Attack
Right Forward: Finidi George
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For the school friends of mine who idolised this Ajax team, for some reason, Nigerian attacker Finidi was probably the most popular player due to his all-action style. He’d arrived at Ajax in the 1993/94 season alongside compatriot Nwankwo Kanu and had an immediate effect, scoring four goals as Ajax won the Eredivisie in his first season at the club.
After Ajax, Finidi moved to Spain with Real Betis, where he spent four seasons. After leaving Betis he stayed in Spain with Mallorca, and as his career began to wane, he had a short run in England with Ipswich Town. Returning to Mallorca in 2003/04, Finidi helped the club avoid relegation before retiring at the end of the season. At the international level with Nigeria, he played in both the 1994 and 1998 World Cups.
After almost a decade away from the sport, Finidi returned in 2010 in a coaching role, and had brief stints at his old clubs Betis (as director of international football) and Mallorca (as a youth team coach). Right now though he appears to be out of the game again.
Left Forward: Marc Overmars
Unlike the majority of his teammates from the famous side, speedy winger Overmars remained with Ajax following the Champions League win and even signed a new four-year deal in 1996. It wouldn’t last long though as he was signed by Arsenal in the summer of 1997.
Overmars proved to be a pivotal signing for the Gunners and helped them win the Premier League in his first season. He also scored in the FA Cup final that year as Arsenal went on to complete a league and cup double.
After three seasons at Arsenal, Overmars moved to Barcelona along with his teammate Emmanuel Petit. Unfortunately, though, his move coincided with one of the leanest periods in Barcelona history as he didn’t win a single trophy during his four seasons at the Nou Camp, and ended up retiring prematurely due to recurring knee injuries at the end of the 2003/04 season.
A brief comeback with his first club Go Ahead Eagles in 2008/09 was also cut short by the same knee problems.
Following his retirement, Overmars became both a shareholder and a technical director at Go Ahead Eagles, but he left those posts in 2012 due to the club’s disappointing form. He has since become Technical Director at Ajax, a position he remains in to this day.
Centre-Forward: Ronald de Boer
When Ajax won the Champions League in 1994/95, it meant that Ronald de Boer and his twin brother Frank became the first set of brothers to win the trophy with the same side. Along with his brother, he remained at the club until midway through the 1998/99 season when he made a move to Barcelona.
The move proved to be a disappointing one for Ronald as he only made 33 appearances for the Catalans and scored just one goal in the La Liga. A move in 2000 to Scottish side Rangers proved far more successful, as he won the Scottish Premier League in 2002/03, a season that saw him score 16 league goals in 33 appearances.
Once his Rangers career ended after four seasons in Scotland, he moved to Qatar where he ended his career with Al-Rayyan following a neck injury.
Like a number of his contemporaries, De Boer went into coaching following the end of his active career, and also ended up back at Ajax, as an assistant coach with their under-19 side and the full youth team. He left the post in the summer of 2014 and now seems to emerge every now and then to make comments in the media on the career of his brother Frank.
