Ruud van Nistelrooy

Rutgerus Johannes Martinus van Nistelrooy, (Dutch pronunciation: [ryt vɑn ˈnɪstəlroːi̯] ( listen); born 1 July 1976), better known as Ruud van Nistelrooy, is a Dutch footballer who plays as a striker for Málaga CF in Spain's La Liga. He is the second-highest goalscorer in Champions League history with 60 goals. He is a three-time Champions League top scorer, as well as a top scorer in three different European domestic leagues.

Van Nistelrooy began his career with Den Bosch, before moving onto Heerenveen, eventually making a name for himself at PSV Eindhoven where he won two Dutch leagues. His goalscoring record at PSV attracted attention from Manchester United; a deal was in place in the summer of 2000, but because of injury problems his move was secured a year later for a then British record fee of £19 million. His time at United was successful, winning the Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup and FA Community Shield, along with winning the Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year twice.

Van Nistelrooy hit 150 goals in just 219 games for United, as well as being their all time European record goalscorer, but fell out of favour towards the end of his tenure. Real Madrid then secured his services in 2006. Although an injury blighted the end of his days with Madrid, he did win La Liga twice and the Supercopa de España before signing for Hamburg during the January transfer window in 2010. After a successful season-and-a-half with Hamburg, he moved back to Spain with Málaga CF in the summer of 2011.

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." Manchester United were eliminated by eventual finalists Milan in the knockout stage after going scoreless in both legs.

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.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.[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.

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. 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, who made his Bundesliga debut.

Ruud van Nistelrooy Hamburg Striker

Ruud van Nistelrooy Dutch footballer