Nico Claesen

Nicolaas "Nico" Pieter Claesen (born 1 October 1962) is a former Belgian football player who works as head coach of RFC Liège.^[1]

Nico Claesen

Personal information
Full name	Nicolaas Pieter Claesen
Date of birth	(1962-10-01) 1 October 1962 (age 62)
Place of birth	Maasmechelen, Belgium
Height	1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1977–1978	K. Patro Eisden Maasmechelen
1978–1984	R.F.C. Seraing	85	(43)
1984–1985	VfB Stuttgart	29	(11)
1985–1986	Standard de Liège	28	(10)
1986–1988	Tottenham Hotspur	50	(18)
1988–1992	Antwerp	119	(39)
1992–1993	Germinal Ekeren	29	(15)
1993–1994	Antwerp	31	(2)
1994–1996	KV Oostende	57	(33)
1996–1998	K. Sint-Niklase S.K.E.	55	(19)
1998–2000	K. Beringen
Total		473	(190)
International career
1983–1990	Belgium	36	(12)
Managerial career
2005–2008	Patro Eisden MM
2010	RFC Liège
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Career

Claesen was signed by Tottenham Hotspur in October 1986 by David Pleat who bought him from Standard Liège for £600,000. He made his debut against Liverpool at Anfield.^[2] In August 1988, when Terry Venables arrived, Claesen fell out of favour and was sold for £550,000 to Antwerp FC.^[2] He also played for VfB Stuttgart.^[3]

International career

Oleh Kuznetsov, Claesen and goalkeeper Rinat Dasayev, during USSR-Belgium (FIFA 1986 World Cup)

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 1986 FIFA World Cup, where he scored three goals as Belgium finished in fourth, and the 1990 FIFA World Cup.

Honours

Antwerp

• Belgian Cup: 1991–92^[4]

Belgium

• FIFA World Cup: 1986 (fourth place)^[5]

Individual

• Belgian First Division top scorer: 1983–84 (27 goals)^[6]

International goals

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	17 October 1984	Brussels, Belgium	Albania	1–0	3–1	1986 FIFA World Cup qualification
2.	19 May 1986		Yugoslavia	1–3	1–3	Friendly
3.	8 June 1986	Toluca, Mexico	Iraq	2–0	2–1	1986 FIFA World Cup
4.	15 June 1986	León, Mexico	Soviet Union	4–2	4–3 (a.e.t.)
5.	28 June 1986	Puebla, Mexico	France	2–2	2–4 (a.e.t.)
6.	10 September 1986	Brussels, Belgium	Republic of Ireland	1–0	2–2	UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying
7.	14 October 1986	Luxembourg City, Luxembourg	Luxembourg	2–0	6–0
8.				4–0
9.				6–0
10.	1 April 1987	Anderlecht, Belgium	Scotland	1–0	4–1
11.				2–1
12.				4–1