.jpg) Gerets in 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Eric Maria Gerets[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1954-05-18)18 May 1954 (age 71) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Rekem, Belgium | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Right-back | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1964–1971 | AA Rekem | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1971–1983 | Standard Liège | 318 | (23) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1983–1984 | A.C. Milan | 13 | (1) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1984–1985 | MVV | 12 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1985–1992 | PSV | 200 | (8) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | 543 | (32) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1975–1991 | Belgium | 86 | (2) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Managerial career | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1992–1994 | RFC Liège | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1994–1997 | Lierse | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1997–1999 | Club Brugge | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1999–2002 | PSV | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2002–2004 | 1. FC Kaiserslautern | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2004–2005 | VfL Wolfsburg | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2005–2007 | Galatasaray | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2007–2009 | Marseille | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2009–2010 | Al-Hilal | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2010–2012 | Morocco | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2012–2014 | Lekhwiya | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2014–2015 | Al Jazira | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Eric Maria Gerets[1] (Dutch pronunciation:[ˈeːrɪkˈxeːrəts];[a] born 18 May 1954) is a Belgianfootballmanager and former player.
As astriker, he started his playing career as an amateur for his local team AA Rekem, before achieving success as aright-back withStandard Liège andPSV. Nicknamed "The Lion (of Flanders)", Gerets was regarded as one of the top right-backs in Europe at his peak and is considered one of the greatest players in Belgian football history. He is famous for having captained PSV to their first and onlyEuropean Cup win in1988.
As a coach, Gerets is one of six managers – along withJosé Mourinho,Carlo Ancelotti,Giovanni Trapattoni,Tomislav Ivić andErnst Happel – to have won top domestic league championships in at least four countries.
Gerets began his career playing for amateur side AA Rekem before joining then titleholdersStandard de Liège. Making his debut 16 April 1972 coming on forSilvester Takač against FC Diest. In the1972–73 season Standard reached the Cup final, managerVlatko Marković let Gerets start despite not being an established first team member as Standard lost 2–1 to fierce rivalsAnderlecht. The following season, Gerets replaced 29-year-oldJacques Beurlet and became the first choiceright-back for the Rouches. In 1975 Gerets made his debut for the national team.
Gerets played forStandard Liège,A.C. Milan,MVV Maastricht andPSV, winning among others the1987–88 European Cup, twoBelgian championships and sixDutch championships.
Gerets was an offensively-minded right-back, known for his stamina, tactical discipline, grit and mental toughness. In combination with his physical appearance (hair blowing in the wind, a full but elegant beard, slumped trunk) he was soon nicknamed "The Lion".[2] He was also known for long distancethrow-ins.
In the 1980s, a new generation of players emerged at Standard. Noted managerErnst Happel was hired, and later the club broughtRaymond Goethals back to Belgium. Players likeArie Haan,Guy Vandersmissen,Michel Preud'homme,Walter Meeuws,Jos Daerden andSimon Tahamata became key players, whilst Gerets was the captain of the team. In 1980, Standard finished runners-up in the league, before winning the 1981National Cup with a 4–1 win over Lokeren SC. In 1982, Standard won the title by beatingWaterschei SV Thor in the last match of the season. A few days later, they facedBarcelona in theEuropean Cup Winners' Cup final, which they lost 2–1. The influence of Gerets on Standard's success was recognised when he was awarded the 1982Belgian Golden Shoe. The following year he captained Standard to another league title, their ninth overall, which would prove to be their last until2007–08.
With Standard, Gerets eventually won 2 national titles, a National Cup, aSuper Cup and aLeague Cup.[3]
Gerets signed with Italian giantsAC Milan in 1983. However, his contract was terminated prematurely, but not for sporting reasons. It was discovered that, in order to secure the championship title and to spare players from injuries for the European final against Barcelona, Standard had approached theWaterschei players in 1982 to take it easy in their final league match against Standard. Several Standard players at the time and trainerRaymond Goethals were subsequently suspended for this.[4]
MVV Maastricht contracted Gerets in 1984, but he would eventually only play four matches for the club. Three of those were againstPSV, after which the Eindhoven club was convinced and quickly signed the Belgian to a contract in the summer of 1985.[5]
In 1985, Gerets joined PSV playing together withRuud Gullit,Frank Arnesen,Huub Stevens andWilly van de Kerkhof followed by Brazilian starRomário. In 1986, Gerets won the title with PSV, and after the departure of Gullit in 1987, Gerets became the new captain. UnderGuus Hiddink PSV won the league and cup double three consecutive seasons, Gerets scoring twice in the1987–88 cup final againstRoda JC. In 1988, PSV reached theUEFA European Cupfinal after eliminatingReal Madrid in the semi-finals. The score againstBenfica was also 0–0 after 120 minutes; PSV eventually won on penalties.[6]
In 1990,Bobby Robson was appointed as Hiddink's successor. Under Robson, Gerets won another two titles with PSV then he retired at the end of the 1991–1992 season at the age of 38. In his seven seasons at the club, Gerets had won six national titles, three national cups and one European cup.[citation needed]
In the following years, Gerets would be regularly honored as a true club icon ("Best PSV team ever",[7] "PSV player of the century",[8] "PSV Walk of Fame"[9]).
