Olivier Deschacht (born 16 February 1981) is a Belgian professional football coach and a former player who played as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

or centre-back. He is an assistant coach for the

Belgium national under-21 football team The Belgium national under-21 football team is the national under-21 football team of Belgium and is controlled by the Belgian Football Association. The team competes in the European Under-21 Football Championship, held every two years. Their bi ...

Career

Early career

At the age of 7, Deschacht began playing for S.K. Begonia Lochristi before he moved to

K.A.A. Gent Koninklijke Atletiek Associatie Gent (, English: ''Royal Athletic Association Ghent''), often simply known as Ghent or by their nickname ' ( en, The Buffalos), is a Belgian sports club, based in the city of Ghent, East Flanders. Their football ...

in 1991. He then spent two years (1995–1997) at

K.S.C. Lokeren Oost-Vlaanderen Koninklijke Sporting Club Lokeren Oost-Vlaanderen (; often simply called Sporting Lokeren or Lokeren) was a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Lokeren, in the province of East Flanders. The club was founded in 1923 but cease ...

Anderlecht

In 1997 he signed for

R.S.C. Anderlecht ; french: Les Mauves et Blancs) , short name = R.S.C.A. , founded = , ground = Constant Vanden Stock Stadium , capacity = 22,500 , owntitle = Chairman , owner = Wouter Vandenhaute , manager = Brian Riemer , ...

to play in their academy. He made his first team debut on 18 December 2001 under the coaching of

Aimé Anthuenis Aimé Anthuenis (born 21 December 1943) is a Belgian former professional football player and manager. He managed the Belgium national football team between 2002 and 2005. After a career as a defender, Anthuenis moved into coaching, first as the ...

. For the 2007 season, Deschacht was awarded the captain's armband replacing teammate Bart Goor during Goor's injuries. After Goor's move to

Germinal Beerschot Koninklijke Beerschot Antwerpen Club (), simply known as Beerschot AC, was a Belgian football club based in southern Antwerp. Beerschot played in the Belgian Pro League from 1999–2000 (as Germinal Beerschot) until 2012–13, when they were ...

, he was awarded captaincy full-time in 2008.

Lokeren

In August 2018,

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

Deschacht joined Lokeren on a season-long contract, returning to his former youth club.

Retirement

In April 2021, Deschacht announced that he would retire at the end of the 2020–21 season.

Coaching career

In October 2021, Deschact was appointed assistant coach for the Belgium under-21 national team.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Anderlecht *

Belgian First Division The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 te ...

(8): 2003–04, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2009–10, 2011–12,

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, 2013–14, 2016–17 *

Belgian Cup The Belgian Cup (french: link=no, Coupe de Belgique; nl, Beker van België []; german: link=no, Belgischer Fußballpokal) is the main Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in Belgium, run by the Belgia ...

: 2007–08 Belgian Cup, 2007–08 *

Belgian Super Cup The Belgian Super Cup ( nl, Belgische Supercup, ; french: Supercoupe de Belgique; german: Belgischer Fußball-Super Cup), ''Pro League Supercup'', is a Belgian club competition played as a single match between the Belgian First Division A champio ...

(7): 2006, 2007, 2010,

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

Individual * Player with the most games for RSC Anderlecht (2018): 602 * DH The Best RSC Anderlecht Team Ever (2020)

References

External links

* * * * 1981 births Living people Walloon people Footballers from Ghent Belgian footballers Association football fullbacks Association football central defenders Belgium international footballers Belgian Pro League players K.A.A. Gent players K.S.C. Lokeren Oost-Vlaanderen players R.S.C. Anderlecht players S.V. Zulte Waregem players Belgian football managers {{belgium-footy-defender-stub