Rob Rensenbrink

Rob Rensenbrink

Personal information
Full name	Pieter Robert Rensenbrink
Date of birth	July 3, 1947 (1947-07-03) (age 64)
Place of birth	Amsterdam, Netherlands
Playing position	Forward
Youth career
	DWS Amsterdam
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1965–1969	Door Wilskracht Sterk	120	(34)
1969–1971	Club Brugge	55	(24)
1971–1980	Anderlecht	260	(143)
1980	Portland Timbers	18	(6)
1981–1982	Toulouse	12	(1)
Total		327	(168)
National team‡
1968–1979	Netherlands	49	(14)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 6 June 2007. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 6 June 2007

Pieter Robert ("Rob") Rensenbrink (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈpi.tər ˈroː.bərt (ˈrɔp) ˈrɛn.sə(n).ˌbrɪŋk]) (born July 3, 1947 in Amsterdam) is a former Dutch football player and member of the Dutch national football team that reached two World Cup finals in 1974 and 1978. A creative left winger of considerable talent, he became a legend in Belgium whilst playing in the great Anderlecht side of the 1970s. A talented dribbler as well as a cool finisher, he only ever missed two penalties in his entire career, and often enjoyed telling the keeper beforehand where he was going to place the ball, and then still beating him there. He was also the first winner of the Onze d'Or

Contents 1 Career 1.1 Club career 1.2 International career 2 Career statistics 3 Honours 4 Quotes 5 References 6 External links

Career

Club career

Born 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). Among his team mates was Dutch internationalist compatriot, Arie Haan.

International career

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 travelled 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, 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 stayed in the Dutch national side 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 against Scotland which was goal number 1000 in 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. In a tumultuous match, the Netherlands fell behind to a first-half Mario Kempes strike. After Dick Nanninga's equalizer 9 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 to score but his shot from a very narrow angle was deflected on to the post and bounced clear. Had he scored, it is likely that Holland 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.

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. 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. 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.

Career statistics

Club performance			League		Cup		League Cup		Continental		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Netherlands			League		KNVB Cup		League Cup		Europe		Total
1965–66	Door Wilskracht Sterk	Eredivisie	23	5
1966–67			29	4
1967–68			34	10
1968–69			34	15
Belgium			League		Belgian Cup		League Cup		Europe		Total
1969–70	Club Brugge	First Division	27	10						0
1970–71			28	14					EC2	2		2
1971–72	Anderlecht	First Division	30	16						0		0
1972–73			24	16					EC1	4		4
1973–74			29	20					EC2	3		3
1974–75			35	19					EC1	3		3
1975–76			35	23					EC2+SC	8+2		10
1976–77			34	16					EC2	7		7
1977–78			24	18					EC2+SC	5+1		6
1978–79			31	12						0		0
1979–80			20	3						0		0
USA			League		Open Cup		League Cup		North America		Total
1980	Portland Timbers	North American Soccer League	18	6
France			League		Coupe de France		Coupe de la Ligue		Europe		Total
1981–82	Toulouse	Division 2	12	1
Total	Netherlands		120	34
	Belgium		317	167
	USA		18	6
	France		12	1
Career total			467	208

Honours

• Onze d'Or

• 1976

• Jupiler League (Belgian League):

• 1972, 1974

• Belgian Cup:

• 1970, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1976

• UEFA Cup Winners Cup:

• 1976, 1978

• UEFA Super Cup:

• 1976 1978

Quotes

"If the trajectory of my shot had been five centimetres different, we would have been world champions. On top of that, I would have been crowned top scorer and perhaps chosen as the best player of the tournament – all in the same match. That's why I keep things in perspective." ^[1]

Mario Kempes says : “If (Rob) Rensenbrink hadn’t hit the post in the Final, he would have been the top scorer.”

Jan Mulder says : "Robbie Resenbrink was as good as Cruijff, only in his mind was he not."

