Dany Verlinden

Dany Verlinden
Personal information
Full nameDaniel Verlinden
Date of birth15 August 1963
Place of birthAarschot, Belgium
Height1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing positionGoalkeeper
Youth career
Ourodenberg Sport
1975–1980Lierse
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
1980–1988Lierse204(0)
1988–2004Club Brugge433(0)
Total637(0)
National team
1998Belgium1(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Daniel 'Dany' Verlinden (born 15 August 1963 in Aarschot, Flemish Brabant) is a Belgian retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

Often referred to as De Muur (The wall),[1] he spent most of his career at Club Brugge, having played into his 40s.

Football career

Having arrived at Club Brugge K.V. from Lierse S.K. in 1988, Verlinden gained first-choice status in his second year and, save for one season, never lost it again. He ranked the second most capped player for the club in the first division, trailing only Franky Van der Elst, and was instrumental in the side's five league conquests (with the addition of as many cups and nine supercups).

In December 2003, Verlinden became the oldest footballer ever to play in the UEFA Champions League, aged 40 years and 116 days. Alessandro Costacurta of A.C. Milan took over the record on 21 November 2006, when the Italian played in a 0–1 group stage defeat at AEK Athens F.C. aged 40 years and 211 days.[2] Verlinden, however, held the European record for longest time spent in goal without conceding, managing to keep a clean sheet a total of 1,390 minutes in the Belgian league between 3 March and 26 September 1990.[2]

After his footballing career Verlinden remained with Club Brugge, as a goalkeeping coach. He played once for Belgium, and was called up for the squad at the 1994 and 1998 FIFA World Cups.

References

  1. ↑ Record holder Verlinden salutes Van der Sar; UEFA.com, 20 February 2009
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Record-breaker Van der Sar joins exclusive club; UEFA.com, 29 January 2009

External links