Gerets registered 86 caps for the Belgium national team. He made his debut for the squad in 1975, and played at four major tournaments: the1980 European Championship,1982 World Cup,1986 World Cup, and1990 World Cup.
In 1980, Gerets played in his firstEuropean Championship in Italy. He scored the opening goal in a 2–1 win againstSpain which ensured Belgium qualified as group winners. The tournament is remembered for the inspired performance of the offensively-minded Belgium (around rising stars such asJan Ceulemans, Eric Gerets,Jean-Marie Pfaff andErwin Vandenbergh) who unexpectedly reached the final, only losing toWest Germany (1–2) by aHrubesch goal two minutes from time.
At the1982 World Cup, Belgium, captained by Gerets, recorded one of their most famous victories with a 1–0 win over defending championsArgentina in the first game of the tournament held atCamp Nou with a goal by Erwin Vandenbergh, and an excellent defensive display to hold off a youngDiego Maradona.Four years later, they achieved their best World Cup run at that time in 1986 when they placed fourth under command of players likeJan Ceulemans,Jean-Marie Pfaff and captain Gerets. Belgium surprisingly won against favourites theSoviet Union with stars such asIgor Belanov andRinat Dasayev (3–4) after extra time.
"The bestright back in the world."
Belgium also beat Spain on penalties, but they lost to eventual champions Argentina in the semi-final (0–2), inspired by Maradona.
Despite their defeat, Belgium would end up in fourth place – their best finish in World Cup competition until it was surpassed in2018 when they reached third place.
36 year-old Gerets would also captain his nation to the1990 World Cup finals. Belgium failed to convert their chances againstEngland in the second round. They lost in the last minute of extra time after a goal byDavid Platt. After a few qualification matches for the1992 European championship, Gerets decided to quit international football early 1991 to focus on his club career with PSV Eindhoven.[11]
For decades, he was the third-most capped player for theBelgium national team, with 86 appearances and two goals.
As a manager, Gerets worked successively forRFC Liège,Lierse,Club Brugge, PSV,1. FC Kaiserslautern andVfL Wolfsburg before joiningGalatasaray at the end of the 2004–05 season. In the 1996–97 season, he won the Belgian championships with Lierse, reprising the feat in the season 1997–98 with Club Brugge. He also won the Dutch championships twice (1999–2000 and 2000–01) with PSV. In the 2005–06 season, Gerets won theTurkish Premier Super League with Galatasaray. In May 2007, he left the club, and on 25 September becameMarseille's coach.
In his first year with Marseille in 2007, he managed to get the team from the bottom of the league up to finish their 2007–08 season in third place. In 2009, Gerets turned down an offer of theRBFA to coach the Belgian national team afterRene Vandereycken was sacked.[12] On 29 April 2009, he confirmed that he would not be in charge of Marseille after the summer when his contract expired.[13] On 26 May 2009, he signed a contract to take over as head coach of Saudi clubAl-Hilal for two years for an annual fee of €1.8 million.[14]
On 6 July 2010, he signed a four-year contract withMorocco. He would do the job part-time until he completed theAsian Champions League campaign with Al Hilal but stranded in the semi-finals.[15] He was in charge of Morocco for almost two years. He was sacked on 15 September 2012 after a Morocco's 2–0 defeat against Mozambique in the first-leg of the2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualification.[16]
Less than a month after leaving Morocco, he accepted a contract offer to become the head coach of Qatari defending championsLekhwiya on 9 October 2012.[17]In the 2013–14 season, he brought another Qatari championship title to Lekhwiya.
Gerets departed Lekhwiya and became the head coach of the United Arab Emirates teamAl Jazira Club on 20 May 2014.[18] He completed his two-year contract and decided to retire as club coach.