References

External links

• Portland Timbers stats
• FIFA player profile

FIFA 100 UEFA Baggio Ballack Banks Baresi Beckenbauer Beckham Bergkamp Bergomi Best Boniek Boniperti Breitner Buffon Butragueño Cantona Ceulemans Charlton Cruyff Dalglish Dasayev Davids Del Piero Desailly Deschamps Emre Eusébio Facchetti Figo Fontaine Gullit Hagi Henry Kahn Keane Keegan Klinsmann Kluivert Kopa B. Laudrup M. Laudrup Lineker Luis Enrique Maier Maldini Masopust Matthäus Müller Nedvěd Neeskens Nesta Owen Papin Pfaff Pirès Platini Puskás Raúl Rensenbrink Rijkaard Rivera Rossi Rui Costa Rummenigge Rüştü Schmeichel Seedorf Seeler Shearer Shevchenko Stoichkov Šuker Thuram Totti Trésor Trezeguet van Basten R. van de Kerkhof W. van de Kerkhof Van der Elst van Nistelrooy Vieira Vieri Zidane Zoff CONMEBOL Carlos Alberto Batistuta Cafu Crespo Cubillas Di Stéfano Falcão Figueroa Francescoli Júnior Kempes Maradona Passarella Pelé Rivaldo Rivelino Roberto Carlos Romário Romerito Ronaldinho Ronaldo Djalma Santos Nílton Santos Saviola Sívori Sócrates Valderrama Verón Zamorano Zanetti Zico CAF Diouf Milla Okocha Abédi Pelé Weah CONCACAF Akers Hamm Sánchez AFC Hong Nakata

Netherlands squads Netherlands squad – 1974 FIFA World Cup Runners-Up 1 Geels 2 Haan 3 van Hanegem 4 van Ierssel 5 Israël 6 Jansen 7 de Jong 8 Jongbloed 9 Keizer 10 R. van de Kerkhof 11 W. van de Kerkhof 12 Krol 13 Neeskens 14 Cruijff 15 Rensenbrink 16 Rep 17 Rijsbergen 18 Schrijvers 19 Strik 20 Suurbier 21 Treijtel 22 Vos Coach: Michels Netherlands squad – UEFA Euro 1976 Third Place 1 Schrijvers 2 Suurbier 3 Rijsbergen 4 van Kraay 5 Krol 6 Neeskens 7 Jansen 8 Rep 9 Cruijff 10 W. van de Kerkhof 11 Rensenbrink 12 van Hanegem 13 Geels 14 Peters 15 R. van de Kerkhof 16 Arntz 17 Ruiter 18 Jongbloed 19 Kist 20 Meutstege Coach: Knobel Netherlands squad – 1978 FIFA World Cup Runners-Up 1 Schrijvers 2 Poortvliet 3 Schoenaker 4 van Kraay 5 Krol 6 Jansen 7 Wildschut 8 Jongbloed 9 Haan 10 R. van de Kerkhof 11 W. van de Kerkhof 12 Rensenbrink 13 Neeskens 14 Boskamp 15 Hovenkamp 16 Rep 17 Rijsbergen 18 Nanninga 19 Doesburg 20 Suurbier 21 Lubse 22 Brandts Coach: Happel

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup top scorers 1961: Hamrin 1962: Göröcs 1963: Asparuhov & Greaves 1964: Mascarenhas 1965: Kerkhoffs & Mašek & Mráz 1966: Emmerich 1967: Claessen 1968: Seeler 1969: Rühl 1970: Lubański 1971: Lubański 1972: Osgood 1973: Chiarugi 1974: Heynckes 1975: van der Kuijlen 1976: Rensenbrink 1977: Milanov 1978: Gritter & Keller & Van der Elst 1979: Altobelli 1980: Kempes 1981: Cross 1982: Shengelia & Voordeckers 1983: Santillana 1984: Hrachov & McGhee & Morozov 1985: Gazzaev & Gray & Panenka 1986: Belanov & Blokhin & Lippmann & Zavarov 1987: Bosman 1988: Cascavel 1989: Stoichkov 1990: Vialli 1991: Baggio 1992: Lipcsei 1993: Czerniatynski 1994: Andonov & Jess & Kirsten & Mizrahi 1995: Wright 1996: Samec 1997: Fowler 1998: Luiso 1999: Mizrahi

