Eric Gerets

Club career

Gerets began his career playing for amateur side AA Rekem before joining then titleholders Standard de Liège. Making his debut 16 April 1972 coming on for Silvester Takač against FC Diest. In the 1972–73 season Standard reached the Cup final, manager Vlatko Marković let Gerets start despite not being an established first team member as Standard lost 2–1 to fierce rivals Anderlecht. The following season, Gerets replaced 29-year-old Jacques Beurlet and became the first choice right-back for the Rouches. In 1975 Gerets made his debut for the national team.

Gerets played for Standard Liège, A.C. Milan, MVV Maastricht and PSV, winning among others the 1987–88 European Cup, two Belgian championships and six Dutch 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". He was also known for long distance throw-ins.

Standard Liège

In the 1980s, a new generation of players emerged at Standard. Noted manager Ernst Happel was hired, and later the club brought Raymond Goethals back to Belgium. Players like Arie Haan, Guy Vandersmissen, Michel Preud'homme, Walter Meeuws, Jos Daerden and Simon Tahamata became key players, whilst Gerets was the captain of the team. In 1980, Standard finished runners-up in the league, before winning the 1981 National Cup with a 4–1 win over Lokeren SC. In 1982, Standard won the title by beating Waterschei SV Thor in the last match of the season. A few days later, they faced Barcelona in the European Cup Winners' Cup final, which they lost 2–1. The influence of Gerets on Standard's success was recognised when he was awarded the 1982 Belgian Golden Shoe. The following year he captained Standard to another league title, their ninth overall, which would prove to be their last until 2007–08.

With Standard, Gerets eventually won 2 national titles, a National Cup, a Super Cup and a League Cup.

AC Milan

Gerets signed with Italian giants AC 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 the Waterschei players in 1982 to take it easy in their final league match against Standard. Several Standard players at the time and trainer Raymond Goethals were subsequently suspended for this.

MVV

MVV Maastricht contracted Gerets in 1984, but he would eventually only play four matches for the club. Three of those were against PSV, after which the Eindhoven club was convinced and quickly signed the Belgian to a contract in the summer of 1985.

PSV

In 1985, Gerets joined PSV playing together with Ruud Gullit, Frank Arnesen, Huub Stevens and Willy van de Kerkhof followed by Brazilian star Romário. In 1986, Gerets won the title with PSV, and after the departure of Gullit in 1987, Gerets became the new captain. Under Guus Hiddink PSV won the league and cup double three consecutive seasons, Gerets scoring twice in the 1987–88 cup final against Roda JC. In 1988, PSV reached the UEFA European Cup final after eliminating Real Madrid in the semi-finals. The score against Benfica was also 0–0 after 120 minutes; PSV eventually won on penalties.

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.

In the following years, Gerets would be regularly honored as a true club icon ("Best PSV team ever", "PSV player of the century", "PSV Walk of Fame").

International career

Gerets registered 86 caps for the Belgium national team. He made his debut for the squad in 1975, and played at four major tournaments: the 1980 European Championship, 1982 World Cup, 1986 World Cup, and 1990 World Cup.

In 1980, Gerets played in his first European Championship in Italy. He scored the opening goal in a 2–1 win against Spain which ensured Belgium qualified as group winners. The tournament is remembered for the inspired performance of the offensively-minded Belgium (around rising stars such as Jan Ceulemans, Eric Gerets, Jean-Marie Pfaff and Erwin Vandenbergh) who unexpectedly reached the final, only losing to West Germany (1–2) by a Hrubesch goal two minutes from time.

At the 1982 World Cup, Belgium, captained by Gerets, recorded one of their most famous victories with a 1–0 win over defending champions Argentina in the first game of the tournament held at Camp Nou with a goal by Erwin Vandenbergh, and an excellent defensive display to hold off a young Diego Maradona. Four years later, they achieved their best World Cup run at that time in 1986 when they placed fourth under command of players like Jan Ceulemans, Jean-Marie Pfaff and captain Gerets. Belgium surprisingly won against favourites the Soviet Union with stars such as Igor Belanov and Rinat Dasayev (3–4) after extra time.

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 in 2018 when they reached third place.

36 year-old Gerets would also captain his nation to the 1990 World Cup finals. Belgium failed to convert their chances against England in the second round. They lost in the last minute of extra time after a goal by David Platt. After a few qualification matches for the 1992 European championship, Gerets decided to quit international football early 1991 to focus on his club career with PSV Eindhoven.

For decades, he was the third-most capped player for the Belgium national team, with 86 appearances and two goals.

