Pieter Robert Rensenbrink (; 3 July 1947 – 24 January 2020) was a Dutch

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 lea ...

and member of the Netherlands national team that reached two

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

finals, in

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

and

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

. A creative and prolific left winger or forward, he became a legend in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

while playing in the great

Anderlecht Anderlecht (; ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, B ...

side of the 1970s. He is the

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...

's all-time top scorer, with 25 goals. A talented dribbler as well as a cool finisher and adequate passer, he only ever missed two penalties in his entire career. He was also the first winner of the

Onze d'Or The ''Onze d'Or'' (alternative name: ''Onze Mondial'' European Footballer of the Year) is an association football award given by French magazine '' Onze Mondial'' since 1976. The award honors the best player in Europe, with any player in a Euro ...

in 1976.

Club career

Born 3 July 1947, in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, Rensenbrink started his career at DWS, an Amsterdam amateur club, before moving to Belgian side

Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,042. They pl ...

in 1969. Between 1971 and 1980 he played for

where he enjoyed his greatest club successes. In total when in

he twice won the Belgian Championships, the

Belgian Cup The Belgian Cup (; ; ) is the main knockout football competition in Belgium, run by the Royal Belgian FA. The competition started in 1908 with provincial selections as the "Belgian Provinces Cup". Starting from 1912 only actual clubs were allowed ...

five times and at European club level the

European Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...

twice (in

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

and

, as well as being runner-up in

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

). Rensenbrink delivered a notable performance in the 1976 final as Anderlecht ran out 4–2 winners against

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

. He scored two goals, one from the penalty spot and set up François Van der Elst for the fourth goal. Among his team mates was Dutch internationalist compatriot,

Arie Haan Arend "Arie" Haan (; born 16 November 1948) is a Dutch Association football, football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He scored 6 goals in 35 matches for the Netherlands national football team, Netherlands national team of ...

. In 1980, he left Anderlecht and wound down his career with a spell at

Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Timbers have p ...

in the NASL, followed by a brief stay with

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in 1981.

International career

Rensenbrink made his international debut for the

Netherlands national football team The Netherlands national football team ( or simply ''Het Nederlands elftal'') has represented the Netherlands in international men's football matches since 1905. The men's national team is controlled by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNV ...

against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

in 1968, but picked up relatively few caps due to competition for the forward positions with Johan Cruijff and Piet Keizer. However,

Rinus Michels Marinus Jacobus Hendricus "Rinus" Michels (; 9 February 1928 – 3 March 2005) was a Dutch Association football, football player and coach. He list of one-club men in association football, played his entire career for AFC Ajax, Ajax, which he ...

included him for the

1974 FIFA World Cup The 1974 FIFA World Cup was the 10th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in West Germany (and West Berlin) between 13 June and 7 July. The tournament marked the ...

squad that made the short trip to

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

. The Dutch side that took part in the

were the pinnacle of

Total Football Total Football () is a tactical system in association football in which any outfield player can take over the role of any other player in a team. A player who moves out of his position is replaced by another from his team, thus retaining the ...

. Most of the 1974 team were made up of players from

AFC Ajax Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or commonly Ajax, is a Dutch professional Association football, football Football team, club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. ...

and

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...

, so Rensenbrink was an outsider and was unfamiliar with playing the system. His preferred position was up front on the left, but that position was already Johan Cruijff's domain, so he played on the left-wing position in midfield, taking over from Ajax player Piet Keizer. He missed one game in the tournament (when Keizer played instead) and was only half-fit for the final after picking up an injury during the semi-final against

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. Rinus Michels gambled on Rensenbrink's fitness and played him from start – however he only lasted until half-time and was replaced by

René van de Kerkhof Reinier Lambertus "René" van de Kerkhof (; born 16 September 1951) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a right winger for FC Twente, PSV Eindhoven and the Netherlands national team. Career Van de Kerkhof and his twin bro ...

. The Netherlands took an early lead through a

Johan Neeskens RCH may stand for: * Radio Club de Honduras, an amateur radio organization * Railway Clearing House, the British financial clearing house and technical standards bureau for railways * The Royal Canadian Hussars (Montreal), a unit of the Canadian ...

penalty, but goals from

Paul Breitner Paul Breitner (; born 5 September 1951) is a German former professional footballer who played as a midfielder and left-back. Considered one of the best full-backs and midfielders of all time, and one of the best players of his era, Breitner was n ...

and

Gerd Müller Gerhard "Gerd" Müller (; 3 November 1945 – 15 August 2021) was a German professional association football, footballer. A prolific Forward (association football)#Striker, striker, especially in and around the six-yard box, he is widely regarde ...

gave West Germany a 2–1 victory. Rensenbrink's performances saw him named to the team of the tournament and he was sought by Ajax as a replacement for Keizer. However, contract negotiations fell through and he remained at Anderlecht. Rensenbrink stayed in the Netherlands national team during the qualifiers and finals of the 1976 European Football Championship. However, the Netherlands fell at the semi-final stage to

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

. In the

1978 FIFA World Cup The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It wa ...

tournament in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, the Netherlands again reached the final, but this time without Cruijff (who decided to retire from international football) and under the guidance of Ernst Happel rather than Michels. Out of the shadow of Cruijff, Rensenbrink found more room to showcase his own considerable talent, playing on the left-hand side of a front three alongside

Johnny Rep John Nicholaas Rep (born 25 November 1951) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a right winger. He holds the all-time record for FIFA World Cup goals for the Netherlands with 7. Playing career Rep played as a right-footed ...

