Ajax (Holland),
SS Lazio (Italy), Inter Milan (Italy), Ajax (Holland), Sparta
Rotterdam (Holland)
Honours
???
Biography
Aron
Winter (born March 1, 1967 in Paramaribo, Surinam) is a retired
Dutch footballer. He broke Ruud Krol's record for appearances
for the Dutch national team when he got his 83rd cap at the Euro
2000 competition co-hosted by Belgium and the Netherlands.
He began his career by playing for amateur club SV Lelystad
before he joined Ajax Amsterdam when he was only 19 years of age.
His first game for Ajax was the match against FC Utrecht on 6
April 1986 which his team won 3-0. Winter achieved two Dutch
cups (1987 and 1988), the Eredivisie title (1990), the Cup
Winners' Cup (1987) and the UEFA Cup (1992) for the club before
moving on to Italy where he played for SS Lazio in 1992. His
first international game was against Greece on 25 March 1987
which ended in a 1-1 draw.
His midfield role at Lazio was to replace the 'enfant terrible'
Paul Gascoigne of England and he dominated the defensive
midfielder position for many years in the Serie A. He was among
the handful of Dutch footballers to survive in the fiercely
competitive Serie A alongside the likes of Ruud Gullit, Marco
van Basten and Frank Rijkaard. In the 1994 World Cup, he scored
a goal against Brazil in the quarter-finals.
Despite his tenure at Lazio for 3 years, he was unable to win
any titles and he sought a new challenge. In 1996, he joined
Inter Milan where he got the consolation of winning the UEFA Cup
in 1998. It was also a great challenge for Winter as he played
alongside many great players like Roberto Baggio, Giuseppe
Bergomi and Gianluca Pagliuca at Internazionale. Further, he was
selected for the national team for the Euro 96 as well as the
1998 World Cup in France where he was to play a minor role at
both tournaments in a squad packed with talented individuals
like Dennis Bergkamp, Edgar Davids and Philip Cocu.
His age showed after the brilliant 1998 World Cup which ended in
disappointment for the Dutch and he left Inter for his old club
Ajax in 1999. Frank Rijkaard who was then appointed the head
coach of the Netherlands even informed him after the World Cup
that his chances for the 'Oranje' are limited as they have many
similar players in that position who are younger than him. True
to his pedigree for hard work, he maintained a fine form for
Ajax and enough to earn a place in Rijkaard's Euro 2000 squad
where although he played a bit part, was also one of the better
players of the tournament.
In 2001, he was loaned out to Sparta Rotterdam after a high-profile
dispute with then Ajax coach Co Adriaanse where he played 32
games and scored a goal before finishing his career at Ajax
where he also chose to retire. His international career
statistics stand at 83 caps with 6 goals and is the fifth most-capped
player in the Netherlands.
