Nicolaas "Nico" Pieter Claesen (born 1 October 1962) is a former Belgian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who works as head coach of

RFC Liège Royal Football Club de Liège (more commonly known as RFC Liège) is a professional football club based in Liège, capital of Liège Province, Belgium. The team currently play in Challenger Pro League, the second tier in Belgian football. It ...

Career

Claesen was signed by

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

in October 1986 by

David Pleat David John Pleat (born 15 January 1945) is an English association football, football player turned manager (association football), manager, and sports commentator. Pleat made 185 Football League appearances for five clubs, scoring 26 goals. He ...

who bought him from

Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège ( ; ; ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most successful clubs in Belgium, having won t ...

for £600,000. He made his debut against

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

Anfield Anfield is a Association football, football stadium in the area of Anfield (suburb), Anfield, Liverpool, England, which has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since its formation in 1892. The stadium has a seating capacity of 61,276, making it the ...

. In August 1988, when

Terry Venables Terence Frederick Venables (6 January 1943 – 25 November 2023), often referred to as El Tel, was an English football player and manager who played for clubs including Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Queens Park Rangers and won two caps for E ...

arrived, Claesen fell out of favour and was sold for £550,000 to Antwerp FC. He also played for

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V. (), commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German professional sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's Association football, football team is currently part of Germany's f ...

International career

Claesen earned 36 caps and scored 12 goals from 1983 to 1990 for the Belgium national team, and was in the squad for three major tournaments:

UEFA Euro 1984 The 1984 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in France from 12 to 27 June 1984. It was the seventh UEFA European Championship, a competition held every four years and endorsed by UEFA. At the time, only eight countries ...

, the

1986 FIFA World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-tea ...

, where he scored three goals as Belgium finished in fourth, and the

1990 FIFA World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second ...

Honours

Antwerp *

Belgian Cup The Belgian Cup (; ; ) is the main knockout football competition in Belgium, run by the Royal Belgian FA. The competition started in 1908 with provincial selections as the "Belgian Provinces Cup". Starting from 1912 only actual clubs were allowed ...

: 1991–92 Belgium *

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 ...

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

( fourth place) Individual * Belgian First Division top scorer: 1983–84 (27 goals)

International goals

References

External links

* * 1962 births Living people People from Maasmechelen Belgian men's footballers Footballers from Limburg (Belgium) Men's association football forwards Belgium men's international footballers Belgian Pro League players Bundesliga players English Football League players K. Patro Eisden Maasmechelen players R.F.C. Seraing (1904) players VfB Stuttgart players Standard Liège players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Royal Antwerp F.C. players Beerschot A.C. players K. Sint-Niklase S.K.E. players K. Beringen F.C. players UEFA Euro 1984 players 1986 FIFA World Cup players 1990 FIFA World Cup players Belgian football managers K. Patro Eisden Maasmechelen managers K.V. Turnhout managers Belgian expatriate men's footballers Belgian expatriate sportspeople in West Germany Expatriate men's footballers in West Germany Belgian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England 20th-century Belgian sportsmen {{Belgium-footy-forward-stub