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Rob Rensenbrink

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Pieter Robert Rensenbrink (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈrɔp ˈrɛnsə(m)ˌbrɪŋk]; 3 July 1947 – 24 January 2020) was a Dutch footballer and member of the Netherlands national team that reached two FIFA World Cup finals, in 1974 and 1978. A creative and prolific left winger or forward, he became a legend in Belgium while playing in the great Anderlecht sides of the 1970s. He is the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup's all-time top scorer, with 25 goals. A talented dribbler as well as a cool finisher and adequate passer, he only ever missed two penalties in his entire career. He was also the first winner of the Onze d'Or in 1976.

Rob Rensenbrink
Rensenbrink in 1978
Personal information
Full name Pieter Robert Rensenbrink
Date of birth (1947-07-03)3 July 1947[1]
Place of birth Amsterdam, Netherlands[1]
Date of death 24 January 2020(2020-01-24) (aged 72)
Place of death Oostzaan, Netherlands
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Position(s) Left winger, forward
Youth career
OVVO Amsterdam
0000–1965 OSV
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1965–1969 DWS 120 (34)
1969–1971 Club Brugge 55 (24)
1971–1980 Anderlecht 262 (143)
1980 Portland Timbers 18 (6)
1981–1982 Toulouse 12 (1)
Total 467 (208)
International career
1968–1979 Netherlands 46 (14[2])
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Netherlands
FIFA World Cup
Runner-up 1974 West Germany
Runner-up 1978 Argentina
European Championship
Third place 1976 Yugoslavia
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

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Rob Rensenbrink in 1969

Born July 3, 1947, in Amsterdam, Rensenbrink started his career at DWS, an Amsterdam amateur club, before moving to Belgian side Club Brugge in 1969. Between 1971 and 1980 he played for Anderlecht where he enjoyed his greatest club successes. In total when in Belgium he twice won the Belgian Championships, the Belgian Cup five times and at European club level the European Cup Winners' Cup twice (in 1976 and 1978, as well as being runner-up in 1977). Rensenbrink delivered a notable performance in the 1976 final as Anderlecht ran out 4–2 winners against West Ham United. He scored two goals, one from the penalty spot and set up François Van der Elst for the fourth goal.[3] Among his team mates was Dutch internationalist compatriot, Arie Haan. In 1980, he left Anderlecht and wound down his career with a spell at Portland Timbers in the NASL, followed by a brief stay with Toulouse in France in 1981.

International career

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Rob Rensenbrink with his daughter at Schiphol Airport following return from Argentina in 1978

Rensenbrink made his international debut for the Netherlands national football team against Scotland in 1968, but picked up relatively few caps due to competition for the forward positions with Johan Cruijff and Piet Keizer. However, Rinus Michels included him for the 1974 FIFA World Cup squad that made the short trip to West Germany.

The Dutch side that took part in the 1974 FIFA World Cup were the pinnacle of Total Football. Most of the 1974 team were made up of players from AFC Ajax and Feyenoord, so Rensenbrink was an outsider and was unfamiliar with playing the system. His preferred position was up front on the left, but that position was already Johan Cruijff's domain, so he played on the left-wing position in midfield, taking over from Ajax player Piet Keizer. He missed one game in the tournament (when Keizer played instead) and was only half-fit for the final after picking up an injury during the semi-final against Brazil. Rinus Michels gambled on Rensenbrink's fitness and played him from start – however he only lasted until half-time and was replaced by René van de Kerkhof. The Netherlands took an early lead through a Johan Neeskens penalty, but goals from Paul Breitner and Gerd Müller gave West Germany a 2–1 victory. Rensenbrink's performances saw him named to the team of the tournament and he was sought by Ajax as a replacement for Keizer. However, contract negotiations fell through and he remained at Anderlecht.[4]

Rensenbrink stayed in the Netherlands national team during the qualifiers and finals of the 1976 European Football Championship. However, the Netherlands fell at the semi-final stage to Czechoslovakia.

In the 1978 FIFA World Cup tournament in Argentina, the Netherlands again reached the final, but this time without Cruijff (who decided to retire from international football) and under the guidance of Ernst Happel rather than Michels. Out of the shadow of Cruijff, Rensenbrink found more room to showcase his own considerable talent, playing on the left-hand side of a front three alongside Johnny Rep and René van de Kerkhof. He scored a hat-trick in the opening game against Iran, another goal against Scotland which was goal number 1,000 in FIFA World Cup history and a penalty in the 5–1 win over Austria. In the final against Argentina, the Netherlands yet again met the hosts. The Netherlands fell behind to a first-half Mario Kempes strike. After Dick Nanninga's equalizer nine minutes from time, a long pass from the Dutch captain Ruud Krol in the last 30 seconds of normal time gave Rensenbrink a half-chance, but his shot from a very narrow angle hit the post and was cleared by a defender.[5] Had he scored, it is almost certain that the Netherlands would have won the World Cup with Rensenbrink being top goal scorer. Argentina scored twice in extra-time for a 3–1 victory and the Netherlands again had to settle for the runners-up spot.[6]

Rensenbrink played some of the qualifiers for Euro 80, but after earning his 46th cap in 1979 (a 2–0 defeat by Poland in a qualifier for Euro 80), he retired from international football at the age of 32, having scored 14 times for his country. He along with Eusébio are the only players to score the most goals from a penalty spot in a tournament (4 in 1978).