Belgian First Division Top Scorers 1895–96: Hickson 1896–97: Hickson 1897–98: König 1898–99: König 1899-00: Atkinson 1900–01: Potts 1901–02: Potts 1902–03: Vanderstappen 1903–04: Vanderstappen 1904–05: De Veen 1905–06: De Veen 1906–07: Vertongen 1907–08: Vertongen 1908–09: Kevorkian 1909–10: Vertongen 1910–11: Six 1911–12: Bunyan 1912–13: Brébart 1913–14: Bunyan 1919–20: Vlamynck 1920–21: Thys 1921–22: Thys 1922–23: Meyskens 1923–24: Jooris 1924–25: Taeymans 1925–26: Grimmonprez 1926–27: Fabry 1927–28: Braine 1928–29: Braine 1929–30: De Vidts 1930–31: Secrétin 1931–32: Delmez 1932–33: Ulens 1933–34: Van Landeghem 1934–35: Mondelé 1935–36: Lambrechts 1936–37: Collet 1937–38: Mondelé 1938–39: Wagner 1941–42: De Cleyn 1943–44: Mermans 1945–46: De Cleyn 1946–47: Mermans 1947–48: Mermans 1948–49: Thirifays 1949–50: Mermans 1950–51: Dehert 1951–52: Mannaerts 1952–53: Coppens 1953–54: Van Den Bosch 1954–55: Coppens 1955–56: Mathonet 1956–57: Willems 1957–58: Van Gool & Vliers 1958–59: Wégria 1959–60: Wégria 1960–61: Wégria 1961–62: Stockman 1962–63: Wégria 1963–64: Van Himst 1964–65: Colonval 1965–66: Van Himst 1966–67: Mulder 1967–68: Van Himst & Claessen 1968–69: Nagy 1969–70: Emmerich 1970–71: Kostedde 1971–72: Lambert 1972–73: Rensenbrink & Riedl 1973–74: Ladinsky 1974–75: Riedl 1975–76: Posthumus 1976–77: Van Der Elst 1977–78: Nickel 1978–79: Albert 1979–80: Vandenbergh 1980–81: Vandenbergh 1981–82: Vandenbergh 1982–83: Vandenbergh 1983–84: Claesen 1984–85: Martens 1985–86: Vandenbergh 1986–87: Gudjohnsen 1987–88: Severeyns 1988–89: Krnčević 1989–90: Farina 1990–91: Vandenbergh 1991–92: Weber 1992–93: Weber 1993–94: Weber 1994–95: Vidmar 1995–96: Stanić 1996–97: Špehar 1997–98: Strupar 1998–99: Koller 1999-00: Årst & Brogno 2000–01: Radzinski 2001–02: Sonck 2002–03: Sonck & Roussel 2003–04: Pieroni 2004–05: Jestrović 2005–06: Dosunmu 2006–07: Sterchele 2007–08: Akpala 2008–09: Ruiz 2009–10: Lukaku 2010–11: Perišić

Belgian Golden Shoe Winners 1954: Coppens 1955: Van Brandt 1956: Mees 1957: Jurion 1958: Storme 1959: Olieslagers 1960: Van Himst 1961: Van Himst 1962: Jurion 1963: Nicolay 1964: Puis 1965: Van Himst 1966: Van Moer 1967: Boone 1968: Polleunis 1969: Van Moer 1970: Van Moer 1971: Vandendaele 1972: Piot 1973: Martens 1974: Van Himst 1975: Boskamp 1976: Rensenbrink 1977: Cools 1978: Pfaff 1979: Janssens 1980: Ceulemans 1981: Vandenbergh 1982: Gerets 1983: Vercauteren 1984: Scifo 1985: Ceulemans 1986: Ceulemans 1987: Preud'homme 1988: Clijsters 1989: Preud'homme 1990: Van der Elst 1991: Degryse 1992: Albert 1993: Zetterberg 1994: De Bilde 1995: Okon 1996: Van der Elst 1997: Zetterberg 1998: Strupar 1999: Staelens 2000: Koller 2001: Sonck 2002: Simons 2003: Aruna 2004: Kompany 2005: Conceição 2006: Boussoufa 2007: Defour 2008: Witsel 2009: Jovanović 2010: Boussoufa

Persondata
Name	Rensenbrink, Rob
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1947-07-03
Place of birth	Amsterdam, Netherlands
Date of death
Place of death