rabbatts has any charge to answer to and therefore, the IAB calls for this matter be concluded promptly so that she can continue unhindered in her many good works at the FA IAB helm and as a member of the FA board.”

Rabbatts has been heavily critical of the FA’s handling of Carneiro’s case and expressed “major concerns” about the disciplinary process, which saw Mourinho cleared of making discriminatory comments towards the doctor, after it emerged she had not been interviewed by the FA. She also questioned why no charges had been brought against any club after Carneiro suffered sexist abuse from opposing fans.

It is understood two FA members of the 121-strong FA council – the 82-year-old life vice-president Ron Barston and 70-year-old law lecturer Richard Tur, the chairman of the Oxford University FA – sparked the investigation into Rabbatts.

Under FA rules, only two members of the council are required for a formal investigation to be launched. The ultimate sanction if any wrongdoing is found would be Rabbatts being removed from the FA board, though any such move would have to be confirmed by her fellow directors.

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Mourinho Returns to Football

José Mourinho has vowed to focus on football after taking exception to media reporting of two incidents on a London street.

The 52-year-old Chelsea manager is frustrated that phone camera footage of two teenagers following him through west London – something Chelsea described as overly intrusive – was widely reported this week.

“You don’t get from me good and funny headlines,” Mourinho said at his media conference for Saturday’s Premier League clash at West Ham. “I’m going to treat your bosses the same way they treat me. No respect, no respect. And I’m not speaking about football. Football I’m ready to accept any kind of criticism, even the stupid ones.

“Private life and stupid things that you bring to light, I don’t like it. So we go to a different level of professional relationship.”

A Chelsea spokesperson said: “We’ve noted the two recent stories concerning José being filmed on mobile phones. While José understands the laws pertaining to filming in public places, the two teenagers in question followed him from his home for 20 minutes and constantly interrupted a private phone call, which he and the club believes goes beyond the grounds of reasonable behaviour.

“José has always spoken warmly of the public reception he receives in London, but both José and the club consider these last two instances as overly intrusive.

“We also note the allegation of intimidation in those stories, which José strongly refutes and which his legal representatives will continue to monitor closely.”

The Premier League champions sit 12th in the table after nine games, having belatedly recorded a third winby beating Aston Villa last Saturday. That was followed by a goalless Champions League draw at Dynamo Kyiv but Mourinho is uncertain if Chelsea are now climbing from their lowest point of the season.

“I don’t know. I just know that the team was always together, the players were always together,” Mourinho added. “The players were man enough to assume responsibility and to say even publicly some of them that they were feeling responsibilities in their individual poor start.

“Statistics are very clear for us. As an example, we conceded six goals as a consequence of isolated individual mistakes.

“But the team was always together. We’ve got two important results, three points in the Premier League after two matches without a victory and against a direct rival for qualification in the Champions League [Dynamo] we got a point away and the chance in 15 days to play against them. The mood improves with results and people are happy.”

Eden Hazard, Chelsea’s leading performer last term, was dropped against Villa, but returned to the starting XI in Ukraine. Mourinho declined to say if the Belgium playmaker would start at Upton Park but merely spoke about his contribution in Kiev after demanding an improved work ethic.

“I don’t know [if Hazard will start],” said Mourinho. “He played the last match and played for 90 minutes and he was part of the compact team that kept that clean sheet. I’m happy with his contribution against Dynamo and that’s it.”

West Ham have made a fine start to sit fourth under Slaven Bilic, a manager Mourinho admires. “As a coach, I like [him] a lot,” Mourinho added. “Since the Croatian national team period to Besiktas and now to West Ham, I have a very good image, idea, about him. As a person, I don’t know him very well, but I have the feeling that we could be friends.”

Despite the troubled start to the season, Mourinho insists Chelsea are “not afraid to lose”. “Premier League is 38 matches, lots of points. You lose today, you try to win tomorrow,” he added. “At this moment in the Premier League we are not afraid to lose matches. We are going to play normal.”

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Ballon d'Or Nominations

Gareth Bale is the only Brit in the running for this year's Ballon d'Or - but three Manchester City players are among five Premier League stars also in contention.

Bale has played a vital role in helping Wales qualify for a major finals tournament for the first time since 1958, scoring seven goals in their successful European Qualifiers campaign.

He has attracted some criticism from some Real Madrid fans in recent months and has only scored twice for them this season, with both goals coming in a 5-0 win against Real Betis in August.

Bale has still played an important role for the Spanish giants, however, and struck 17 times for them last term.

