Stijn De Smet

Stijn Camiel De Smet (; born 27 March 1985) is a Belgian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder.

He received his first call-up to the Belgium squad in 2008 and made his debut as a starter against Morocco in a friendly at King Baudouin Stadium.

Club career Cercle Brugge De Smet started his football career at amateur club Jabbeke. At the age of 12, he made moved to the youth academy of professional club Cercle Brugge, despite receiving an offer from city rivals Club Brugge. Sadly for De Smet, a knee injury suffered in a match against Anderlecht forced him to stay in Belgium.

De Smet quickly aroused interest from other teams, and was considered Cercle's most talented player since Thomas Buffel. Strong play alongside new signing Tom De Sutter, as well as 10 goals in 33 appearances during the 2007–08 season, meant that Eredivisie clubs AZ and PSV showed interest.

Gent On 17 July 2009, De Smet signed a five-year contract with league rivals for Gent, replacing the outgoing Bryan Ruiz who had signed with Twente, for a fee reported to be around €1.2 million. At Gent, he won the 2009–10 Belgian Cup, beating his former club Cercle Brugge 3–0 in the final. De Smet came on as a 90th-minute substitute for Elimane Coulibaly in the game.

On 25 July 2011, De Smet was sent on a season-long loan to Westerlo. Due to an injury, he only played 23 games.

Kortrijk In the 2013–14 season, De Smet signed a two-year contract with Kortrijk with an option for an additional year. After three successful seasons at the West Flemish club, his contract was not renewed following the 2017–18 season.

Roeselare For the 2018–19 season, De Smet moved to Roeselare as a free agent, signing a one-year contract with an option for an additional year.

Retirement At the end of the 2018–19 season, it was announced that De Smet would retire from professional football and continue his career with amateur club Zwevezele. De Smet announced his retirement in December 2019. He later founded his own real estate agency.

International career In the 2004–05 season, De Smet was selected for the matches of the Belgian national under-21 team. He was also part of the squad that qualified for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

De Smet was selected for Belgium for the first time for an unofficial friendly against Standard Liège, as a replacement for the injured Thomas Chatelle. De Smet played the last 10 minutes of the match. He was selected again for the friendly against Morocco, and was part of the starting eleven.

Honours Gent Belgian Cup: 2009–10