Wynton Rufer

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wynton Rufer (born 29 December 1962 to a Swiss father and a mother of Maori descent) was a New Zealand international footballer remembered as his country's greatest ever player, finishing his international career with 38 caps and 17 goals.

After graduating from Rongotai College, Rufer began his playing career with Wellington United in his native New Zealand, before representing Stop Out and Miramar Rangers. Having made his debut for New Zealand on 16 October 1980 against Kuwait, Rufer quickly established himself in the All Whites side, and his youthful promise (he was voted New Zealand's Young Player of the Year in 1981 and 1982) attracted the attention of Norwich City manager Ken Brown, who invited Wynton and his brother Shane Rufer to Norfolk for a trial.

Rufer impressed and signed a professional contract on 23 October 1981, the first Kiwi footballer ever to do so. However, he was denied a work permit to play in England, so he joined FC Zurich in May 1982, having helped New Zealand to the 1982 FIFA World Cup, scoring the winning goal in a qualification play-off against China.

During his time in Switzerland, Rufer converted to Christianity and married his wife, Lisa in 1986 - they have two sons, Caleb and Joshua. He also played for FC Aarau (Switzerland) and FC Grasshoppers, winning the Swiss Cup in 1988-1989 before moving to Werder Bremen, managed by Otto Rehhagel.

Rufer was an enormous success as part of Rehhagel's team, winning the German Cup in 1990-1991, and scoring in Werder's 2-0 win over AS Monaco in the final of the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1992. His partnership with Klaus Allofs played a major part in Werder's 1992-1993 Bundesliga success, and he was the top scorer in the 1993-1994 UEFA Champions League tournament, winning another German Cup that same season.

Rufer was also voted Oceania's Player of the Year in 1989, 1990 and 1992.

During the 1994-1995 season, Rufer left Bremen to join JEF United of Ichihara in the Japanese J.League, finishing as the club's leading scorer in 1995. However, when Rehhagel took on the task of resurrecting 1.FC Kaiserslautern's fortunes in 1996, he called upon Rufer to help fire the club back into the German top flight - Rufer's contribution helped the club win the Bundesliga II, although he left before Rehhagel remarkably won the Bundesliga the next season.

In 1997 he returned to his homeland, joining Central United and establishing his own coaching school, Wynrs, producing Kiwi football stars such as Mario Hofmann and Michael Fitzgerald, as well as women's international Annalie Longo.

Along with his brother Shane, Rufer took on player-coaching duties at North Shore United in 1998, before coaching the national Under-16 squad ahead of the 1999 Junior World Cup Finals. He was appointed player-coach of New Zealand's first professional football team, FC Kingz (later renamed Auckland Kingz), participating in the Australian Soccer League for two seasons before finally retiring in 2001, having been named Oceania's Player of the Century ahead of Frank Farina (Australia) and Christian Karembeu (New Caledonia/France).

Rufer is currently a member of the FIFA Football Committee, alongside Pelé, Franz Beckenbauer, Michel Platini and Sir Bobby Charlton. He is also involved with the FIFA Ambassadors Against Racism Committee. In 2005 Rufer was the first football/soccer player to be inducted into the NZ Sports Hall of Fame.

Wynton Rufer founded the Wynrs football academy for young players. The academy is based in Auckland, New Zealand and the academy has had several promising players graduate through the academy.

[edit] External links

• Statistics and biography - Statistics and biography
• [1] - article on Rufer's Oceanic Player of the Century award
• Career - Rufer biography at Flown from the Nest, dedicated to former Norwich City players
• [2] - The official Wynrs site

Preceded by Frank Farina	Oceania Player of the Year 1989	Succeeded by Wynton Rufer
Preceded by Wynton Rufer	Oceania Player of the Year 1990	Succeeded by Robbie Slater
Preceded by Robbie Slater	Oceania Player of the Year 1992	Succeeded by Robbie Slater

	New Zealand squad - 1982 FIFA World Cup
1 Wilson | 2 Dods | 3 Herbert | 4 Turner | 5 Bright | 6 Almond | 7 Rufer | 8 Cole | 9 Wooddin | 10 Sumner | 11 Malcolmson | 12 Mackay | 13 Cresswell | 14 Elrick | 15 Hill | 16 Adam | 17 Boath | 18 Simonsen | 19 McClure | 20 Turner | 21 Pickering | 22 van Hattum | Coach: Adshead