The attacker is joined on the 23-man shortlist by five Premier League stars, with Sergio Aguero one of three who hail from the Etihad Stadium.

He was the competition's top scorer last season with 26 goals and has eight more this term including five against Newcastle at the start of the month.

Aguero is included among the candidates along with his team-mate Yaya Toure, a scorer 13 times for his club and country Ivory Coast in 2014/15.

New signing Kevin De Bruyne - who has made a stunning start to his time at City - is also on the shortlist, largely for the work he did at previous club Wolfsburg.

Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez is on the list and he has arguably been the star turn in the division so far this season.

Chelsea forward Eden Hazard, last term's PFA Player of the Year, is the final player of the English-based quintet.

There are few other surprises among the other contenders, with Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Paul Pogba, Neymar, Robert Lewandowski and Luis Suarez all named.

Karim Benzema, Andres Iniesta, Toni Kroos, Javier Mascherano, Thomas Muller, Manuel Neuer, Ivan Rakitic, Arjen Robben, James Rodriguez and Arturo Vidal complete the selection.

Spain's La Liga - with 11 - leads the way in terms of nominations by league, while Germany's Bundesliga has six nominees. There are two from Italy's Serie A and one - Ibrahimovic - from France's Ligue 1.

Players who have transferred during the past year are recognised for their contribution to both clubs.

Jose Mourinho has had a difficult start to Chelsea's title defence but he is a nominee for the manager's award after their emphatic Premier League win last season.

Arsenal's Arsene Wenger is also included on the 10-man shortlist with the likes of Carlo Ancelotti, Laurent Blanc, Pep Guardiola, Luis Enrique and Diego Simeone.

Chile boss Jorge Sampaoli, Massimiliano Allegri and Unai Emery are the final three names shortlisted and the winners will be announced in Zurich on January 11.

Voting will run from next Monday until November 20, with the captain and manager of each international football team having a vote.

International media representatives selected by France Football will also be involved in the process, with a final three-man shortlist to be announced on November 30.

FIFA Ballon d'Or shortlist: 

Sergio Aguero (Argentina/Manchester City), Gareth Bale (Wales/Real Madrid), Karim Benzema (France/Real Madrid), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal/Real Madrid), Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium/Manchester City), Eden Hazard (Belgium/Chelsea), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden/Paris Saint-Germain), Andres Iniesta (Spain/Barcelona), Toni Kroos (Germany/Real Madrid), Robert Lewandowski (Poland/Bayern Munich), Javier Mascherano (Argentina/Barcelona), Lionel Messi (Argentina/Barcelona), Thomas Muller (Germany/Bayern Munich), Manuel Neuer (Germany/Bayern Munich), Neymar (Brazil/Barcelona), Paul Pogba (France/Juventus), Ivan Rakitic (Croatia/Barcelona), Arjen Robben (Netherlands/Bayern Munich), James Rodriguez (Colombia/Real Madrid), Alexis Sanchez (Chile/Arsenal), Luis Suarez (Uruguay/Barcelona), Yaya Toure (Ivory Coast/Manchester City), Arturo Vidal (Chile/Bayern Munich).

FIFA World Coach of the Year for Men's Football shortlist:

Massimiliano Allegri (Juventus), Carlo Ancelotti (Real Madrid), Laurent Blanc (Paris Saint-Germain), Unai Emery (Sevilla), Pep Guardiola (FC Bayern Munich), Luis Enrique (Barcelona), Jose Mourinho (Chelsea), Jorge Sampaoli (Chile), Diego Simeone (Atletico Madrid), Arsene Wenger (Arsenal).

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Doctor Carneiro Leaves Chelsea

Chelsea doctor Eva Carneiro has decided to leave the club - six weeks after criticism from manager Jose Mourinho.

Carneiro had her role downgraded after Mourinho said his medical staff were "naive" for treating Eden Hazard during the 2-2 draw with Swansea on 8 August.

Chelsea asked Carneiro, 42, to return to work, but she has decided not to and is now considering her legal position.

The Football Association is looking into a complaint that Mourinho used abusive or sexist language towards her.

Carneiro and head physio Jon Fearn went onto the pitch to treat midfielder Hazard in the closing stages of the draw with Swansea.

It meant the Blues were temporarily reduced to nine men, with goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois having been sent off, and Mourinho said the duo had been "impulsive and naive".

Carneiro lost her place on the bench and was no longer allowed to attend matches or training sessions.

Two days after the incident, she posted a message on Facebook thanking the public for their "overwhelming support".

Mourinho stood by his decision to remove her from her role, adding he had a "good relationship" with his medical staff.

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