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Danny Blind

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Danny Blind
Personal information
Full name Dirk Franciscus Blind[1]
Date of birth (1961-08-01) 1 August 1961 (age 63)
Place of birth Oost-Souburg, Netherlands
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)[2]
Position(s) Defender
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1979–1986 Sparta Rotterdam 165 (18)
1986–1999 Ajax 372 (27)
Total 537 (45)
International career
1986–1996 Netherlands 42 (1)
Managerial career
2005–2006 Ajax
2015–2017 Netherlands
Medal record
Representing  Netherlands
UEFA European Championship
Third place 1992
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Dirk Franciscus "Danny" Blind (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈdɪr(ə)k frɑnˈsɪskʏz ˈdɛni ˈblɪnt];[citation needed] born 1 August 1961) is a Dutch former football player and coach. He played as a defender for Sparta Rotterdam, Ajax and the Netherlands national team. As coach he has managed Ajax and the Netherlands national team.

He is one of only two Dutch players, together with Arnold Mühren, to have won all UEFA club competitions.

Playing career

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Club career

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Blind made his professional football debut on 29 August 1979 with Sparta Rotterdam. He stayed under contract with Sparta for seven seasons when in July 1986 he transferred to Ajax, attracted there by manager Johan Cruyff. Blind's signing, however, was much to the chagrin of Ajax superstar Marco van Basten, who was upset that his manager had brought in a relatively unknown, defensive player from a fairly small club like Sparta, instead of splashing out on a big-money, big-name transfer.[3] With Ajax, Blind amassed an impressive trophy list, winning all three European trophies (UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1987, the UEFA Cup in 1992 and the UEFA Champions League in 1995). He also secured the Intercontinental Cup in 1995 against Brazil's Grêmio by scoring the winning penalty in the penalty shoot-out.

Blind was again a penalty hero when he converted twice against Real Zaragoza in the European Super Cup final of 1995, which Ajax won 5–1 over the two legs. The two penalties Blind converted were in the 65th and 69th minutes of the second leg.

Domestically, with Ajax, he won five Dutch Eredivisie Championships and four national cups. He retired on 16 May 1999.

Blind was known for being a solid, dependable defender and a leader on the field. However, he was also a technically gifted and cultured player who could pass and strike the ball well for a non-attacking player. Whilst famous for being a centre back, Blind started his career as a right full-back.

International career

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Blind gained 42 caps for the Netherlands over a ten-year period, scoring once against Greece in a UEFA Euro 1992 qualifier. He made his debut in 1986 against Scotland but was not capped at all in 1987 or 1988,[4] an absence which meant he missed being a part of the triumphant UEFA Euro 1988 side. He did, however, appear at the 1990 and 1994 World Cups and the 1992 and 1996 European Championships, retiring after the latter.

Management career

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Blind was head coach at Ajax from 14 March 2005 (appointed as successor to Ronald Koeman) until 10 May 2006, after only 422 days in charge. He led Ajax to victory in the KNVB Cup and the Johan Cruyff Shield.

In 2007–08, Blind became director of football at his old club, Sparta Rotterdam. On 15 May 2008, he returned to Ajax to become the new director of football in Amsterdam but switched roles when Martin Jol joined the club to assistant coach. Moving to the position of technical director for Ajax at the beginning of the 2011–12 season, on 9 February 2012 it was announced that Blind would retire from his duties as technical director at Ajax, concluding a heated dispute surrounding the club's board of directors.[5]

On 1 July 2015, Blind was named Guus Hiddink's successor as head coach of the Netherlands national team.[6] He failed to lead them to Euro 2016, and he put the 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign at stake after more meagre results. He was sacked by the Dutch FA on 26 March 2017, the day after losing 2–0 away at Bulgaria, which left their chances of qualification in serious doubt.

On 4 August 2021, Blind returned to the Netherlands national team as assistant to Louis van Gaal.

Personal life

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Blind is the father of professional footballer Daley Blind, who has played for Ajax and Manchester United.[7] His son is also a Dutch international, and is one of their ten most featured players of all time with over 100 caps.

Career statistics

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Club performance[8][9] League Cup Continental Total
Club Season League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Netherlands League KNVB Cup Europe Total
Sparta Rotterdam 1979–80 Eredivisie 13 0 2 0 - - 15 0
1980–81 Eredivisie 10 0 0 0 - - 10 0
1981–82 Eredivisie 10 2 2 0 - - 12 2
1982–83 Eredivisie 34 3 1 0 - - 35 3
1983–84 Eredivisie 34 5 3 0 6 0 43 5
1984–85 Eredivisie 30 3 4 0 - - 34 3
1985–86 Eredivisie 34 5 1 0 4 0 39 5
Ajax 1986–87 Eredivisie 29 4 5 0 7 0 41 4
1987–88 Eredivisie 31 0 1 0 8 1 40 1
1988–89 Eredivisie 30 2 3 0 - - 33 2
1989–90 Eredivisie 34 0 4 0 - - 38 0
1990–91 Eredivisie 34 2 3 0 - - 37 2
1991–92 Eredivisie 30 2 3 1 12 1 45 4
1992–93 Eredivisie 28 4 5 0 8 0 41 4
1993–94 Eredivisie 30 1 4 3 6 0 40 4
1994–95 Eredivisie 34 5 3 0 10 0 49 5
1995–96 Eredivisie 31 3 1 0 8 0 40 3
1996–97 Eredivisie 16 0 0 0 5 0 21 0
1997–98 Eredivisie 26 1 4 1 7 0 37 2
1998–99 Eredivisie 19 3 2 0 3 0 24 3
Ajax 372 27 38 5 84 2 494 34
Career total 537 45 51 5 94 2 682 54

Managerial statistics

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As of match played 25 March 2017[10]
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team Nat From To Record
G W D L GF GA GD Win %
Ajax Netherlands 15 March 2005 10 May 2006 64 38 10 16 133 74 +59 059.38
Netherlands Netherlands 1 July 2015 26 March 2017 17 7 3 7 26 25 +1 041.18
Total 81 45 13 23 159 99 +60 055.56

Honours

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Player

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Ajax[11]

Individual

Manager

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Ajax[11]

See also

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Notes

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References

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  1. ^ "Squad List: FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022: Netherlands (NED)" (PDF). FIFA. 15 November 2022. p. 20. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  2. ^ "Danny Blind". IMDb.
  3. ^ Danny Blind returns to Ajax Archived 9 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine World Cup Blog, 7 May 2008
  4. ^ "Danny Blind – International Appearances". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  5. ^ Ajax board including Johan Cruyff and Edgar Davids step down en masse The Guardian, 9 February 2012
  6. ^ "Danny Blind succeeds Guus Hiddink as Netherlands coach". BBC Sport. 1 July 2015. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  7. ^ "Ajax sign Daley Blind". Ajax.nl. AFC Ajax. 29 March 2007. Archived from the original on 28 February 2008. Retrieved 11 December 2008.
  8. ^ Danny Blind Level-K
  9. ^ Dirk Franciscus Blind "Danny Blind" World-Soccer.org
  10. ^ "Danny Blind career sheet". footballdatabase. footballdatabase. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  11. ^ a b "Danny Blind – Career Honours". Soccerway.
  12. ^ "Blind wint Gouden Schoen". Ajax Life. Archived from the original on 6 May 2014. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
  13. ^ "Toyota Cup – Most Valuable Player of the Match Award". Archived from the original on 24 December 2008. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
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