Ruud Krol was a cornerstone of Dutch total football, a versatile and cultured defender equally at home at full-back or in the centre. His comfort on the ball and tactical intelligence embodied the fluidity of the Ajax side that dominated European football in the early 1970s.
He won a hat-trick of European Cups with Ajax and a string of Dutch titles, and appeared in two World Cup finals with the Netherlands. Composed and adaptable, he was one of the finest defenders of an era that transformed the way the game was played.