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Born as Rudi Dil, 1 September 1962 in Amsterdam) OON is a Dutch football manager and former
football player, who played professionally in the 1980s and 1990s. He was the captain of the
Netherlands national team that was victorious at Euro 88 and was also a member of the squad for the
1990 World Cup. He was named the European Footballer of the Year in 1987 and the World Soccer
Player of the Year in 1987 and 1989. He was a versatile player, playing in numerous positions during
his career. Gullit was working to promote the Belgian-Dutch 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup bid.
Gullit developed his football skills in the confines of the Rozendwarsstraat, and street football was
instrumental in his formative years. Gullit’s first team were the Meerboys, where he joined as a junior
in 1970. However, at the age of 10 Gullit moved from the Jordaan to Amsterdam Old West where he
played street football alongside Frank Rijkaard. Gullit joined the DWS club after his move, and came to
the attention of the Dutch youth team, where he played alongside such future greats as Erwin
Koeman, Ronald Koeman and Wim Kieft. It was during his time at DWS that Ruud first took to using
his father’s surname, rather than his registered surname, as he thought it sounded more like a football
player. He retained his mother’s surname, officially, and continues to sign all contracts as Ruud Dil.
In 1981, on his 19th birthday, Gullit made his international debut as a substitute for the Netherlands
national team against Switzerland, a game the Dutch lost 2–1. Gullit’s early international career was
marred by disappointment as the team failed to qualify for the 1982 FIFA World Cup and Euro 84. The
Netherlands missed out in 1984 on goals scored as Spain trounced minnows Malta 12–1 in their final
qualifying game, when they needed an 11 goal victory to qualify. There was further disappointment in
1986 when the Dutch missed out on qualification for the World Cup at the hands of neighbours
Belgium in a play-off. Having lost 1–0 in Belgium, the Netherlands appeared to be set for qualification
in Rotterdam as they led 2–0 until Georges Grun put the Belgium through on away goals. However,
Gullit was one of the key players for the Netherlands helping his country win the Euro 88 under coach
Rinus Michels. Having lost their opening game of the tournament to the USSR the Netherlands beat
England and Republic of Ireland to reach the semi-finals. After defeating West Germany 2–1 in
Hamburg the Netherlands faced the Soviet Union in the final. Gullit opened the scoring with a wellplaced header and Marco van Basten scored an incredible volley to cap a 2–0 win. Ruud Gullit was
thus the first Dutch captain to hold aloft international silverware.
The Dutch travelled to Italia 90 as one of the favourites, but the team failed to perform as expected.
Gullit’s knee injuries clearly hampered his play, and his only moment of brilliance was a superb dribble
and shot against Ireland which helped the Netherlands qualify for the second round. There they met
West Germany in one of the most exciting games of the tournament, though the game was marred by
an altercation between Frank Rijkaard and Rudi Völler. The Germans gained revenge for their defeat
at Euro 88, by beating the Netherlands 2–1 and going on to win the tournament. 1992 saw the
Netherlands again among the favourites for silverware in Sweden at Euro 92. Gullit appeared in
imperious form against Scotland in their opening game of the tournament as he supplied Dennis
Bergkamp with an easy goal. But after drawing with Russia and beating Germany, the Netherlands
suffered a shock exit on penalties to Denmark, who ended up winning the championship’s Henri
Delaunay Trophy. In 1993 Gullit and Netherlands manager Dick Advocaat began what was to be a
long running dispute which ultimately ended Gullit’s international career. Advocaat’s decision to play
Gullit on the right-side of midfield, in a game against England at Wembley, rather than his usual
central position upset Gullit and this was exacerbated by his substitution for Marc Overmars.[9] Gullit
refused to play for the national team following this but later changed his mind and agreed to return,
facing Scotland in May 1994. Shortly before the 1994 FIFA World Cup, Gullit walked out of pretournament training camp and would never play international football again.

Gullit epitomised the ethos of Total Football as he was naturally adept in several positions. His
foremost attribute was his athleticism, as he used his strength and speed to great effect, as well as
being excellent in the air. Yet unusually for a man of his stature Gullit also possessed outstanding
natural balance and poise that gave a graceful style to his game. Gullit thus combined technical ability
with physical presence to become an iconic figure in world football. Gullit’s brilliance prompted George
Best to comment in 1990, “Ruud Gullit is a great player by any standards. He has all the skills. He’s
not afraid to do things with the ball. And he looks as if he’s enjoying every second of it. By my
reckoning that’s what makes him an even better player than Maradona. Both have the key quality you
will find in all the best players: balance. You just can’t knock them off the ball. It was the same with
Pelé, Beckenbauer and Cruijff.” In 1988 Ruud Gullit scored a No.3 hit with the anti-apartheid song
“South Africa” in the Dutch Top 40 together with the reggae band Revelation Time. Previously he had
a modest hit in 1984 with the song “Not the Dancing Kind”. After his spell at Newcastle, Gullit spent
several years working as a football commentator, having previously coined the term “sexy football”
during his spell as a BBC pundit during Euro 96 which was at a time Gullit was still playing
professionally for Chelsea. Gullit used the term to describe teams, such as Portugal at that
tournament,who played attractive football with an emphasis on the defense-penetrating pass-andmove game.
By 2006, Gullit had a talk show on Dutch TV, where he has interviewed, amongst others, Nelson
Mandela.[13] When Gullit was named winner of the Ballon d’Or in 1987, he dedicated the award to the
then imprisoned Nelson Mandela. At the time, Gullit was signed to AC Milan and the Italians raised
their eyebrows, “Nelson who?”. Gullit tried to explain and they said, “Oh, a footballer with political
beliefs”. Gullit has since in interviews told that he met Nelson Mandela after he was released and
Mandela said, “Ruud, I have lots of friends now. When I was on the inside, you were one of the few”.
In 2007 Gullit recalled, “Four months ago I visited Robben Island and met three guys who were cellmates of Nelson Mandela. They remembered my dedicating my award in 1987 to Mandela and they
said they couldn’t believe what I had done, and were sure the football authorities would withdraw the
award. That’s what apartheid did to them, it made them believe injustice was a normal part of life.”
He also appeared as a pundit for ITV during the 2006 FIFA World Cup and works as an analyst for the
UEFA Champions League games on Sky Sports and Al Jazeera Sports. During the 2010 FIFA World
Cup, Gullit worked as a studio analyst alongside former players Jürgen Klinsmann and Steve
McManaman for ESPN .He subsequently worked as an analyst for Al Jazeera Sports during UEFA
Euro 2012 alongside Glenn Hoddle and Terry Venables among.