Managerial career

As a manager, Gerets worked successively for RFC Liège, Lierse, Club Brugge, PSV, 1. FC Kaiserslautern and VfL Wolfsburg before joining Galatasaray 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 the Turkish Premier Super League with Galatasaray. In May 2007, he left the club, and on 25 September became Marseille'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 the RBFA to coach the Belgian national team after Rene Vandereycken was sacked. On 29 April 2009, he confirmed that he would not be in charge of Marseille after the summer when his contract expired. On 26 May 2009, he signed a contract to take over as head coach of Saudi club Al-Hilal for two years for an annual fee of €1.8 million. thumb|upright|200px|Gerets after the celebration of [[Al-Hilal FC|Al Hilal]] in the 2009–10 Saudi Pro League On 6 July 2010, he signed a four-year contract with Morocco. He would do the job part-time until he completed the Asian Champions League campaign with Al Hilal but stranded in the semi-finals. 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 the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualification.

Less than a month after leaving Morocco, he accepted a contract offer to become the head coach of Qatari defending champions Lekhwiya on 9 October 2012. 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 team Al Jazira Club on 20 May 2014. 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. Gerets was subsequently regularly mentioned as a top candidate for the position of head coach of Belgium. But due to health problems, he would never become it. In 2013, Gerets suffered a brain hemorrhage. Since then, his health has gradually deteriorated and he has difficulty speaking and walking. In 2022, he was diagnosed with cerebral calcification.

Career statistics

Club

International

Managerial statistics

Honours

Standard Liège

• Belgian First Division: 1981–82, 1982–83
• Belgian Cup: 1980–81
• Belgian Super Cup: 1981
• Belgian League Cup: 1975
• European Cup Winners' Cup runner-up: 1981–82
• UEFA Intertoto Cup group winner: 1980, 1982

PSV

• Eredivisie: 1985–86, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1990–91, 1991–92, runner-up: 1989–90
• KNVB Cup: 1987–88, 1988–89 1989–90
• European Cup: 1987–88
• Teresa Herrera Trophy: 1988

Belgium

• UEFA European Championship runner-up: 1980
• FIFA World Cup fourth place: 1986
• Belgian Sports Merit Award: 1980

Individual

• Belgian Golden Shoe: 1982
• Bronze Shoe: 1981
• Ballon d'Or nominations: 1982, 1983
• Don Balón World Cup All-Star team: 1982
• Onze de Onze: 1982, 1983, 1988
• Guerin Sportivo All-Star Team: 1982, 1983
• France Football + La Gazzetta dello Sport World Cup All-Star team: 1986
• Belgian Golden Shoe of the 20th Century 8th place: 1995
• Voetbal International's 50 World Stars by Raf Willems: 1999
• PSV Player of the Century: 1999
• Platina 11 (Best Team in 50 Years Golden Shoe Winners): 2003
• UEFA Jubilee Poll (2004): #81
• The Best Golden Shoe Team Ever: 2011
• RBFA 125 Years Icons Team: 2020
• AD The Best PSV Team Ever: 2020
• DH The Best Standard Liège Team Ever: 2020
• IFFHS All Time Belgium Dream Team: 2021
• Standard Liège Hall of Fame: 2024
• Belgian Pro League Hall of Fame: 2024
• PSV Walk of Fame: 2024

Manager

Lierse

• Belgian First Division: 1996–97

Club Brugge

• Belgian First Division: 1997–98
• Belgian Cup runner-up: 1997–98
• Belgian Super Cup: 1998

PSV

• Eredivisie: 1999–2000, 2000–01, runner-up: 2001–02
• Johan Cruyff Shield: 2000, 2001
• KNVB Cup runner-up: 2000–01

1. FC Kaiserslautern

• DFB-Pokal runner-up: 2002–03

Galatasaray

• Süper Lig: 2005–06

Marseille

• Ligue 1 runner up: 2008–09

Al Hilal

• Saudi Professional League: 2009–10
• Saudi Crown Prince Cup: 2010
• King's Cup of Champions runner-up: 2010

Morocco

• Arab Cup: 2012

Lekhwiya

• Qatar Stars League: 2013–14, runner-up: 2012–13
• Crown Prince Cup: 2013, runner-up: 2014

Al-Jazira

• UAE Pro League runner-up: 2014–15

Individual

• Belgian Professional Manager of the Year: 1996–97, 1997–98
• Ligue 1 Manager of the Year: 2008–09
• : 2011

Notes

References

References

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