and

. He scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

in the opening game against

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, a penalty against

which was goal number 1,000 in

history and another spot-kick in the 5–1 win over

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. In the final against

, the Netherlands yet again met the hosts. The Netherlands fell behind to a first-half

Mario Kempes Mario Alberto Kempes Chiodi (, ; born 15 July 1954) is an Argentine former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker or Attacking Midfielder, attacking midfielder. A prolific g ...

strike. After Dick Nanninga's equalizer nine minutes from time, a long pass from the Dutch captain Ruud Krol in the last 30 seconds of normal time gave Rensenbrink a half-chance, but his shot from a very narrow angle hit the post and was cleared by a defender. Had he scored, it is almost certain that the Netherlands would have won the World Cup with Rensenbrink being top goal scorer. Argentina scored twice in extra-time for a 3–1 victory and the Netherlands again had to settle for the runners-up spot. Rensenbrink played some of the qualifiers for Euro 80, but after earning his 46th cap in 1979 (a 2–0 defeat by Poland in a qualifier for Euro 80), he retired from international football at the age of 32, having scored 14 times for his country. He along with

Eusébio Eusébio da Silva Ferreira (; 25 January 1942 – 5 January 2014), nicknamed the "Black Panther", the "Black Pearl" or "O Rei" ("The King"), was a Portuguese Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Stri ...

are the only players to score the most goals from a penalty spot in a tournament (4 in 1978). He was named by

Pelé Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; 23 October 1940 – 29 December 2022), better known by his nickname Pelé (), was a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. Widely reg ...

as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers in March 2004. He was also named

's greatest ever foreign player in 2008.

Personal life

Rensenbrink was married and lived in

Oostzaan Oostzaan () is a municipality and a town in the Zaanstreek, Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is ...

. In the summer of 2015, he revealed that he had been diagnosed with progressive muscular atrophy three years earlier. He died on 24 January 2020, aged 72. Belgian news sources reported that he had been diagnosed with a muscular disease in 2012 which led to his death.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Netherland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Rensenbrink goal.''

Honours

Club Brugge *

: 1969–70 Anderlecht *

Belgian First Division The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023– ...

: 1971–72, 1973–74 *Belgian Cup: 1971–72, 1972–73, 1974–75, 1975–76 * Belgian League Cup: 1973, 1974 *

: 1975–76, 1977–78; runner-up: 1976–77 *

European Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions: the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was original ...

Amsterdam Tournament The Amsterdam Tournament () was a pre-season association football competition, held in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The competition was hosted by Eredivisie club AFC Ajax, Ajax at the Amsterdam Arena. It was inaugurated in 1975 as the Amsterdam 700 T ...

: 1976 * Tournoi de Paris: 1977 * Jules Pappaert Cup: 1977 * Belgian Sports Merit Award: 1978 Toulouse * Division 2: 1981–82 Netherlands *

: runner-up

UEFA European Football Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro or Euros, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition ...

: third place

* Tournoi de Paris: 1978 Individual * Belgian First Division top scorer: 1972–73 * FIFA World Cup All-Star Team:

top scorer: 1975–76 * Belgian Golden Shoe: 1976 *

: 1976 *

Ballon d'Or The Ballon d'Or (; ) is an annual association football, football award presented by French magazine ''France Football'' since 1956 Ballon d'Or, 1956 to honour the player deemed to have performed the best over the previous season. Conceived ...

: runner-up 1976, third place 1978 * Onze de Onze: 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979 *''Sport Ideal European XI'': 1976, 1977, 1978 * FIFA World Cup Bronze Boot:

Most Assists:

* Onze de Bronze: 1978, 1979 *

France Football ''France Football'' is a French monthly magazine containing football news from all over the world. It is considered to be one of the most reputable sports publications in Europe, mostly because of its photographic reports, in-depth and exclus ...

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

Top-100 1930–1990 46th: 1994 *Planète Foot's 50 of the World's Best Players: 1996 *

FIFA 100 The FIFA 100 is a list compiled by Brazilian professional footballer Pelé featuring his choices of the "greatest living footballers" at the time of its release. The list was unveiled on 4 March 2004 during a gala ceremony at the Natural Histor ...

: 2004 *

Placar ''Placar'' (; stylized in all caps) is a monthly Brazilian sports magazine. Its first edition was issued by Editora Abril. on March 20, 1970, and since then it has become the most successful sports publication in Brazil, even though it focuses ...

's 100 World Cup Stars 42nd: 2005 *Best Foreign Player in the Belgian First Division of All Time: 2007 *Best RSC Anderlecht Player of All Time: 2008 *The Best Golden Shoe Team: 2011 * UEFA Cup Winners' Cup All-time top scorer: (25 goals) *Scorer of the 1000th World Cup goal * DH The Best RSC Anderlecht Team Ever: 2020 *

Belgian Pro League The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023 ...

Hall of Fame: 2025

References

External links

Portland Timbers stats
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rensenbrink, Rob 1947 births 2020 deaths FIFA 100 Dutch men's footballers Footballers from Amsterdam Men's association football wingers Men's association football forwards Netherlands men's international footballers Eredivisie players Belgian Pro League players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Ligue 2 players AFC DWS players Club Brugge KV players R.S.C. Anderlecht players Portland Timbers (1975–1982) players Toulouse FC players 1974 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 1976 players 1978 FIFA World Cup players Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Dutch expatriate sportspeople in France Dutch expatriate sportspeople in the United States Neurological disease deaths in the Netherlands Deaths from motor neuron disease 20th-century Dutch sportsmen