Davids ' arrival has been cited as the catalyst for the Catalan club's dominance of Spanish and European football during the mid-to-late 2000s ( decade ), with Rijkaard winning La Liga the following season ( after five years without winning the league title ) and a La Liga and Champions League double in 2005 – 06.

He was the head coach of the Dutch B national team until June 2009, at which date he has been appointed as the assistant coach to Frank Rijkaard at Galatasaray SK.

Rijkaard has evidently learned to curb the quick temper of his playing days and is often a portrait of calm and stability in training and along the touchline.

However, at the age of 10 Gullit moved from the Jordaan to Amsterdam Old West where he played street football alongside Frank Rijkaard.

In 1988 – 89 European Cup season, Red Star played against Arrigo Sacchi ’ s A. C. Milan with its Dutch European champions trio Gullit, van Basten and Rijkaard, the absolute superstars at that time, as well as the devensive stars Baresi, Maldini, Costacurta and Tassotti.

Rijkaard played for five seasons at Milan.

Rijkaard also played for the Netherlands during the 1990 and 1994 FIFA World Cups and at Euro 1992.

Rijkaard was involved in an incident with Rudi Völler when West Germany played the Netherlands in the 1990 World Cup.

The Netherlands played some of the best football of the tournament but lost their semi-final match to Italy on penalties, and Rijkaard resigned immediately.

His no nonsense policy on and off the field, and the sparkling football played by his team, won him many plaudits and Rijkaard was among the five nominated coaches for UEFA's Team of the Year 2005.

Frank Rijkaard played in the tournament for Ajax.

Although Guðjohnsen played reasonably well in his first season with Barcelona, he did not seem to have fulfilled the expectations of either Frank Rijkaard or the Barcelona fans.

A Milan vs Barcelona celebration match, featuring great names past and present ( such as Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit, Frank Rijkaard, and Franco Baresi ) was played on 15 March 2006.

The season saw an unbeaten run in the national league and the final season for Frank Rijkaard, while striker Patrick Kluivert came off the bench to score a late winner to beat AC Milan in the final of the Champions League.

In 1987, Silvio Berlusconi signed Van Basten for Milan, with fellow countrymen Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard joining in 1988.

Under coach Frank Rijkaard, Galatasaray finished third on the 2010 – 11 Süper Lig table, and qualified for the 2010 – 11 UEFA Europa League Third qualifying round, where Kewell's contract with Galatasaray expired after the 2009 – 10 season.

The unsavoury incident that took place during the second-round match with Holland started when Rijkaard was booked for a bad tackle on Völler.

As Rijkaard took up position for the free kick, he spat in Völler's hair.

Two minutes before half-time England were fortunate to have a Frank Rijkaard goal ruled out for offside, even though replays showed the goal was legitimate.

At the request of Guus Hiddink, Neeskens, along with Frank Rijkaard and Ronald Koeman, acted as assistant coach for the Dutch national team during the qualifiers and finals of the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

Rijkaard stayed at Ajax for seven and a half seasons, as a central defender ( 1981 – 82, 1982 – 83, 1984 – 85 ), a right midfielder and a central midfielder ( 1985 – 86 ).

On the international stage, Rijkaard made his debut for the Netherlands in 1981.

Rijkaard was booked for a tackle on Völler and, as Rijkaard took up position for the free kick, he spat in Völler's hair.

From the resulting free kick, Völler then went to the ground, according to himself to avoid a collision with Dutch keeper Hans van Breukelen, while others, notably Rijkaard and van Breukelen, saw it as a dive in hopes for a penalty.

At Euro 1992, Rijkaard scored a late equalizer for the Netherlands in a 2 – 2 draw with Denmark at the semi final stage but the Dutch went out on penalties.

Rijkaard was not out of a coaching role for long, and less than a year after leaving Sparta Rotterdam, he was appointed manager of Barcelona for the 2003 – 04 season.

Rijkaard had a disappointing start at Barcelona that saw some sections of the club's fans call for his resignation, and he drew flak from the media when the team lost to Real Madrid in December 2003.

After losing to Manchester United in the semifinal of the 2007 – 08 UEFA Champions League, Rijkaard was asked whether he would quit at the end of the season seeing as though he had not won anything for two successive seasons.

During UEFA Euro 2004, he announced his refusal to play for Barça as long as Frank Rijkaard was in charge, incurring the interest of many other clubs.

Rijkaard was just 17 when Ajax coach Leo Beenhakker gave him his senior squad debut 23 August 1980.

After five seasons in Italy, Rijkaard returned to Ajax in 1993.

With Louis van Gaal at the helm, Rijkaard and Danny Blind formed the experienced defensive core of the Ajax team that won the first two of three consecutive Dutch Championships.

Other members of this exclusive group include greats such as Paulo Sousa ( Borussia Dortmund and Juventus ), Clarence Seedorf ( Ajax, Real Madrid, and Milan ), Marcel Desailly ( Marseille and Milan ), Frank Rijkaard ( Milan and Ajax ), Samuel Eto ' o ( Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Internazionale ), Didier Deschamps ( Marseille and Juventus ), Owen Hargreaves ( Bayern Munich and Manchester United ), Dejan Savićević ( Red Star and Milan ), Miodrag Belodedic ( Steaua Bucureşti and Red Star ), Vladimir Jugović ( Red Star and Juventus ) and Edwin van der Sar ( Ajax and Manchester United ).

For Rijkaard, the team he inherited, with the exception of new superstar signing Ronaldinho ( who was the club's second choice after Beckham ), also consisted of many underachieving players from the old guard and era that failed to meet the club and its fans ' demands to match arch rival Real Madrid's success in the early 2000s ( decade ), having not won a trophy since 1999.

On 8 May 2008, the day after Barcelona's dismal 4 – 1 defeat to arch rivals Real Madrid, Barcelona's president Joan Laporta announced that at the end of the 2007 – 2008 season, Rijkaard would no longer be head coach of the first team.

It was coach Arrigo Sacchi who saw Rijkaard as playing a pivotal role at Milan and transformed the central defender into a world class holding midfielder, where the Dutchman's aggressive and firm style would go on to influence the likes of Patrick Vieira to replicate in future years.

In his final game, Rijkaard won the European Cup ( which had been renamed as the Champions League ) again, with a 1 – 0 victory over Milan in the 1995 final at the Ernst Happel Stadion in Vienna.

The Italian club had seemingly followed their illustrious city rivals Milan into buying Dutch players in the hope to emulate Milan's success with Marco van Basten, Frank Rijkaard and Ruud Gullit in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

When Hiddink stepped down as national coach after the 1998 FIFA World Cup, he performed the same role during the reign of Frank Rijkaard as national coach up until the end of Euro 2000.

On 28 June 2011, It was announced that Rijkaard would be head coach of the Saudi Arabian national football team after a deal with Saudi Arabia Football Federation.

In this light, it is notable that Michels coached both Cruijff and Rijkaard during their respective participations with the Dutch national team, and that Cruijff himself went on to coach Rijkaard.