 "Ente" Lippens in 1970 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Willem Gerard Lippens | ||
| Date of birth | (1945-11-10)10 November 1945 (age 79) | ||
| Place of birth | Bedburg-Hau,Niederrhein, Germany | ||
| Height | 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1966–1976 | Rot-Weiss Essen | 172 | (89) |
| 1976–1979 | Borussia Dortmund | 70 | (13) |
| 1979 | Dallas Tornado | 25 | (15) |
| 1979–1981 | Rot-Weiss Essen | 67 | (23) |
| 1981–1982 | Rot-Weiß Oberhausen | 2 | (0) |
| Total | 336 | (140) | |
| International career | |||
| 1971 | Netherlands | 1 | (1) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1998 | Rot-Weiss Essen | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Willem Gerard "Willi" Lippens (born 10 November 1945) is a former football player.[1] He is nicknamed "Ente" (German for "duck") due to his waddling.[2] Born in Germany, he represented theNetherlands national team.
Born near the German-Dutch border to a Dutch father and a German mother, Lippens spent most of his career playing for German clubs. He played forRot-Weiss Essen from 1965 to 76 and in 1980–81. Between 1976 and 1979 he played forBorussia Dortmund before leaving to play one season for theDallas Tornado in theNASL (North American Soccer League).
Lippens played in 242Bundesliga matches, scoring 92 goals,[3] making him the player who appeared most often forRot-Weiss at that level of play, as well as their top scorer. Lippens also played an international match for the Netherlands,[4] making him one of eight Dutch football players to have been selected for theNetherlands national team while never having played in the DutchEredivisie. The othercapped players areJordi Cruyff,Jerrel Hasselbaink,Rob Reekers,Wim Hofkens,Nathan Aké, andTimothy Fosu-Mensah.
Lippens, who spoke only very basicDutch, is the only native German-speaker ever to have played for the Netherlands national team. Lippens received several invitations to join the German national selection as well, but always declined as his Dutch father had forbidden him to play for Germany. Lippens has said that he would have liked to have played for Germany, but that his respect for his father, and the experiences his family lived through during theSecond World War outweighed this.[5]
Lippens was known for his imaginative footwork, which earned him the nicknameEnte (Duck), and was a fan favorite because of his irreverent good humour. One particular anecdote about Lippens has become a cliché in German football culture: A referee once gave Lippens a yellow card, saying:Ich verwarne Ihnen! ("I'm warning you!"), in defective German grammar, using adative pronoun instead ofaccusative. Lippens replied:Herr Schiedsrichter, ich danke Sie! ("Sir, I thank You!"), sarcastically using an accusative pronoun instead of a correct dative this time. Lippens was immediately sent off by the referee.[6]
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| People | |
