The team at the time, led by captain Francky van der Elst, lost to Werder Bremen (1-2 cumulative scores of the two matches). Having come close to a place in the final, the Blauw en Zwart console themselves with a title of Belgian champions. But what happened to the eleven starters of this last European semi-final in 1992?
They kept one foot in football
Despite its small size (1.75 cm), Danny Verlinden remains one of the best goalkeepers to have ever worn the colors of Club Brugge. After playing a total of 433 matches for the Blauw en Zwart, he ended his long career at the age of 40. However, he did not leave the world of football, since he decided to pass on his knowledge by becoming a goalkeeper coach. First at Cercle Bruges from 2018 to 2022, then on the other side of the country, with the Virton goalkeepers at the start of 2023. After a stint as coach of the men's first team at Estinnes B , he resigns in March 2024.
He is not the only player from the 1992 epic to have made this choice of reconversion. Rudy Cossey, for example, is currently an assistant coach at Sporting de Charleroi. Before joining the Carolos in July 2022, Cossey was an assistant coach for a number of Belgian clubs, including Lokeren, Mons, La Gantoise, Genk and Antwerp.
Another veteran who briefly bounced back in the Pro League: Claude Verspaille joined the recruitment unit of his training club, KV Kortrijk, in 2009.
While some have experienced a second career at a club, others have experienced the staff of the national team. This is the case of Vital Borkelmans. He was Marc Wilmots' assistant coach at the Red Devils from 2012 to 2016. The former midfielder subsequently coached the Jordanian national team. Back in Belgium, he now works with the interprovincial U16s of the amateur club FC Knokke.
They returned to their native country
After spending five years at club Brugge, Lazlo Distzl lost his starting place in the Bruges team in 1994. He then decided to return to Hungary to play for Videoton, his training club, renamed Parmalat FC at the time. His career came to an abrupt end following a serious injury, which forced him to end his professional career. However, he did not leave the club, becoming logistics manager of the Hungarian club, while regularly returning to Belgium to complete his coaching diplomas. Distzl then coached the Videoton first team and several other Hungarian teams. His latest role is that of assistant coach at Hungarian club Kaposvár until 2021.
Former Dutch footballer Foeke Booy also returned to his homeland after retiring from sports and is currently an assistant coach at Sparta Rotterdam.
They converted to television
The pattern is quite classic: several alumni have continued to make a living thanks to football and television. After having been a coach and assistant coach in numerous Belgian clubs, Franky van der Elstthe most capped player in the history of Club Bruges, is regularly invited as an analyst and consultant for the Dutch-speaking media.
Scorer in the first leg against Werder Bremen in 1992, Daniel Amokachi had received a red card in the return match in Bremen, definitively sealing the hopes of Club Brugge. Following his retirement from sport, the former Nigerian international became a coach. He begins his reconversion in his native country before opting for a surprising destination. In 2016, he took the reins of the semi-professional Finnish D2 team JS Hercules with the ambition of moving up to the first division. There will ultimately only be one year left in Scandinavia. Recently, Daniel Amokachi was in the news as he served as a commentator during the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations.
They live far from football
Unlike their former teammates, some ex-Club Bruges players have decided to definitively turn the page with football. This is the case ofAlex Querter, for a time coach of Club Bruges's hopes, then assistant to coaches Eric Gerets and René Verheyen. He left the world of football permanently to work in a primary school in Jabbeke before retiring.
Professional retraining is also a colloquial term for Peter Creve. The former Bruges midfielder is enjoying happy days on the Belgian coast where he opened a streetbar on the beach at Middelkerke.
Not far from the Coast, he is a former teammate of his Lorenzo Staelens who made a new start. Now away from the field, he is a sales representative for the Carro-Bel group in West Flanders.
