Erwin Vandenbergh

Lierse

At the age of 16, Erwin Vandenbergh made his debut in the team of his hometown, Ramsel. In his first season, the striker immediately scored 18 goals in 28 games. He was quickly noticed by the Belgian elite clubs. Vandenbergh could have gone to Beveren, Diest and Lokeren but he chose the nearby Lierse SK, the club he had supported since he was a child. Things went fast. After 6 months with the reserves, his career took off. The young Vandenbergh became the founder of Lierse's rise to the Belgian sub-top. The club was able to force European football in the 1977–78 season after finishing fourth in the standings. In the 1979–80 season, Erwin Vandenbergh became the national and European top scorer with 39 goals, despite the fact that his team only finished sixth in the competition. Juventus, Naples, Hamburg and Bayern Munich were angling for his services, without success. He also became top scorer in the following season (24 goals) and in 1981 he won the Golden Shoe. In the 1981–82 season, he became Belgium's top scorer once more with 25 goals. As a result of all that success, Lierse SK had to let their forward go to Anderlecht for 60 million Belgian francs (1.5 million euros), a fortune at the time.

Anderlecht

Anderlecht also bought forward Alex Czerniatynski that season. The collaboration between the two was initially difficult. Erwin Vandenbergh could not thrive in the demanding “Ivic System”. When the Croat was fired 3 months later, Erwin Vandenbergh…

Erwin Vandenbergh reached a sporting peak quite early, in 1979. At that time, he was the most productive forward in Europe. That did not go unnoticed by then national coach Guy Thys either. He selected the 20-year-old attacker for the Red Devils. His first international match was on 19 December 1979 against Scotland. Belgium won 1–3 and Vandenbergh scored once. The successful debut made Vandenbergh a regular in the national team in no time. In 1980 he was allowed to go to the European Championship in Italy. Belgium reached the final, but lost to West Germany. Vandenbergh had played three times, but he did not score. In the run-up to the 1982 World Cup in Spain, Vandenbergh played seven World Cup Cup qualifying matches in which he scored five times. Belgium played the tournament opening match against reigning world champion Argentina in Camp Nou, the stadium of FC Barcelona. Vandenbergh scored the only goal of the match after a long, crooked cross from Frank Vercauteren. Because of the importance of the goal and the cry of joy - Goaaaal, goal, goal! - from the Belgian reporter Rik De Saedeleer, the goal went down in Belgian history as one of the most famous goals ever scored by the Red Devils. De Saedeleer's famous reaction later became the title of Vandenbergh's biography. Belgium eventually won the group, but were eliminated in the next round. Poland and the Soviet Union proved too strong. Vandenbergh was also present at the 1984 European Championship. Belgium had won…

Vandenbergh can be described as a typical example of a pure striker, capable of making the actions himself but above all instinctively feeling where to position himself to score a goal. Author Raf Willems described him as "A phenomenal finisher but at the same time elegant and aesthetic in his movements. With insight as his greatest quality, as an instinctive gift.".

Club

International

Scores and results list Belgium's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Vandenbergh goal.