Wynton Rufer is one of the most popular and richest Association Football Player who was born on December 29, 1962 in Wellington, Wellington Region, New Zealand. While during his time in Switzerland, Rufer converted to Christianity and got married to his bride, Lisa, in 1986. Their sons are Caleb as well as Joshua, who are also football players. Their brother Shane and nephew Alex also were professional footballers and played with their country’s New Zealand national team.
Rufer was voted Oceania’s Player of the Year in 1989, 1990 and 1992.
In the 1989 summer, Rufer signed with SV Werder Bremen, coached by Otto Rehhagel. His Bundesliga debut came on 29 July, in a 0–0 draw at FC St. Pauli, and his impact was immediate, as he netted six times in his first 13 league matches. Overall, he would play an enormous part in the side’s achievements, pairing with Klaus Allofs up front: on 6 May 1992, both scored in the final of the season’s UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, in Lisbon (2–0 win against AS Monaco FC).
In the final stage of Spain the teenager Rufer was the youngest player of the team, playing for all the group defeats against Scotland and Brazil, Soviet Union and Brazil. He earned 23 full caps and scored 12 goals. From 1985 to 1989, he made five international appearances, which was because Zurich could not let him go in the year 1995. From that point till 1996, however, he was unable to make an appearance for the national side in any way.
After winning NZ’s young athlete of the year in both 1981 as well as 1982, the Rufer drew the interest from Norwich City manager Ken Brown who invited the player as well as his sister Shane Rufer to Norfolk for an opportunity to test. The player impressed and signed an official contract on October 23rd, 1981, making him only the second Kiwi to do this. But, he was not granted the right that allowed him to compete in England and he subsequently joined Fussballclub Zurich in May of the following year.
Rufer would play in Switzerland in the following seven years, also representing FC Aarau and Grasshopper Club Zürich: whilst at the former, he topped the scoring charts at 21 in the 1987–88 season, helping his club to the fourth place. With the Hoppers, he won the domestic cup, precisely against Aarau, and surpassed the 100-goal mark in his years in the country.
