Wilfried Van Moer
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Wilfried van Moer (1 March 1945 – 24 August 2021) was a Belgian
footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...
who won the
Belgian Golden Shoe In association football, the Belgian Golden Shoe ( nl, Gouden Schoen, french: Soulier d'Or) is an award given in Belgium at the beginning of each civil year to the best footballer of the Belgian First Division A for the past year. The trophy is spon ...
three times, first in 1966 while at Antwerp then in 1969 and in 1970 while at
Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège (; nl, Standard Luik ; german: Standard Lüttich ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most ...
. Prior to 1966 Van Moer played with
Beveren Beveren () is a municipality in the Belgian province of East Flanders which comprises the towns of Beveren, Doel, Haasdonk, Kallo, Kieldrecht, Melsele, Verrebroek and Vrasene. The port of the Waasland (Dutch: ''Waaslandhaven'') is in Beveren ...
. He returned to his first club after a spell at Beringen in the early 1980s. He played 57 times and scored nine goals for the Belgium national team between 1966 and 1982, starting in a 1–0 friendly win against Switzerland on 22 October 1966. Van Moer was in the team for the
1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and ...
and 1982 World Cups and for the
Euro 1980 The 1980 UEFA European Football Championship finals tournament was held in Italy. This was the sixth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and endorsed by UEFA. It was the first European Championship to feature eight teams i ...
in which Belgium finished second.


Club career

Born in Beveren-Waas, Van Moer began with home town club Beveren-Waas, then in the third tier of the Belgian League. A move to
Royal Antwerp Royal Antwerp Football Club, often referred to as Royal Antwerp or simply Antwerp, is a Belgian football club based in the city of Antwerp. Founded around 1880 as ''Antwerp Cricket Club'' by English students residing in Antwerp, 15 years before ...
in 1965 was influenced not only by a chance to play in the 1st Division, but by the fact he was already working in that city as an electrician. He made his debut for the club in August 1965 against Union Saint-Gilloise. At the end of 1966 he won his first Golden Shoe Award, having won his first international cap earlier that year. It was during his three years at Antwerp under the guidance of coach Harry Game, that Van Moer, against his wishes, was moved from a wide right role to central midfield, preparing him to eventually succeed to another of Belgium's most celebrated players Jef Jurion, in the national team. Following relegation for Antwerp in 1968, a protracted move to
Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège (; nl, Standard Luik ; german: Standard Lüttich ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most ...
ensued, Van Moer resisting the interest of 1. FC Köln to remain in Belgium, and also Club Brugge, with whom he had made a personal agreement. The €150,000 fee for the now established international was at the time a Belgian record. Wonderful domestic success followed at Standard, winning the championship in 1969, 1970 and 1971 and making it a hat-trick of Golden Shoes by winning the award in both 1969 and 1970. As for his club career, he had left Standard in 1976 and played for the Limburg first division team FC Beringen for a few seasons (he owned a café in the Limburg capital Hasselt). In 1980, after his career had been rekindled, he made a transfer to his original team
SK Beveren Sportkring Beveren is a professional Belgian association football club located in the municipality of Beveren, East Flanders. They play in the Belgian First Division B. History The club was founded in 1936 as Red Star and registered to an amate ...
(which had become Belgian champion in 1979). He stayed there for two more seasons and concluded his career in Limburg again at Sint-Truiden, where he became trainer-player.


