2023-11-08 05:51:00
Denmark FC strikes once more. The title of the DH following the match at the Cercle reflected reality. Since the arrival of Thomas Delaney, it was the first time this season that the four Danes from Anderlecht were together on the pitch. A first? Not at all, but we have to go back a long way to find a foreign delegation even better represented in the RSCA eleven.
Anderlecht’s 225 foreign players ©IPM Graphics
Six Dutch during the Standard – Anderlecht (1-0) in 1979
During the ’70s, the Dutch were very present at Sporting. Pummy Bergholtz was the first, he had already arrived in 1965, Jan Mulder followed him a month later. The success of Robbie Rensenbrink (transferred from Club Bruges in 1971) accelerated the influx of Batavians. They weren’t all starters, but in a few games more than half the team was oranje. This was the case during an Anderlecht – Beveren (0-1) on December 3, 1977. The six Dutchmen were De Bree, Dusbaba, Haan, Van Poucke (come on), Ressel and Rensenbrink. Rebelote in 1979, notably on March 4 at Standard (1-0 defeat, goal by Sigurvinsson). This time with De Bree, Van Toorn, Dusbaba, Haan, Geels and Rensenbrink on the field. The six men were associated for the last time on April 28, 1979 in Charleroi (4-1 defeat). Netherlands FC has therefore often lost its matches.
Pummy Bergholtz, Anderlecht’s first Dutchman: “My MG is the symbol of my love for Anderlecht”
Five Danes during Anderlecht – FC Malinois (3-1) in 1985
Anderlecht in 1985-1986 with five Danes: Olsen (3rd from left, top), Andersen (top right), Mortensen (3rd from left, middle), Arnesen (5th from left, middle), Frimann (3rd from the right, in the middle). ©Photo News
Jesper Fredberg and Brian Riemer are not the first to import great Danish players. Constant Vanden Stock, Michel Verschueren and coach Paul Van Himst also understood that there was gold in Copenhagen. In 1984-1985, there were four Danes in the selection, like today. These were Andersen, Olsen, Frimann and Arnesen. Since the latter was often injured, they did not often play together. But this was particularly the case at the end of the historic match at Real Madrid on December 12, 1984 (6-1, following a 3-0 first leg victory). In front of 100,000 people at the Bernabeu, Frimann still scored Anderlecht’s only goal (3-1). Andersen had moved up to the 84th. Lozano and Butragueno (3 goals) had killed the Mauves. And the following season, there was even a fifth Dane in the selection: striker Henrik Mortensen, who was also on the Ajax roster. But Mortensen only played six games for Sporting. The five played together once morest FC Malinois (3-1, Arnesen goal from the penalty spot) on September 14, 1985.
The four Danes from Anderlecht in the national team
Four Dutchmen during Anderlecht – Lokeren in 1991
Van Loen was one of the Dutch from Aad de Mos.
At the beginning of the 1990s, Aad de Mos brought back a colony of Dutch people to Parc Astrid. Kooiman and Van Tiggelen had already been there for some time, Rutjes (from Mechelen) and van Loen (from Roda JC) joined them. Nicknamed ‘The Street Lamp’, van Loen was a failure, but the four still played a few matches together, notably in the 1/8 final of the UEFA Cup in Dortmund, where van Loen came on in the 83rd for scorer Van Baekel. Anderlecht lost 2-1 but qualified thanks to a 1-0 first leg. The last match with the four Dutchmen together on the pitch was on May 19, 1991 in Mechelen (1-1). At the end of this season, Van Tiggelen left for PSV and van Loen for Ajax, Bosman came to Sporting.
Competition: attend the Anderlecht-RWDM match on November 26
Four Argentinians during AEK – Anderlecht (1-1) in 2006
The Argentine delegation during the summer course in 2006: Pareja, Leiva, Biglia and Frutos. ©Photo News
About fifteen years later, Herman Van Holsbeeck discovered a new gold mine, this time in Argentina. Nicolas Frutos was the first to arrive at Parc Astrid, followed by Lucas Biglia, Nicolas Pareja and Cristian Leiva. Leiva did not have the level for Anderlecht and so the four did not often play together. This was still the case in the Champions League, on September 26, 2006 at AEK Athens (1-1), where the only goal was scored by Frutos assisted by… Leiva. Mati Suarez arrived in 2008, when Pareja left for Espanyol Barcelona. Leiva had already left Sporting, initially on loan to Charleroi.
Four Czechs during Zenith – RSCA in 2010
The four Czechs at Zenith Saint-Petersburg – Anderlecht: Mazuch (3rd from left, top), Marecek (left, bottom), Lecjaks (to the right of Marecek) and Polak (bottom right). ©BELGA/LALMAND
Anderlecht has only had nine Czechs in its history. Everyone remembers Jan Koller from the Aimé Anthuenis era, but there were four of them during the Ariël Jacobs era: Jan Lecjaks, Ondrej Mazuch, Jan Polak and Lucas Marecek. On December 1, 2010, all four of them were on the field in the Europa League at Zenith Saint-Petersburg (3-1 defeat), where the match was played at -20 degrees. Two weeks later, once morest Hajduk Split (2-0 victory), all four of them were on the pitch once more. Daniel Zitka left Anderlecht in May 2010.
16 Serbs, but never a quartet
Serbia is the second best represented foreign country in Anderlecht. The Serbs are 16 to have been transferred to Sporting. But rarely, there have been several on the same team. The best known are obviously Milan Jankovic, Nenad Jestrovic, Milan Jovanovic and Aleksandar Mitrovic. Jestrovic played with Lovre and Milojevic, Mitrovic shared the locker room with his friend Milivojevic.
Two of the 12 Congolese succeeded
The Congolese, for their part, are 12 to have worn the Sporting jersey. But there are only two who have really succeeded: Mbokani and Mbemba. Ekakia was the victim of a car accident which prevented him from achieving success. In 2012, there were four Congolese in the locker room: Mbokani, Mbemba, Mbenza and Kabangu. They have been three on the field (4-0 once morest Cercle, March 4, 2012, two goals from Mbokani and one from Kabangu), but never four.
Nmecha and Lozano, the only successes of the great nations
Oddly, big nations like England (3) and Germany (2) have hardly provided any compatriots to Sporting. Nmecha is the only one who was of great value. Englishman Paul Taylor never even played a minute for Sporting. Italy was represented by three players. Only Stefano Okaka made an impression, but he didn’t stay long. Esposito was a total failure. There aren’t many Spaniards either. Juan Lozano (who also has Belgian nationality) has left his mark on the history of the club. And what regarding the 11 French people? Appiah, N’Sakala and Trebel (the highest paid player in the club’s history) did not leave lasting memories, the others failed. And the two current French people have disappeared from the team. Maxime Dupé has nothing to do with it. But he is one of the victims of the Danish invasion.
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