Aron Winter was born in Paramaribo (Suriname), on March 1, 1967.
Winter started his career as an amateur in his home country Holland with SV Lelystad and at 19 was bought by Dutch giants Ajax Amsterdam. He made his debut on April 6 against Utrecht. He played 187 games for Ajax scoring 44 times and winning 2 Dutch Cups ('87, '88), a league title ('91), a UEFA Cup Winners Cup ('87) and a UEFA Cup ('92).
In 1992 he joined Lazio for 5 billion lire (approx €2.5 million), in owner Cragnotti's attempt to build a competitive squad, both domestically and internationally. Winter, along with Karl Heinz Riedle, Thomas Doll and Paul Gascoigne, added prestige to Lazio and definitely put them on the European map. Winter played 4 seasons for Lazio and totalled 155 games (123 in Serie A, 16 in Coppa Italia and 16 in the UEFA Cup) with 27 goals (21 in Serie A, 3 in Coppa Italia and 3 in UEFA Cup). He was an immensely popular player at Lazio. His name was chanted throughout his time at the Olimpico and all the stories of racism and anti-Semitism were vastly exaggerated by the media, all due to some isolated graffiti on a city wall.
It was with sadness that the “Laziali” saw him leave to Inter in 1996, where he went on to play for 3 seasons, but without ever reaching the heights of his Lazio days. At Inter he made 77 appearances with 1 goal (against Lazio ironically) before moving back to Ajax for 2 seasons in 1999 (51 appearances, 4 goals). He then played a season with Sparta Rotterdam (32 appearances ,1 goal) before returning to Ajax but without playing any competitive matches again.
After retiring he has had coaching experiences, especially as assistant for Ajax, but also as head coach at Toronto FC for a year. He was also Greece's assistant coach for 2 years (2019-21).
At International level Winter won 84 caps for Holland with 6 goals. He was part of the European Championship winning Dutch team of 1988 but made no appearances in the final stages. He played in the 1990 and 1994 World Cups, and was selected for the 1998 World Cup in France.
Aron Winter was an elegant, classy player who had both quality and quantity. He was a central midfielder with excellent athleticism, intelligence and vision. Apart from his technique, he had a strong personality and was a model professional. He usually played left-sided central midfield, a box-to-box player confirmed by his high goal scoring rate for Lazio. He was also versatile and was deployed as full back and even centre-back for Holland.
Aron Winter is remembered at Lazio as a model player, rarely involved in any controversies and as a solid, reliable but also high quality midfielder. His years at Lazio are identified with their gradual rise as a domestic force, which would later culminate in winning several trophies. Winter was part of that build up and he gave Lazio an International identity and respect.
On a personal level Winter was one of my favourites. Here was an established European star coming to my club, maybe things were finally changing… On the pitch he was hard-working but had class too and all without any of the Italian or South-American antics and theatrics. He was also a player of my generation. I was no longer the starry-eyed boy looking up to unreachable idols but admiring players of my age, of International level, representing my beloved team.
Lazio Career
Season | Total games (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia | UEFA Cup |
1992-93 | 36 (8) | 30 (6) | 6 (2) | - |
1993-94 | 39 (5) | 34 (4) | 1 | 4 (1) |
1994-95 | 43 (7) | 29 (5) | 6 (1) | 8 (1) |
1995-96 | 37 (7) | 30 (6) | 3 | 4 (1) |
Totals | 155 (27) | 123 (21) | 16 (3) | 16 (3) |
Sources
Commentaires