Nico Claesen

Nico Claesen
Personal information
Full name	Nicolaas Pieter Claesen
Date of birth	1 October 1962 (age 62)
Place of birth	Maasmechelen, Belgium
Height	1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Senior career*
Years	Team
1977–1978	K. Patro Eisden Maasmechelen
1978–1984	R.F.C. Seraing
1984–1985	VfB Stuttgart
1985–1986	Standard de Liège
1986–1988	Tottenham Hotspur
1988–1992	Antwerp
1992–1993	Germinal Ekeren
1993–1994	Antwerp
1994–1996	KV Oostende
1996–1998	K. Sint-Niklase S.K.E.
1998–2000	K. Beringen
Total
International career
1983–1990	Belgium
Managerial career
2005–2008	Patro Eisden MM
2010	RFC Liège
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Nicolaas "Nico" Pieter Claesen (born 1 October 1962) is a former Belgian football player who works as head coach of RFC Liège.^[1]

Career

Claesen was signed by Tottenham Hotspur in October 1986 by David Pleat who bought him from Standard Liège for £600,000. He made his debut against Liverpool at Anfield.^[2] In August 1988, when Terry Venables arrived, Claesen fell out of favour and was sold for £550,000 to Antwerp FC.^[2] He also played for VfB Stuttgart.^[3]

Claesen earned 36 caps and scored 12 goals from 1983 to 1990 for the Belgium national team, and was in the squad for three major tournaments: UEFA Euro 1984, the 1986 FIFA World Cup, where he scored three goals as Belgium finished in fourth, and the 1990 FIFA World Cup.

Antwerp

Belgium

Individual

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	17 October 1984	Brussels, Belgium	Albania	1–0	3–1	1986 FIFA World Cup qualification
2.	19 May 1986	Brussels, Belgium	Yugoslavia	1–3	1–3	Friendly
3.	8 June 1986	Toluca, Mexico	Iraq	2–0	2–1	1986 FIFA World Cup
4.	15 June 1986	León, Mexico	Soviet Union	4–2	4–3 (a.e.t.)
5.	28 June 1986	Puebla, Mexico	France	2–2	2–4 (a.e.t.)
6.	10 September 1986	Brussels, Belgium	Republic of Ireland	1–0	2–2	UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying
7.	14 October 1986	Luxembourg City, Luxembourg	Luxembourg	2–0	6–0
8.				4–0
9.				6–0
10.	1 April 1987	Anderlecht, Belgium	Scotland	1–0	4–1
11.				2–1
12.				4–1

^ "Tous les transferts à Huy-Waremme" (in French). lavenir.net. 1 July 2010. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
^ ^a ^b "NICO CLAESEN 1986–1988". Tottenham Hotspur F.C. Archived from the original on 3 October 2016. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
^ Henderson, Charlie (31 January 2007). "Were you there?". BBC Sport. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
^ "FC Antwerp | Palmares".
^ "FIFA 1986 World Cup". Archived from the original on 5 June 2016.
^ "Topscorer Eerste Klasse".

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