Clarence Seedorf: Profile & Career achievements
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Dutch football legend Clarence Seedorf

Clarence Seedorf: Profile & Career achievements

08:14 - 18.04.2023

Full profile and background of one of the greatest midfielders of all time, Clarence Seedorf.

Clarence Seedorf background

Clarence Clyde Seedorf is a Dutch professional football manager and former football player who is widely regarded by football lovers as one of the greatest midfielders of all time.

Clarence Seedorf in action for the Netherlands

Seedorf is one of the most successful players in UEFA Champions League history. He is the only player to have won the Champions League with three clubs, Ajax, in 1995, Real Madrid, in 1998, and on two occasions with AC Milan, in 2003 and 2007. 

At national team level, Clarence Seedorf represented the Netherlands on 87 occasions and was a vital member of the squad as they took part in three UEFA European Football Championships (1996, 2000, 2004) and the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

Clarence Seedorf style of play

Known as "Il Professore" and "Willy Wonka", Clarence Seedorf was a well-rounded, hardworking, and versatile player who was gifted with strength, pace, and stamina. 

Clarence Seedorf was a well-rounded, hardworking, and versatile player

Having these qualities allowed him to play anywhere in midfield and contribute both offensively and defensively.

Although he primarily served as a playmaker in the centre, throughout his career he was also deployed as an attacking midfielder, on the wing, or in a box-to-box role.

Clarence Seedorf had an uncanny ability to break down opposing plays and win back possession, he was an elegant, creative player and an excellent dribbler, possessing outstanding technique, ball skills, and vision, which enabled him to pick the right pass every time.

Where is Clarence Seedorf from?

Seedorf in action for the Netherlands at the Euros.

Seedorf was born in Born in Paramaribo, Suriname, and raised in Almere, Flevoland, where he moved when he was two years old. He began playing for amateur sides VV AS '80 and Real Almere, at a young age before being discovered and signed by Dutch giants Ajax Amsterdam.

Clarence Seedorf football career

Ajax - 1992-1995

Sampdoria - 1995-1996

Real Madrid - 1996-2000

Internazionale - 2000-2002

AC Milan - 2002-2012

Botafogo - 2012-2014

How many Champions League titles did Seedorf win?

Clarence Seedorf and Kaka for AC Milan after winning the Champions League

Seedorf has won the prestigious UEFA Champions League four times and is the only player to have won the Champions League while playing for three different teams.

The Dutchman famously did so with Ajax in 1994/95, Real Madrid in 1997/98 and AC Milan in 2002/03 and 2006/07.

What country did Seedorf represent?

The former Milan legend, Clarence Seedorf played for the Netherlands. He received his first call-up on 14 December 1994 at the age of 18 against Luxemburg.  Seedorf scored on his debut, helping his team to a 5–0 victory in a UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying game.

He was in the Dutch squad for the UEFA Euro championships in 1996, where his penalty miss proved decisive in the quarter-final shootout defeat to France. Clarence Seedorf also appeared for the Netherlands at Euro 2000 and Euro 2004, as well as the 1998 FIFA World Cup, reaching the semi-finals in all three of these tournaments.

Clarence Seedorf Managerial career

Clarence Seedorf was appointed the new head coach of Milan on 16 January 2014, terminating his contract with Botafogo early in order to take on the managerial role, with Milan languishing in 11th in the Serie A table. 

On 19 January, he won his first managerial match, played against Hellas Verona, with Mario Balotelli scoring the lone goal of the game.

Clarence Seedorf was coach of AC Milan in 2014

Despite overseeing the club's first five-match winning run since 2011, and first Serie A victory in the Milan derby against Inter since 2011, Seedorf was dismissed by Milan on 9 June 2014 after just four months on the job, with Filippo Inzaghi being named as his successor.

During the Dutchman's time at the helm of the club, Milan gained a total of 35 out of a possible 57 points.

Seedorf was appointed manager of China League One team Shenzhen F.C. in July 2016, but was replaced five months later by Sven-Göran Eriksson.

A year later Seedorf joined Brazilian club Atlético Paranaense as both a coach and a sporting director within a month the deal was cancelled after both parties failed to reach an agreement. 

In February 2018, he was appointed as manager of Spanish club Deportivo de La Coruña for the remainder of the 2017–18 season. Seedorf led the team to just two wins in sixteen matches, Deportivo were relegated from La Liga, and at the end of the season, he left the club.

Seedorf was appointed manager of the Cameroon national team in August 2018

Seedorf was appointed manager of the Cameroon national team in August 2018. He was joined by former teammate Patrick Kluivert as his assistant manager. 

However, after a disappointing 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, where Cameroon was eliminated by Nigeria in the round of sixteen after an unimpressive group stage, he was sacked in July 2019.