Name: Roger Claessen

Nickname: "Roger-La honte"



Country: Belgium
Club: Royal Standard de Liège
Position: *CF, SS, (CB)
Side: LF/BS
Age: 22-27 years (27/09/1941)

Height: 181 cm
Weight: 80 kg

Attack: 91
Defence: 39
Balance: 85
Stamina: 78
Top Speed: 80
Acceleration: 77
Response: 86
Agility: 77
Dribble Accuracy: 84
Dribble Speed: 76
Short Pass Accuracy: 78
Short Pass Speed: 73
Long Pass Accuracy: 76
Long Pass Speed: 74
Shot Accuracy: 87
Shot Power: 85
Shot Technique: 88
Free Kick Accuracy: 83
Curling: 85
Header: 95
Jump: 96
Technique: 85
Aggression: 87
Mentality: 86
Goalkeeper Skills: 50
Team Work: 73

Injury Tolerance: C
Condition: 5
Weak Foot Accuracy: 7
Weak Foot Frequency: 8
Consistency: 3
Growth type: Early Peak

CARDS:
S03 1-on-1 Finish
S05 1-touch Play

SPECIAL ABILITIES: Scoring - Positioning - 1on1 Scoring - 1 touch Pass

Attack / Defence Awareness Card: Attack Minded


INFO

Roger Claessen was the Belgian George Best. Same talent and same habits, even more expressed in Claessen's case from brillant performances on the pitch to nightmare private life full of scandals with alcohol, women, jail, clashes with coaches, referees and officials. Roger was centre forward blessed with great strength, good technique, combativness and generosity, perfect timing and heading abilities. Two footed player capable of scoring from all possible angles and free kicks curled over the wall even from long distances. Roger was above all a footballer, an extraordinary center-forward, incredibly gifted, dripping with class. He was tall, strong and elegant. A pivot, that is to say, he waited for the ball within 16 meters. There, it was his domain, his hunting ground. Pavic, his trainer, used to say to others: "you bring the ball into the rectangle and Roger will do the rest". The "Claessen" style was terribly spectacular and effective. First, He marked as he breathed. In all positions. And in fact, he shot with equal happiness with his right or left foot, but what made his strength, his trademark, was a fabulous head game based on an extraordinary vertical jump. Roger had perfect timing. He rose like a chopper above the scrum, paused at the peak of his ascent and then finished the job either by hitting the leather towards the opposing nets, or by pricking the ball on the ground, or again by dropping it out of reach of the opposing goalkeeper. In the air, he was truly unbeatable. On "flat" balls, Roger plunged horizontally and it was common knowledge that he put his head where no one would have dared to set foot. In the game itself, his contribution was arbitrary, but as soon as the ball reached 16 meters, all the sighted people suddenly started to “rouche”. To stop Claessen, he had to be flattened. His race was swaying. Roger Claessen gave off a strange feeling of "feline". Another characteristic of Roger was his generosity. He was a fighter who always gave his all. He played 229 matches for Standard, scoring 161 goals. He was elected as top scorer in the Belgian 1st division with twenty goals (tied with Paul Van Himst) in 1968. He played seventeen times with the Belgian national team between 1961 and 1968. This low number of selections can be explained by the fact that chairman of Standard at the time, did not want his players attend those of rival Anderlecht, but also by many injuries and consequent unavailability to his behavior off the field. Claessen debuted internationally May 20, 1961, in a defeat against Switzerland 2-1 but having scored the only goal Belgium. Dubbed the Roger-Shame-because of his legendary pranks, especially in The Square, famous district of Liege, he was nevertheless loved by the public Liege. Indeed, he was elected Standardman the century, and his face now adorns a column of a stadium grandstand Sclessin. Roger Claessen played from 1968 to 1970 in Aachen, where from 3000 to 5000 Standard supporters followed him in every game. He then played at Beerschot VAV (70-72), the Schaerbeek Crossing Club (72-73), to RJS Bas-Oha (73-76) at St. Vith and Tail-Bois. Roger died in 1982.