INTERVIEW: Jean Marie Pfaff opens up about Belgium

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Mail
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • WhatsApp
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Pfaff faces a penalty at the 1986 World Cup.

    The last European Championship in France does not hold happy memories for Jean Marie Pfaff.

    Back in 1984, Pfaff stood between the sticks as a Belgium side ravaged by internal politics foundered. An opening win against Yugoslavia was quickly forgotten when a Michel Platini-inspired France battered the Belgians 5-0 in the second game, Les Bleus’ mercurial No. 10 scoring thrice past Pfaff. In the third match, the goalkeeper and his shell shocked team surrendered a two goal lead to lose 3-2 to Denmark and crash out of the tournament.

    Despite the malaise behind the scenes – a stand-off between the federation and a number of the players meant stars like Eric Gerets were missing – much had been expected of the last golden generation of Belgian players. Four years earlier they had reached the final of Euro 1980 in Rome, suffering a heartbreaking defeat at the hands of Horst Hrubesch, whose 88th-minute goal secured the trophy for West Germany.

    Ahead of Euro 2016, expectation in Belgium was at fever pitch once more. A 2-0 defeat to Italy in the opener in Lyon set alarm bells ringing before a more convincing 3-0 win against Ireland calmed the nerves. But despite a better performance last time out, Pfaff is concerned that the current Belgium team does not have the temperament to succeed where his side failed.

    “Everyone knows the problem with the Belgium team. It remains the same now as it did in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil,” Pfaff tells Sport360 in an exclusive interview. “We have some wonderful individual players – Eden Hazard, Dries Mertens, Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku – but we do not have a system. At Chelsea, Hazard knows his role; at Napoli, Mertens gets to the goal-line before crossing. But for Belgium, the players don’t seem to understand where they should be or what they should be doing.

    “Of course it works well sometimes and when it does it is great to watch. Eventually it will come I’m sure. The side has improved in many ways in the two years since Brazil – Marc Wilmots is a better coach but he must still do more. He needs to instil an approach, new ideas that can be practiced and carried out in Russia in 2018.  And if he doesn’t have players for a certain position, he needs to find them.”

    Pfaff's international career

    • Belgium (1976-87)
    • 64 Caps
    • Played in two World Cups (1982, '86)
    • And two European Championships (1980, '84)

    Passion, and more specifically its absence, is of paramount importance for Pfaff too. It’s no secret that Belgium lack natural leadership without Vincent Kompany, but the former Bayern Munich goalkeeper feels Eden Hazard can be a capable captain, if he just communicates more.

    “In that first game, Italy were magnificent – it was a win for the collective and they played with such fire,” says Pfaff. “But where is the fire in this Belgium team? It is not there. When Kompany does not play it is a problem. But it should not matter not who the captain is, it is how the players interact. I had many captains who did not bark instructions but still knew how to get their message across. Great captains like Lothar Matthaus, they communicated with their teammates and of course led by example, showing their fight.

    “That was what you used to see with Johann Cruyff. He didn’t just weave his magic, he told players where he wanted the ball, where he wanted them to run. It’s not just Hazard, though, I don’t see any of the players talking in the game, the communication is not there. I think Wilmots is trying hard to work on this concept of teamwork, but the players must step up.

    “Our team in the 1980 European Championship was built on communication. First when Raymond Goethals was coach in 1976 and then building up to 1980, our team developed together and talked together. We had to work off the pitch to support our families, and we worked hard on the pitch for each other.

    “Now it is frustrating to watch. You’re a good player, but talk – tell me what you are doing. We’d ask someone why he wasn’t running, why he moved in a certain way. In my time, the coach made a team out of the players. Wilmots has not yet made a team. He is still learning of course and it is evolution towards Russia. Leicester City showed what happens when you play as a team; I hope that there will be more inspiration, more togetherness for the next World Cup.”

    Hazard is certainly someone who fascinates Pfaff. Wearing the same No. 10 shirt that his teammate Enzo Scifo sported so sublimely in the 1980s, Hazard is expected to be both commander and creator-in-chief. But Pfaff feels that Belgium should in fact be looking elsewhere in their search for a successor to Scifo.

    “Hazard is a good player but he doesn’t score goals. He is wearing the No. 10 shirt which means he should be scoring. Maybe he’ll pop up and score the winning goal in the final in a few weeks but for now, he is not good enough. He has the ball, he looks towards the players of the other team – he goes, left, he goes right, he makes a trick and people say ‘oh, Hazard is incredible’. But then what does he do? He plays for himself, not the team.

    “Kevin De Bruyne is different. He thinks about what others are doing, when he has the ball he is thinking ‘where is Lukaku, where are my teammates?’He has lots of ideas. He goes on the outside, he goes on the inside, he moves the ball around well. He is very technical but even he does not go direct at the defence as much as he should.

    “Listen, Scifo is Scifo, Hazard is Hazard, De Bruyne is De Bruyne, Maradona is Maradona. But of the Belgium players, De Bruyne is the best – he works hard, he has more ideas. He can play the left side, the right side, the inside. He plays more for the team. I played with Scifo but I think De Bruyne is actually the better of the three players, more flexible.

    “De Bruyne has improved every team he has played in – Wolfsburg, Werder Bremen and now Manchester City too. He makes them look good, makes them look organised and for him, football is not just a hobby, it is work. He works for his money, runs hard – works hard. He is a good player and a good man. He didn’t get a fair chance at Chelsea because they don’t have time for young players but at Manchester City he has made them a new team.”

    While De Bruyne has certainly caught Pfaff’s eye, Belgium No. 1 Thibaut Courtois has also been a player whom the 62-year-old has watched closely. But Pfaff believes that the Chelsea goalkeeper still has much to learn.

    “I see the talent there for sure,” Pfaff says. “As a goalkeeper, when the team is good you must be good and when the team is bad, you must be good. That is the challenge and I think Courtois has shown that already at this tournament. He is still young and whether he can be the No. 1 goalkeeper in the world, I don’t know. He was great for Atletico Madrid, he has done well for Chelsea. He is good at communicating but tends to stay on his line probably a bit too much and he’s very relaxed, maybe too much sometimes. Right now, Manuel Neuer is the best but sure, Courtois has potential.”

    And what of Belgium’s potential? Pfaff is optimistic that Belgium’s “togetherness” will improve in time for a good run at the 2018 World Cup, but he is also still optimistic that the quality of Belgium’s individuals can drag the team through to the latter stages of the 2016 European Championship.

    “I hope we will win Euro 2016 of course, but Germany are very good, Italy are good, England are good, Spain are good. In 1980, Belgium were underdogs but this time they are not. If Belgium doesn’t get to the semi-finals, I really think these players should look for another job. The semi-finals is a minimum requirement for this team – with those players, you simply have to get there.”

    Jean Marie Pfaff and Sports Effects, a division of Effects Investments LLC, is bringing the Belgium and Argentina 1986 World Cup team together for a gala dinner in Antwerp on August 20, 2016. 

    Recommended