Club career Blind made his professional football debut on 29 August 1979 with
Sparta Rotterdam. He stayed under contract with Sparta for seven seasons when in July 1986 he transferred to
Ajax, attracted there by manager
Johan Cruyff. Blind's signing, however, was much to the chagrin of Ajax superstar
Marco van Basten, who was upset that his manager had brought in a relatively unknown, defensive player, instead of investing on a big-name transfer. With Ajax, Blind amassed an impressive trophy list, winning all three European trophies (
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in
1987, the
UEFA Cup in
1992 and the
UEFA Champions League in
1995). He also secured the
Intercontinental Cup in 1995 against Brazil's
Grêmio by scoring the winning penalty in the penalty shoot-out. Blind was again a penalty hero when he converted twice against
Real Zaragoza in the
European Super Cup final of
1995, which Ajax won 5–1 over the two legs. The two penalties Blind converted were in the 65th and 69th minutes of the second leg. Domestically, with Ajax, he won five
Dutch Eredivisie Championships and four
national cups. He retired on 16 May 1999. Blind was known for being a dependable defender and a leader on the field. Whilst famous for being a centre back, Blind started his career as a right full-back.
International career Blind gained 42 caps for the Netherlands over a ten-year period, scoring once against
Greece in a
UEFA Euro 1992 qualifier. He made his debut in 1986 against
Scotland but was not capped at all in 1987 or 1988,{{cite web ==Management career==