Shane Arthur Rufer (born 23 March 1960) is a
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
former
association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
player, who played as a
centre forward,
midfielder
A midfielder is an outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
and
defender. He represented
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
on nineteen occasions between 1979 and 1985,
making his debut on 29 June 1979 in a 6–0 win over
Fiji.
The son of a Swiss father, Arthur Rufer, and a mother of
Māori
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...
descent, Anne Hine Rufer (née Campbell), Shane Rufer is the elder brother of Oceania Player of the Century
Wynton Rufer
Wynton Alan Whai Rufer (born 29 December 1962) is a New Zealand retired professional footballer who played as a striker. He spent more than a decade of his professional career in Switzerland and Germany, achieving his greatest success at Werd ...
.
The two brothers joined
Norwich City
Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...
on trial for six months in 1981 and played in the reserves. City's hopes of signing the Kiwi duo were dashed when the Home Office refused to grant them a work permit.
Rufer's son,
Alex also plays professional
association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
, currently with
A-League club
Wellington Phoenix
Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League, under licence from Football Federation Australia. Phoenix entered the competition in the ...
.
References
External links
*
YHM Profile
1960 births
Living people
FC Zürich players
New Zealand association footballers
Servette FC players
New Zealand international footballers
AC Bellinzona players
New Zealand people of Swiss descent
Stop Out players
New Zealand Māori sportspeople
Ngāti Porou people
Expatriate football managers in the Cook Islands
Cook Islands national football team managers
Association football midfielders
New Zealand association football coaches
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