He did hint that he might only be active as a coach of a country.[19] Gerets was subsequently regularly mentioned as a top candidate for the position of head coach ofBelgium. But due to health problems, he would never become it.[20] In 2013, Gerets suffered a brain hemorrhage.[21] Since then, his health has gradually deteriorated and he has difficulty speaking and walking. In 2022, he was diagnosed with cerebral calcification.[22]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[b] | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Standard Liège | 1971–72 | First Division | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | |||
| 1972–73 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 11 | 0 | ||||
| 1973–74 | 30 | 1 | — | 12[c] | 0 | 2[d] | 0 | 44 | 1 | |||
| 1974–75 | 37 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1[e] | 0 | 2[d] | 0 | 43 | 6 | ||
| 1975–76 | 34 | 6 | — | 1[e] | 0 | — | 35 | 6 | ||||
| 1976–77 | 31 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6[e] | 1 | — | 39 | 2 | |||
| 1977–78 | 25 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 6[f] | 0 | — | 34 | 2 | |||
| 1978–79 | 33 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 4[f] | 0 | — | 40 | 4 | |||
| 1979–80 | 27 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 9[g] | 0 | — | 42 | 3 | |||
| 1980–81 | 29 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 10[h] | 0 | — | 45 | 0 | |||
| 1981–82 | 31 | 3 | — | 10[i] | 0 | — | 41 | 3 | ||||
| 1982–83 | 33 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1[j] | 1 | — | 35 | 3 | |||
| Total | 320 | 27 | 26 | 1 | 60 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 410 | 30 | ||
| AC Milan | 1983–84 | Serie A | 13 | 1 | 7 | 0 | — | — | 20 | 1 | ||
| Total | 13 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 1 | ||
| MVV Maastricht | 1984–85 | Eredivisie | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 4 | 0 | ||
| Total | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | ||
| PSV Eindhoven | 1985–86 | Eredivisie | 29 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3[f] | 0 | — | 34 | 0 | |
| 1986–87 | 30 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2[j] | 0 | — | 35 | 1 | |||
| 1987–88 | 30 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 9[j] | 0 | — | 44 | 6 | |||
| 1988–89 | 31 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 5[k] | 0 | 2[l] | 0 | 43 | 1 | ||
| 1989–90 | 33 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 6[j] | 0 | — | 44 | 1 | |||
| 1990–91 | 24 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1[m] | 0 | — | 28 | 0 | |||
| 1991–92 | 23 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3[j] | 0 | — | 27 | 1 | |||
| Total | 200 | 8 | 24 | 2 | 29 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 225 | 10 | ||
| Career total | 535 | 36 | 59 | 3 | 89 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 689 | 41 | ||
| National Team | Year | Friendlies | European Championships | World Cup | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Belgium | 1975 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 1976 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| 1977 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |
| 1978 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |
| 1979 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | |
| 1980 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 1 | |
| 1981 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 0 | |
| 1982 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 0 | |
| 1983 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | |
| 1984 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1985 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| 1986 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 11 | 1 | |
| 1987 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | |
| 1988 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 1989 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 0 | |
| 1990 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 0 | |
| 1991 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 27 | 0 | 27 | 2 | 32 | 0 | 86 | 2 | |
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 15 June 1980 | Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Milan |  Spain | 1–0 | 2–1 | Euro 1980 |
| 2. | 14 October 1986 | Stade Municipal, Luxembourg |  Luxembourg | 1–0 | 6–0 | Euro 1988 qualifier |
| Team | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | |||
| Liège | July 1992 | June 1994 | 71 | 20 | 19 | 32 | 028.17 |
| Lierse | July 1994 | June 1997 | 113 | 55 | 29 | 29 | 048.67 |
| Club Brugge | June 1997 | June 1999 | 91 | 60 | 15 | 16 | 065.93 |
| PSV | July 1999 | May 2002 | 141 | 86 | 29 | 26 | 060.99 |
| 1. FC Kaiserslautern | September 2002 | February 2004 | 58 | 19 | 13 | 26 | 032.76 |
| VfL Wolfsburg | April 2004 | May 2005 | 44 | 18 | 5 | 21 | 040.91 |
| Galatasaray | June 2005 | May 2007 | 91 | 50 | 22 | 19 | 054.95 |
| Marseille | September 2007 | June 2009 | 97 | 47 | 23 | 27 | 048.45 |
| Al-Hilal | July 2009 | November 2010 | 48 | 35 | 7 | 6 | 072.92 |
| Morocco | July 2010 | September 2012 | 18 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 038.89 |
| Lekhwiya | October 2012 | May 2014 | 77 | 44 | 13 | 20 | 057.14 |
| Al-Jazira | June 2014 | June 2015 | 27 | 16 | 3 | 8 | 059.26 |
| Total | 876 | 457 | 183 | 236 | 052.17 | ||
Standard Liège[25]
PSV[28]
Belgium
Individual
Lierse[51]
Club Brugge[52]
PSV[28]
1. FC Kaiserslautern
Galatasaray[54]
Marseille
Al Hilal[56]
Morocco[57]
Lekhwiya[58]
Al-Jazira
Individual
International tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
