Georges Grün

Georges Serge Grün (born 25 January 1962) is a retired Belgian football defender, who currently works as a television presenter for the UEFA Champions League matches at RTL TVI.

Club career Grün started his career with Anderlecht in Belgium, where he spent eight seasons, winning the UEFA Cup in 1983, as well as three consecutive Belgian First Division titles between 1984 and 1987, among other trophies; he also reached another UEFA Cup final with the club in 1984, where they lost out to English side Tottenham, however. Grün joined Italian club Parma in 1990. During his time with the club, he established himself as one of the best defenders in Serie A, winning the Coppa Italia in 1992, and the Cup Winners' Cup in 1993 under manager Nevio Scala. Following a series of injury struggles during the 1993–94 season, however, he returned to his former club in 1994. In 1996, he returned to Italy once again, to play for Reggiana; however, he was no longer paid by the club between February and May 1997, and retired at the end of the 1996–97 season.

International career Grün made his international debut in a 2–0 win against Yugoslavia at UEFA Euro 1984, on 13 June, marking the occasion with a goal. He is most famous in his home country for scoring the away goal that qualified Belgium at the expense of their neighbours Netherlands in the 1986 World Cup qualifying rounds. Belgium would go on to a very respectable fourth-place finish. He played in three FIFA World Cups for the Belgium national football team (1986, 1990 and 1994). He made his World Cup debut against Mexico on 3 June 1986. Grün is the sixth–most–capped player for Belgium with 77 appearances between 1984 and 1995, also scoring six goals.

Style of play Usually a defender, Grün was capable of playing both as a man-marking centre-back, or stopper, and as a sweeper, due to his elegance, as well as his ability carry the ball out from the back and advance into midfield, or play it out on the ground, which enabled him to start attacking plays with his passing after winning back possession. He was even deployed as a defensive midfielder in front of the back-line on occasion.

Career statistics

+ List of international goals scored by Georges GrünCapDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition 1 1 13 June 1984 Stade Félix Bollaert, Lens, France 2–0 UEFA Euro 1984 2 11 16 October 1985 De Kuip, Rotterdam, Netherlands 1–2 1986 World Cup qualification 3 32 19 January 1988 National Stadium, Ramat Gan, Israel 3–0 Friendly 4 72 2 July 1994 Soldier Field, Chicago, United States 1–1 1994 World Cup Round of 16 5 75 7 June 1995 Gradski Stadion, Skopje, Macedonia 1–0 Euro 1996 qualification 6 76 6 September 1995 Heysel Stadium, Brussels, Belgium 1–2 Euro 1996 qualification

Honours

Player

Anderlecht

Belgian First Division: 1980–81, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87 Belgian Cup: 1987-88, 1988–89 Belgian Supercup: 1985, 1987 UEFA Cup: 1982–83 (winners), 1983-84 (runners-up) European Cup Winners' Cup: 1989-90 (runners-up) Jules Pappaert Cup: 1983, 1985 Bruges Matins: 1985, 1988

Parma

Coppa Italia: 1991–92 European Cup Winners' Cup: 1992–93 (winners), 1993-94 (runners-up) European Super Cup: 1993

International Belgium

FIFA World Cup: 1986 (fourth place)

Individual

Ballon d'Or nomination: 1993 DH The Best RSC Anderlecht Team Ever (2020) IFFHS All Time Belgium Dream Team (2021)