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Rudolf Jozef Krol , also known as Ruud or Rudi,
(born March 24, 1949 in Amsterdam) is a retired
Dutch footballer who was capped 83 times for his
country. He began his career at Ajax Amsterdam
under the legendary Rinus Michels. In his first
season at the club he didn't play much. After the
departure of leftback Van Duijvenbode in the
summer of 1969 to Feyenoord, Krol became a regular
player. When Ajax reached the European Cup in
1971, and won, Krol didn't play because of a
broken leg. Krol did play in the European Cup
finals of 1972 and 1973.  While others such as
Cruyff and Johan Neeskens left for pastures new,
Krol stayed at Ajax until 1980. (He later
regretted staying so long). He moved to the NASL
to play for the Vancouver Whitecaps, but stayed
just one season. He then joined SSC Napoli where
he played for in the next four seasons. His last
club before he retired was the France|French club
AS Cannes, and retired from club football in 1986.

Internationally, Krol made his Netherlands
national football team|Holland debut in 1969
against England national football team|England,
and earned 83 caps, retiring from international
football in 1983. He was a crucial component in
the Total Football side of the 1970's. A versatile
defender, he could play in any position along the
back four or midfield. In the Wc|1974, in which
Holland reached the final, Krol primarily played
at left-back and excelled - his creation of
Cruyff's goal against Brazil national football
team|Brazil and his 25-yard screamer against
Argentina national football team|Argentina will
live long in the memory. Alas, they fell at the
final hurdle, losing 2-1 to Germany national
football team|West Germany.

By the time the Wc|1978 came about, Krol had
switched to playing as a sweeper and had earned
the captain's armband after the retirement of
Cruyff. Krol had a fine tournament, but was unable
to prevent Holland from falling to their second
Final defeat, this time losing 3-1 to Argentina.

Krol played for Holland as captain at the 1980
European Football Championship|1980 European
Championship, but they disappointed, being knocked
out in the first round by West Germany and
Czechoslovakia. They also failed to qualify for
the Wc|1982. He played for part of the qualifying 
for Ec|84, and played his last international in
1983, in a 1-0 European Championship qualifiying
defeat against Spain national football team|Spain.
His record cap haul was only surpassed by Aron
Winter during the Ec2|2000 tournament.

In his managerial career, he has been head coach
of Egypt national football team|Egypt, and has
been assistant manager of Holland (under Louis van
Gaal) and Ajax (under Ronald Koeman). He has
recently acted as interim manager of Ajax, after
the resignation of Koeman.