Patrick Kluivert Keynote Speaker
- Dutch national team all-time leading goal scorer
- Named in FIFA 100 list of “Greatest Living Footballers”
- Coach for FC Twente Youth Team, and Assistant Coach to the Dutch National Team
Patrick Kluivert's Biography
Patrick Kluivert is a veteran of professional football with 246 goals across his career playing for some of Europe’s most prestigious clubs. He remains the Dutch national team’s all-time leading goal scorer, with 40 to his name and in 2004 was recognised amongst the FIFA 100 list of “greatest living footballers”.
Playing for AFC Ajax (1994-1997) Kluivert saw the team through some of its finest victories, famously breaking 85 minutes of deadlock to take the team to victory over A.C. Milan in the 1995 UEFA Champions League. That year saw him hailed as European footballer of the year under 21 and Dutch talent of the year, aged only 18.
Across the next decade he played for Milan in the Italian ‘Serie A’; Spanish teams Barcelona and Valencia; Newcastle in the British Premier league; PSV in the Netherlands and France’s Lille OSC. Throughout this period Kluivert represented his national team, receiving the ‘Golden Boot’ award for his stunning five goals in UEFA Euro 2000.
Kluivert’s trademark aerial skill, impressive first touch and mastery of the ‘cruijff turn’ thrilled fans and audiences the world over until his retirement in 2008. He now focuses on developing the skills of a new generation of top players as Assistant to the Dutch national team and as the driving force behind FC Twente’s youth team.