International career

Van Moer was a regular for the Belgium national team, appearing in the 1970 FIFA World Cup and scoring twice in a 3–0 defeat of El Salvador, Belgium's only win in the tournament. Two years later, he played a key role in helping his country qualify for the semi-finals of the
UEFA Euro 1972 The 1972 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in Belgium. This was the fourth UEFA European Championship, held every four years and endorsed by UEFA. The final tournament took place between 14 and 18 June 1972. Only four ...
. After Belgium had defended stubbornly in a goalless quarter final, first leg in Italy, he scored the opening goal midway through the first half in the return at Anderlecht's
Constant Vanden Stock Stadium The Constant Vanden Stock Stadium (french: Stade Constant Vanden Stock, nl, Constant Vanden Stockstadion), also known as the Lotto Park for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in the municipality of Anderlecht in Brussels, Belgium. It is ...
. But then something was to happen, putting the Belgian's career on hold. On the stroke of half-time,
Mario Bertini Mario Bertini (; born 7 January 1944) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a defender and midfielder. Throughout his career Bertini played for Italian clubs Empoli, Fiorentina, Inter Milan, Prato, and Rimini; he spent nin ...
's lunge resulted in a broken leg for Van Moer, a bitter-sweet day for the home nation who ultimately celebrated a 2–1 victory. Although he recovered, the leg-break and other injuries restricted his international appearances over the next three seasons. By October 1979, aged 34, without an appearance for The Red Devils for four and a half years, international football couldn't have been further from his thoughts. But wily Belgian coach
Guy Thys Guy Thys (6 December 1922 – 1 August 2003) was a Belgian football manager, mostly known for being the most successful manager in the history of the Belgium national football team as he managed to lead the national side to their only UEFA ...
had other ideas. Van Moer was an inspired choice for a Belgian side who had forgotten how to win, as they prepared to take on
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
in a 'do or die' EC qualifier. Van Moer again came up trumps with the first goal in a 2–0 win. Van Moer also performed key roles in home and away victories over
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
, which propelled Belgium to qualification for the Finals tournament in
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
. Striker
Horst Hrubesch Horst Hrubesch (; born 17 April 1951) is a German professional football manager and former player who last managed Hamburger SV. As a player, Hrubesch won three West German championships with his club side, Hamburger SV, as well as the European C ...
may have scored two goals to secure final victory for
West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
, but for many the outstanding player of the tournament was the Belgian central midfielder with the seemingly boundless energy. He ran the show in most every game he played, scheming, prompting and holding the ball, never wasteful his performances were as dynamic as they were inspirational as Belgium went all the way to their only major Final. Van Moer was arguably the most influential player in the tournament and indeed at 35, his performances earned him fourth place (equalling the best ever showing by a Belgian) in the
Ballon d'Or The Ballon d'Or (; ) is an annual association football, football award presented by French news magazine ''France Football'' since 1956. Between 2010 and 2015, in an agreement with FIFA, the award was temporarily merged with the FIFA World Pl ...
poll. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge,
Bernd Schuster Bernd Schuster (born 22 December 1959) is a German former professional footballer of the late 1970s through early 1990s, who won club titles playing for the Spanish sides FC Barcelona (1980–1987) and Real Madrid (1988–1990). He played as a m ...
and
Michel Platini Michel François Platini (born 21 June 1955) is a French football administrator and former player and manager. Regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, Platini won the Ballon d'Or three times in a row, in 1983, 1984 and 1985, a ...
finished ahead of him. Van Moer's international career went on for another two years, long enough to appear in another World Cup Finals series. Named captain in the absence of
Eric Gerets Eric Maria Gerets (, born 18 May 1954) is a Belgian football manager and former player who played as a right back. He started his playing career as an amateur for his local team AA Rekem, before achieving success with Standard Liège and PSV. ...
, for the second-phase game against
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
his international career ended when replaced by
François Van der Elst François () is a French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis. People with the given name * Francis I of France, King of France (), known as "the Father and Restorer of Letters" * Francis II of France, King o ...
at half-time. Belgium trailed by two at the interval and went on to lose 3–0, Poland's inspiration coming from
Zbigniew Boniek Zbigniew Boniek (; born 3 March 1956) is a Polish former footballer and manager as well as current UEFA vice-president. A former midfielder, who was also capable of playing mostly as a right winger and second striker, he is considered one of t ...
who was the only player to score.


Managerial career

After he stopped playing football, he became coach with Sint-Truiden, SK Beveren, Assent and FC Diest, before calling it a day, somewhat disappointed by the general professional level of the Belgian football players. He was called by the Belgian Football Union to do some prospective work and became assistant coach to national coach
Paul Van Himst Paul Van Himst (born 2 October 1943) is a Belgian former football player and a football manager who played as a forward, most notably for R.S.C. Anderlecht. Career Van Himst was nicknamed ''Polle Gazon'' (''Polle'' is Paul in Brussels dialect ...
in 1995 after a few heavy defeats of the Red Devils. He succeeded Van Himst as a head coach in 1996 for five games. However, people in the Football Union and the press were not very delighted by his lack of communicative skills and at the beginning of 1997, he was, in his turn, replaced by
Georges Leekens Georges Leekens (born 18 May 1949) is a Belgian football manager and former player. During his managerial career, he was in charge of four national teams: the Belgian, Tunisian, Algerian and Hungarian national football teams. He also managed ...
. He has not taken up any managerial tasks since.


Death

Van Moer suffered a cerebral haemorrhage and died in a hospital in Leuven on 24 August 2021.


Honours

Standard Liège *
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 ...
: 1968–69, 1969–70, 1970–71 *
Belgian League Cup The Belgian League Cup was a Belgian association football cup created in 1973. The competition was held from 1973 by eleven clubs wanting to increase professionalism in Belgian football but lasted only three seasons before being disbanded. The tourn ...
: 1975 Belgium *
UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations ( UEFA). The competition is conte ...
: runners-up 1980 * Belgian Sports Merit Award: 1980 Individual *
Belgian Golden Shoe In association football, the Belgian Golden Shoe ( nl, Gouden Schoen, french: Soulier d'Or) is an award given in Belgium at the beginning of each civil year to the best footballer of the Belgian First Division A for the past year. The trophy is spon ...
: 1966, 1969, 1970 *
Ballon d'Or The Ballon d'Or (; ) is an annual association football, football award presented by French news magazine ''France Football'' since 1956. Between 2010 and 2015, in an agreement with FIFA, the award was temporarily merged with the FIFA World Pl ...
fourth place: 1980 *
Ballon d'Or The Ballon d'Or (; ) is an annual association football, football award presented by French news magazine ''France Football'' since 1956. Between 2010 and 2015, in an agreement with FIFA, the award was temporarily merged with the FIFA World Pl ...
nominations: 1971,
1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...
* Belgian Golden Shoe of the 20th Century (1995): third place * Platina Eleven (Best Team in 50 Years of Golden Shoe Winners) (2003) * The Best Golden Shoe Team Ever (2011) *
IFFHS The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for so ...
All Time Belgium XI (2021)


References


External links

*
Belgium - Record International Players
- RSSSF
xtratime.org
- Xtratime {{DEFAULTSORT:Van Moer, Wilfried 1945 births 2021 deaths Belgian footballers Association football midfielders Belgium international footballers Belgian Pro League players Challenger Pro League players K.S.K. Beveren players Royal Antwerp F.C. players Standard Liège players Sint-Truidense V.V. players Belgian football managers Sint-Truidense V.V. managers 1970 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 1980 players 1982 FIFA World Cup players Belgium national football team managers K. Beringen F.C. players People from Beveren Footballers from East Flanders