Paul Van HIMST (Patreon)

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He was nicknamed Polle Gazon (Polle is Paul in Brussels dialect, and Gazon means lawn in Dutch and French) due to the large number of fouls committed on him. In 1964, he played in the Belgium-Netherlands match alongside 10 Anderlecht players after the substitution of goalkeeper Delhasse by Jean-Marie Trappeniers.

Van Himst won the Belgian championship 8 times, all of them with Anderlecht, the club for which he started playing his first professional season in 1959–60. With Anderlecht, he scored 233 goals in 457 matches (16 seasons). He then played for RWDM (another Brussels club) in 1975–76 and for Eendracht Aalst (then in the second division) in the following season.

Between 1960 and 1974, Van Himst scored 30 goals (in 81 matches) for the Belgian national team. This performance made him Belgium's second top scorer—along with Bernard Voorhoof—and the 10th most capped player for his country. He made his debut on 19 October 1960 in a match against Sweden and he was part of Belgium's team which qualified for the 1970 World Cup. Van Himst then helped Belgium reach third place at the Euro 1972. As a football manager, Van Himst has worked notably for Anderlecht and the national team which he led to the 1994 FIFA World Cup.

Honours

Player

RSC Anderlecht

• Belgian First Division: 1961–62, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1965–66, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1971–72, 1973–74

• Belgian Cup: 1964–65, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1974–75

• Belgian League Cup: 1973, 1974

• Tournoi de Paris: 1964, 1966

• Inter-Cities Fairs Cup: 1969-70 (runners-up)

International

• UEFA European Championship: 1972 (third place)

Individual

• Belgian Golden Shoe: 1960, 1961, 1965, 1974

• Belgian First Division top scorer: 1963–64 (26 goals), 1965–66 (25 goals), 1967–68 (20 goals)

• Man of the Season (Belgian First Division): 1970-71

• Former Belgium's Most Capped Player: 1973-1989 (81 caps)

• Belgian National Sports Merit Award: 1974

• Belgian Footballer of the 20th Century (1995)

• Platina Eleven (Best Team in 50 Years of Golden Shoe Winners) (2003)

• The Best Golden Shoe Team Ever (2011)

• Ballon d'Or: 1964 (5th place), 1965 (4th place)

• Ballon d'Or nominations: 1963,[17]1966,[18]1967,[19]1972

• 1966 FIFA World Cup qualification: Group 1 top scorer (5 goals)

• 1966–67 European Cup: top scorer (6 goals)

• 1969–70 Inter-Cities Fair Cup: top scorer (10 goals)

• UEFA Jubilee Awards (2003)