Roger Claessen (27 September 1941 – 3 October 1982) 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 played as a forward. He finished as the top scorer of the

Belgian League 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 Belgian First Division A, 2020 ...

with 20 goals (along with

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 1968 while playing for

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 ...

. He played 17 times with the Belgium national team between 1961 and 1968, scoring seven goals. Claessen made his international debut on 20 May 1961 in a 2–1 defeat to Switzerland, and he scored. Due to his lifestyle, he was nicknamed "Roger-La honte" (Roger-the shame). He played for other teams, like Alemannia Aachen Beerschot and Crossing Schaarbeek before retiring from football in 1974. Claessen died aged 41. He was voted

player of the century by supporters.

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 ...

: 1960–61, 1962–63 *

Belgian Cup The Belgian Cup (french: link=no, Coupe de Belgique; nl, Beker van België []; german: link=no, Belgischer Fußballpokal) is the main Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in Belgium, run by the Belgia ...

: List of Belgian Cup finals, 1965–66, 1966–67 * 1961–62 European Cup#Semi-finals, European Cup: 1961–62 (

semi-finals A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

) Beerschot * Belgian Cup: 1970–71 Individual * European Cup Winners Cup top scorer: 1966–67 (ten goals)

References

External links

Profile at Standard Liège
1941 births 1982 deaths People from Dalhem Footballers from Liège Province Belgian footballers Association football forwards Belgium international footballers Standard Liège players Alemannia Aachen players K. Beerschot V.A.C. players Belgian Pro League players Bundesliga players Belgian football managers K.V.V. Crossing Elewijt players Belgian expatriate footballers Belgian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate footballers in Germany {{Belgium-footy-forward-stub