He was named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers in March 2004. He was also named Anderlecht's greatest ever foreign player in 2008.

Personal life

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Rensenbrink was married and lived in Oostzaan. In the summer of 2015, he revealed that he had been diagnosed with progressive muscular atrophy three years earlier.[7] He died on 24 January 2020, aged 72. Belgian news sources reported that he had been diagnosed with a muscular disease in 2012 which led to his death.[8]

Career statistics

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Club

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Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[1]
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
DWS 1965–66 Eredivisie 23 5 3 0 – – – 26 5
1966–67 29 4 2 0 – 2 0 – 33 4
1967–68 34 10 3 0 – 2 1 – 39 11
1968–69 34 15 4 3 – 5 1 – 43 19
Total 120 34 12 3 0 0 9 2 0 0 141 39
Club Brugge 1969–70 First Division 27 10 – 4 3 – 31 13
1970–71 28 14 – 6 2 – 34 16
Total 55 24 0 0 10 5 0 0 65 29
Anderlecht 1971–72 First Division 30 16 – 2 0 – 32 16
1972–73 24 16 – 4 4 – 28 20
1973–74 29 20 – 2 3 – 31 23
1974–75 35 19 – 6 3 – 41 22
1975–76 35 23 – 9 8 – 44 31
1976–77 34 16 – 9 7 4[a] 2 43 23
1977–78 24 18 – 7 5 – 31 23
1978–79 31 12 – 2 0 2[b] 1 33 12
1979–80 20 3 – 1 0 – 21 3
Total 262 143 0 0 42 30 4 3 308 176
Portland Timbers 1980 NASL 18 6 – – – – 18 6
Toulouse 1981–82 Division 2 12 1 – – – 12 1
Career total 467 208 12 3 0 0 61 37 4 3 544 251
  1. ^ Appearances in 1976 European Super Cup
  2. ^ Appearances in 1978 European Super Cup

International

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Appearances and goals by national team and year[2]
National team Year Apps Goals
Netherlands 1968 3 0
1969 4 0
1970 1 0
1973 2 0
1974 12 4
1975 1 0
1976 6 3
1977 3 0
1978 12 7
1979 2 0
Total 46 14
Scores and results list Netherland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Rensenbrink goal.
List of international goals scored by Rob Rensenbrink
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition Ref.
1 26 May 1974 Olympic Stadium, Amsterdam, Netherlands   Argentina 2–0 4–1 Friendly [9]
2 30 June 1974 Parkstadion, Gelsenkirchen, Germany   East Germany 2–0 2–0 1974 FIFA World Cup [10]
3 4 September 1974 Råsunda Stadium, Stockholm, Sweden   Sweden 5–1 5–1 Friendly [11]
4 20 November 1974 De Kuip, Rotterdam, Netherlands   Italy 1–1 3–1 UEFA Euro 1976 qualification [12]
5 25 April 1976 De Kuip, Rotterdam, Netherlands   Belgium 2–0 5–0 UEFA Euro 1976 qualification [13]
6 3–0
7 5–0
8 22 February 1978 Ramat Gan Stadium, Ramat Gan, Israel   Israel 1–0 2–1 Friendly [14]
9 3 June 1978 Estadio Malvinas Argentinas, Mendoza Argentina   Iran 1–0 3–0 1978 FIFA World Cup [15]
10 2–0
11 3–0
12 11 June 1978 Estadio Malvinas Argentinas, Mendoza Argentina   Scotland 1–0 2–3 1978 FIFA World Cup [16]
13 14 June 1978 Estadio Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina   Austria – 5–1 1978 FIFA World Cup [17]
14 20 September 1978 Goffertstadion, Nijmegen, Netherlands   Iceland 3–0 3–0 UEFA Euro 1980 qualification [18]

Honours

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Rob Rensenbrink in 1974

Club Brugge[19]

Anderlecht[20]

Toulouse

Netherlands

Individual

References

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  2. ^ a b "Rob Rensenbrink – International Appearances" Archived 1 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine. RSSSF. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  3. ^ "RSCA TV – Classic – 1976 – RSC Anderlecht vs West Ham United – UEFA Cup Winner's Cup Final". Archived from the original on 21 December 2021 – via www.youtube.com.
  4. ^ "Player Profile on Robbie Rensenbrink". World Soccer, 1977. Archived from the original on 13 May 2016. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
  5. ^ 'Last post: Rensenbrink plays back painful miss'. The Herald, 9 July 2014. Retrieved 2 July 2024
  6. ^ Caple, Alex (29 September 2017). "Rob Rensenbrink: A Post Away From Being A Legend". The Versed. Clickon Media. Archived from the original on 27 June 2018. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  7. ^ Rob Rensenbrink lijdt aan afgeleide van spierziekte ALS Archived 30 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine – Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch)
  8. ^ "Netherlands forward Rob Rensenbrink dies at age 72". Associated Press. 26 January 2020. Archived from the original on 26 January 2020. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
  9. ^ "Netherlands v Argentina, 26 May 1974". 11v11. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
  10. ^ "East Germany vs. Netherlands". National Football Teams−. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
  11. ^ "Sweden v Netherlands, 04 September 1974". 11v11. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
  12. ^ "Netherlands v Italy, 20 November 1974". 11v11. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
  13. ^ "Netherlands v Belgium, 25 April 1976". 11v11. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
  14. ^ "Israel v Netherlands, 22 February 1978". 11v11. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
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