Edwien Reinier Schal (born October 3, 1943), known as Wiene Schal is a retired

Suriname Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...

se footballer who started his career as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for

SV Transvaal Sport Vereniging Transvaal is a Surinamese association football club, which plays in the top of football in Suriname. They play their home games in Paramaribo at André Kamperveen Stadion to a capacity of 7,100. The team is one of Suriname's mos ...

in the

Hoofdklasse The Vierde Divisie (; "Fourth Division"), formerly known as Hoofdklasse () is the second-highest league of amateur football in the Netherlands, and the fifth tier in general. Background The league was divided into two sections: Saturday and Sunda ...

, and for the Suriname national team. A striker for the majority of his career, he was utilized more as defender towards the end of his career. He is considered one of the greatest footballers in the countries history, having captained SV Transvaal to two CONCACAF Champions Cups and five national titles, in what is considered the

golden age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the ''Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages of Man, Ages, Gold being the first and the one during wh ...

of the club's history.

Career

Schal started his career in

Paramaribo Paramaribo ( , , ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of Suriname, located on the banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 241,000 people (2012 census), almost half of Suriname's p ...

, Suriname on the Plein van 12 Mei, playing in the youth ranks of S.V. Tuna, before transferring to

S.V. Transvaal Sport Vereniging Transvaal is a Surinamese association football club, which plays in the top of football in Suriname. They play their home games in Paramaribo at André Kamperveen Stadion to a capacity of 7,100. The team is one of Suriname's mos ...

. He progressed through the youth ranks of Transvaal, playing for the reserves' team before making his debut for the first team in 1966. As one of the countries most prolific strikers, he helped Tarnsvaal to become the first regional champion of the Caribbean, leading Transvaal to the semi-finals of the

1970 CONCACAF Champions' Cup The 1970 CONCACAF Champions' Cup was the 6th edition of the annual international club association football competition held in the CONCACAF region (North America, Central America and the Caribbean), the CONCACAF Champions' Cup It was played from ...

before the team withdrew from the tournament. In 1973, In 1973, S.V. Transvaal clinched the

SVB Hoofdklasse The SVB Eerste Divisie is the second highest football championship for clubs run by the Surinaamse Voetbal Bond. The league currently comprises twelve teams and operates a system of promotion and relegation. Seasons run from November to June, w ...

national title undefeated, also winning the Caribbean Championship and the

1973 CONCACAF Champions' Cup The 1973 CONCACAF Champions' Cup was the 9th edition of the top international club competition organized by CONCACAF for clubs from North America, Central America and the Caribbean, the CONCACAF Champions' Cup. It determined the 1973 continental ...

after

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

side

Saprissa Deportivo Saprissa is a Costa Rican sports club, mostly known for its football team. The club is based in San Juan de Tibás, San José, and play their home games at the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá. Their colours are burgundy and white. It ...

withdrew from the tournament. Schal finished the season as the top scorer of the Hoofdklasse with 20 goals, a feat he had accomplished 1968 together with his teammate

Roy Vanenburg Roy Vanenburg (born 1948) is a Surinamese football manager and former player, who was last manager of Hoofdklasse club Transvaal. He spent most of his professional playing career with S.V. Transvaal, winning six Hoofdklasse titles, and two CONCA ...

with 14 goals each. As the team captain for S.V. Transvaal for 15 years, Schal helped his side to five national titles in 1968, 1969, 1970, 1973 and 1974, while winning the Surinamese Footballer of the Year award twice, in 1968 and 1972. He also won the CONCACAF Champions' Cup twice, once more in 1981 when Transvaal defeated C.D. Atlético Marte from

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

2-1 on aggregate score in the final.

International career

Schal made his debut for the Suriname national team on 10 June 1966 at the Coupe Duvalier tournament against

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

in a 3–2 loss at the

Sylvio Cator Stadium The Stade Sylvio Cator is a multi-purpose stadium in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. It is currently used mostly for association football matches, and is turfed with artificial turf. History The stadium bears the name of Haitian Olympic medalist and footb ...

Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( ; ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Haiti, most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 1,200,000 in 2022 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The me ...

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

. He scored his first goal against

three days later in a 4–1 win. Suriname eventually finished as runners-up in the tournament. He played an integral role in the countries

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

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 ...

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 ...

qualification campaigns, and in 1978 helped Suriname to win the

CFU Championship The CFU Championship, also known as CFU Nations Cup, was an association football competition organized by CFU as its top regional tournament for men's senior national teams from the Caribbean. The tournament was held from 1978 to 1988 and it was ...

hosted in

. In 1976, Schal played for the Suriname Olympic team, competing in two matches against the Olympic team of Trinidad and Tobago while scoring twice.

Career statistics

International goals

:''Scores and results list Suriname' goal tally first.''

Honors

Club

;S.V. Transvaal *

(5): 1968, 1969, 1970, 1973, 1974 *

CONCACAF Champions' Cup The CONCACAF Champions Cup, formerly known as CONCACAF Champions League (2008–2023), is an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America, a ...

(2): 1973, 1981

International

;Suriname *

(1): 1978

Individual

*Surinamese Sportsman of the Year (1): 1968 * Surinamese Footballer of the Year (2): 1968, 1972 *

Top Goalscorer (2): 1968 (joint), 1973

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schal, Edwin Living people 1944 births Footballers from Paramaribo Surinamese men's footballers 20th-century Surinamese sportsmen Suriname men's international footballers S.V. Transvaal players SVB Eerste Divisie players Men's association football forwards