Raymond Goethals

Raymond Goethals
Raymond Goethals (1977)
Personnel
birthday	October 7, 1921
place of birth	Brussels ,  Belgium
date of death	December 6, 2004
Place of death	Brussels ,  Belgium
Juniors
Years	station
1933-1941	Daring Club de Bruxelles
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1941-1948	Daring Club de Bruxelles
1948-1952	RFC Hannutois
1952-1957	AS Renaisiènne
Stations as a trainer
Years	station
1956-1957	RFC Hannutois
1957-1959	RS Waremme
1959-1966	St. Truiden
1966-1968	Belgium (assistant coach)
1968-1976	Belgium
1976-1979	RSC Anderlecht
1979-1980	Girondins Bordeaux
1980-1981	Sao Paulo FC
1981-1984	Standard Liege
1984-1985	Vitória Guimarães
1985-1987	Racing Jet Brussels
1987-1989	RSC Anderlecht
1989-1990	Girondins Bordeaux
1990-1993	Olympique Marseille
1995-1996	RSC Anderlecht
1 Only league games are given.

Raymond Goethals (born October 7, 1921 in Brussels , † December 6, 2004 there ) was a Belgian football coach . With ten major titles, most of which he won in his later years, he is the most successful coach in his home country.

career

player

As a player, from 1933 onwards, he was with the Daring Club de Bruxelles , a predecessor of today's FC Brussels . From 1941 to 1949 he played as a goalkeeper in the first team. He then moved to Racing Brussels until 1952 before joining Crossing Schaerbeek , where he let his playing career end.

Belgian national coach

His first coaching position was in 1956 at the provincial club RFC Hannutois . In 1957 he took over the RS Waremme , which he led to promotion to the third division within a year, although the class could only be held for one year. He then spent seven years from 1959 at the low-rated St. Truiden , where he was able to record his first major success in 1965 with the runner-up championship. Even there he was nicknamed "Tovenaar", in German "Magician".

In 1966 he became assistant to the then Belgian national coach Constant Vanden Stock , from whom he finally took over responsibility for the Belgian national team in 1968 . With the “Red Devils”, whose dominant player in that era of Belgium was “Player of the Century” Paul Van Himst , Goethals overcame the reigning vice European champions Yugoslavia and Spain on the way to qualifying for the 1970 World Cup in Mexico .

In 1972 he led Belgium to third place in the 1972 European Football Championship . On the way there, the Belgians knocked out the defending champions Italy and only failed in the semifinals against eventual tournament winners Germany

In the two qualifying games for the 1974 World Cup against the eventual runner-up, the Dutch national football team with the legendary Johan Cruyff , the Belgians did not concede a goal and failed tied only because of the goal difference. For Goethals this always remained a reason for great personal satisfaction.

In 1976, in his farewell year as national coach, he managed to advance to the quarter-finals of the 1976 European Championship , where the Red Devils had to admit defeat to the Netherlands this time.

Club coach

After he had vacated his place in the national team for Guy Thys , he was hired by the top club in 1976 and reigning winner of the European cup winners competition , the RSC Anderlecht . By the end of the season, he led the Brussels team again in the final of the European Cup Winners' Cup , where the RSC met Hamburger SV . However, goals from Georg “Schorsch” Volkert and Felix Magath in the last 12 minutes for the Hanseatic League coached by Kuno Klötzer prevented Belgian possession of a European Cup for the second time. The following year, Anderlecht qualified as the defeated Belgian cup finalist for the European cup winners' competition. In the round of 16, the team formed by players like Rob Rensenbrink , Arie Haan and François Van der Elst won the season at HSV. When the Belgians reached the final again this time, FK Austria Wien had no chance and were clearly defeated 0: 4. Anderlecht was the only club to make it into the final of the European Cup Winners' Cup three times in a row.

But even in his third year with the club, Anderlecht was only runner-up. After he had to admit defeat in the first two years to KV Bruges , which was led by the "world champion of coaches" Ernst Happel , SK Beveren won its first championship in the third year .

In 1979 Goethals finally went to France for a year at Girondins Bordeaux , where he succeeded Luis Carniglia , who won two European championship cups with Real Madrid in 1958 and 1959, and then moved on to Brazil, where he played with São Paulo FC in 1981 won the São Paulo State Championship, which was still very popular at the time . Goethals became the only European coach to date to have achieved a significant success in Brazil.

Scandal in Liege

His subsequent work at Standard Liège from 1981 to 1984 was also rewarded with titles. In the first year, he and the team, in which goalkeepers Michel Preud'homme , Arie Haan and Eric Gerets were among the outstanding players, immediately made the third entry into the European Cup winners' final - a record for coaches - but this time FC Barcelona one was too high a hurdle. For the 2-1 victory of the Catalans in their own stadium, the Camp Nou , the ex- Mönchengladbacher Allan Simonsen contributed the winning goal. In 1982 he also won the Belgian Championship , a title he was able to defend the following year.

