Wilfried Puis (18 February 1943 – 21 October 1981) was a 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 ...
er who played as a
striker, notably for
Anderlecht
Anderlecht (; ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, B ...
and the
Belgium national team. Puis was praised for his speed, agility and goal kicks which made him and
Paul Van Himst a perfect match. A year after he ended his football career, he died of stomach cancer at the age of 38.
Club career
Puis was born in
Ostend
Ostend ( ; ; ; ) is a coastal city and municipality in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerke, Raversijde, Stene and Zandvoorde, and the city of Ostend proper – the la ...
. While playing for Anderlecht, he won the
Belgian Golden Shoe in 1964. In November 1971, Puis moved to rival
Club Brugge
(), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,042. They pl ...
. After one season, he was transferred to
Lokeren
Lokeren () is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality located in the Belgian Provinces of Belgium, province of East Flanders, and belongs to the Waasland, also called ''Land van Waas'', of which it is the second ...
.
International career
Puis was in the Belgium-Netherlands match in 1964 with 10 teammates from Anderlecht after the substitution of goalkeeper Delhasse by
Jean-Marie Trappeniers. In total, he played 49 times for the national team between 1962 and 1975, starting in the second half of a 3–1 friendly defeat to
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
on 13 May 1962. Puis played in all three group 1 stage games of the
1970 World Cup.
Honours
Anderlecht
*
Belgian First Division
The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023– ...
:
1961–62,
1963–64,
1964–65,
1965–66,
1966–67,
1967–68
*
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 ...
:
1964–65
*
Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, most commonly referred to as the Fairs Cup and sometimes as the European Fairs Cup or Fairs Cities' Cup, was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971. The Fairs Cup was the idea of FIFA vice-presid ...
runner-up:
1969–70
Club Brugge
*
Jules Pappaert Cup: 1972
Individual
*
Belgian Golden Shoe: 1964; runner-up 1965
* Puis-Verbiest trophy (KV Oostende player of the season): from 2016
References
External links
*
Profile & stats– Lokeren
Stats– Club Brugge
1943 births
1981 deaths
Footballers from Ostend
Belgian men's footballers
Men's association football forwards
Belgium men's international footballers
1970 FIFA World Cup players
Belgian Pro League players
R.S.C. Anderlecht players
Club Brugge KV players
K.S.C. Lokeren Oost-Vlaanderen players
20th-century Belgian sportsmen
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