Name: Erwin Vandendaele
Nickname: ''de Aristocraat"



Country: Belgium
Club: Club Brugge (1964-1974), RSC Anderlecht (1974-1977)
Position: *SWP, CB, DMF
Side: RF/BS
Age: 26-32 years (05/03/1945)

Height: 180 cm
Weight: 73 kg

Attack: 65
Defence: 86
Balance: 84
Stamina: 82
Top Speed: 82
Acceleration: 79
Response: 87
Agility: 76
Dribble Accuracy: 76
Dribble Speed: 76
Short Pass Accuracy: 80
Short Pass Speed: 78
Long Pass Accuracy: 78
Long Pass Speed: 77
Shot Accuracy: 64
Shot Power: 78
Shot Technique: 65
Free Kick Accuracy: 65
Curling: 73
Header: 83
Jump: 76
Technique: 78
Aggression: 75
Mentality: 79
Goalkeeper Skills: 50
Team Work: 75

Injury Tolerance: B
Condition/Fitness: 6
Weak Foot Accuracy: 5
Weak Foot Frequency: 6
Consistency: 5
Growth type: Standard/Lasting

CARDS:
S08 - Slide Tackle
S09 - Covering
S10 - DF Leader

SPECIAL ABILITIES: D-Line Control - Sliding - Covering

Attack/Defence Awareness Card: Defence-Minded


INFO:
For ten years he was the Club's aristocrat. A beautiful, elegant, somewhat phlegmatic midfielder who felt best as a libero, where he always sought and found creative solutions with his technique. Strong man in the champions team of 1972/73, but it did not click with Ernst Happel. A transfer to Anderlecht in 1974 was a good solution. There Vandendaele played for three years at an excellent level. Vandendaele was a very solid player. He almost never lost the ball and had a great pass. He never did more effort than needed and never looked for difficult solutions. He had an exceptional ability to anticipate. Vandendaele would often go with slide tackles. Likes to take the ball with him or find players with long passes.

Starting his career in Club Brugge in 1964, Vandendaele was transformed into a midfielder and under the guidance of trainer Ladislav Dupal he became a permanent fixture at Blauw-Zwart. When Norberto Höfling was appointed as new coach, Vandendaele won his first prize with Club Brugge. In 1968 the club captured the Belgian Cup A trophy that also went to Blauw-Zwart two seasons later. Club developed into a top club in Belgium at the end of the 1960s, but a new national title did not come.

Vandendaele was meanwhile mainly used as a libero. The former midfielder thus became one of the absolute strengths of the team. That earned him the Golden Shoe in 1971. In 1973 Club Brugge became national champion for the second time in the club's history. Trainer Leo Canjels had guided his team to the title, but left at the end of the season. His assistant Jacques de Wit took over for a while and then the Austrian success coach Ernst Happel was brought in. But Happel and Vandendaele, who in the meantime had taken over the captaincy from Thio, did not match well, so Vandendaele switched to competitor RSC Anderlecht.

Chairman Constant Vanden Stock put 10 million BEF (about €250,000) on the table for the libero of Club Brugge. Vandendaele especially stood out with his good technique and after the departure of Paul Van Himst he even became the captain of RSC Anderlecht. In 1975 he won the Belgian Cup with the Purple & White and the European Cup Winners' Cup a year later. Vandendaele missed the final of the European final due to an injury, but he was surely one of the players that had made the difference in other European games of that campaign. At the beginning of June 1976, RSC Anderlecht again won the Belgian Cup. They defeated Lierse SK 4-0 in the final, with Vandendaele scoring the third goal. In the 1976 UEFA Super Cup at the end of August, they won 4-1 against FC Bayern Munich. The following season, the Purple & White reached the final of the European Cup Winners' Cup again. This time Vandendaele was on the field, but they lost 2-0 to Hamburger SV.

Vandendaele was first selected for the Belgium national team in 1970. It was then national coach Raymond Goethals who included him in the national selection. That year, Goethals also allowed him to participate in the 1970 World Cup in Mexico. Belgium was eliminated from that tournament in the first round. Two years later, Goethals took him to the 1972 European Championship. Belgium hosted and reached the semi-finals, where it was eliminated by later winner West Germany. The Belgians then took third place by winning against Hungary. Under Goethals, Vandendaele also played in the qualifiers for the 1974 World Cup. Belgium 's national team finished in Group 3 with equal points as the Netherlands. The Belgians did not concede a single goal during the campaign, but had to stay at home due to a lower goal difference. In the decisive game in Amsterdam, the Belgians saw a clean goal disallowed by them in the 84th minute at 0-0. In total, Vandendaele played 32 times for the Red Devils. He scored once. In 1971 he scored the only goal of the game in a friendly against Luxembourg.