In February 1984, however, an inglorious chapter opened for Goethals and Standard Lüttich. A report by the examining magistrate Guy Bellemans showed he had committed a forgery of a document by Goethals in connection with a plot he helped initiate on the opponent's players before the last championship-winning game of the 1982/82 season against THOR Waterschei , a predecessor club of today's KRC Genk . This should also minimize the risk of injury before the upcoming European Cup final against Barcelona. Goethals' position at the club was no longer tenable and by March he was no longer on the bench.

Goethals, who was banned in Belgium because of the bribery scandal mentioned there, took on a short-term engagement with the Portuguese first division club Vitória Guimarães in the 1984/85 season .

After this unspeakable episode was no longer in the foreground, he returned to Belgium and trained for two years from 1985 at Racing Jet Brussels , which mutated into Racing Jet Wavre in 1988 . In 1987 he was allowed to sit on the bench in Anderlecht again. He took the opportunity to renew his reputation and won the trophy twice in the following years. This gave him a second engagement at Girondins Bordeaux, where he was able to record a considerable success with the runner-up in 1989/90 and with which the now 69-year-old coach, whose short-term successor at Bordeaux was the German-French Gernot Rohr , actually in the Wanted to say goodbye to retirement.

Later career highlight in France

In December 1990 he was hired by Bernard Tapie , the President of Olympique Marseille , as an emergency helper and successor to Franz Beckenbauer , who was highly complimented as sports director, until the end of the season. Raymond Goethals did not disappoint. He not only managed to defend his title in the French national championship , but also made it into the final of the European Cup of National Champions in 1990/91 . There “OM” had to give in to Red Star Belgrade on penalties.

The successful Yugoslav Tomislav Ivić became the successor of the Belgian, but he did not have a lucky hand in Marseille. Goethals was brought back to the Côte d'Azur in November 1991 . He not only succeeded in defending his title again in the championship and in 1993 even completing a championship hat-trick , but he has now also achieved the greatest success of his career. By winning the so-called Champions League for the first time in 1993 with a 1-0 final victory in the Munich Olympic Stadium against defending champions AC Milan , who had players like Marco van Basten , Frank Rijkaard , Franco Baresi and Paolo Maldini in his ranks, he won that so far single big European cup to France. At just under 72 years of age, he is also the oldest coach ever to have achieved this success.

The outstanding players of this era in Marseille included the multiple top scorer Jean-Pierre Papin , who left the club for Milan in 1992 , goalkeeper Fabien Barthez , Marcel Desailly , Rudi Völler , Abédi Pelé and Didier Deschamps . Ultimately, however, Olympique Marseille was stripped of the 1993 championship as a result of an inglorious bribery scandal. For the club the relegation followed and President Tapie even ended up in jail, but Raymond Goethals was not accused this time in any way.

Last years

In 1993 Goethals returned to RSC Anderlecht again, where he acted as sports director. Under coach Johan Boskamp , the club reached two championships in the next two years. In the 1995/96 season, Raymond Goethals himself took a seat on the bench, which was his life, at short notice. At the age of 75 he finally retired from active football, but stayed on as a television analyst,

Raymond Goethals achieved legendary status in Belgium. His quaint Brussels accent and his common mispronunciation of player names contributed to his popular image. He was called "science" itself, Raymond la Science , and "sorcerer". The ever-smoldering cigarette in the corner of his mouth was the trademark of the “Godfather of Belgian football.” Nevertheless, a reference to his considerable part in the Bellemanns affair , a scandal that shook Belgian football to its foundations at the time, cannot be excepted Be careful.

Raymond Goethals died of colon cancer on December 6, 2004 in his hometown of Brussels at the age of 83 .

Statistical summary

1956-1957	RFC Hannutois	-
1957-1959	RS Waremme FC	-
1959-1966	KVV St. Truiden	-
1966-1968	Belgian national team (assistant coach)	-
1968-1976	Belgian national team	-
1976-1979	RSC Anderlecht	1978 European Cup Winners' Cup
1979-1980	Girondins Bordeaux	-
1980-1981	Sao Paulo FC	1981 State Championship of São Paulo
1981-1984	Standard Liege	1982¹, 1983 Belgian champion
1984-1985	Vitória Guimarães	-
1985-1987	Racing Jet Brussels	-
1987-1989	RSC Anderlecht	1988, 1989 Belgian Cup winner
1989-1990	Girondins Bordeaux	-
1990-1993	Olympique Marseille	1991, 1992, 1993² French Champion 1993 Champions League
1995-1996	RSC Anderlecht	-

¹ According to some sources, Standard Liège was stripped of its 1982 title. The Belgian Football Association still has this on its lists

² The championship title from 1993 was officially revoked from the club.

Web links

• RSC Anderlecht - Official list of coaches
• Olympique Marseille - Official list of coaches
• rsssf.com: List - coaches of French clubs
• rsssf.com: Age records of EC winning players
• Goethals in Belgium Portal ( English )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ KBVB