Player Profile: Stijn Stijnen-The Man That Condones Injurying Opponents

Today we take a look at Belgium’s main man in goal, Stijn Stijnen. He looks like an ass even in that picture. I will go further into his stupidity later.
Birth Date: April 7, 1981 (27 years old).
Birth Place: Hasselt, Belgium.
Height: 6′ 2″ (1.88m)
Weight: 179 lbs (81 kg)
Position: Goalkeeper
Youth Clubs: Runkst VV and KSC Hasselt.
Professional Clubs: Club Brugge K.V.
Number of Caps for Belgium: 19
Club Stats:
Season Club League Matches Goals
2002/03 Brugge Jupiler League 2 0
2003/04 Brugge Jupiler League 0 0
2004/05 Brugge Jupiler League 1 0
2005/06 Brugge Jupiler League 15 0
2006/07 Brugge Jupiler League 27 0
2007/08 Brugge Jupiler League 31 0
Stijnen won the Jupiler League with Belgium in 2003 and 2005.

Rode Duivels Selections:
11/05/2006 Saudi Arabia 1-2 Belgium
20/05/2006 Slovakia 1-1 Belgium
24/05/2006 Belgium 3-3 Turkey
16/08/2006 Belgium 0-0 Kazakhstan
06/09/2006 Armenia 0-1 Belgium
07/10/2006 Serbia 1-0 Belgium
11/10/2006 Belgium 3-0 Azerbaijan
15/11/2006 Belgium 0-1 Poland
07/02/2007 Belgium 0-2 Czech Republic
24/03/2007 Portugal 4-0 Belgium
02/06/2007 Belgium 1-2 Portugal
06/06/2007 Finland 2-0 Belgium
22/08/2007 Belgium 3-2 Serbia
12/09/2007 Kazakhstan 2-2 Belgium
13/10/2007 Belgium 0-0 Finland
17/10/2007 Belgium 3-0 Armenia
17/11/2007 Poland 2-0 Belgium
26/03/2008 Belgium 1-4 Morocco
30/5/2008 Italy 3-1 Belgium

Euro 2008 Qualifying Stats: 50 saves in 13 matches with no clean sheets.

Since late 2006, Stijn Stijnen has been René Vandereycken’s top goalkeeper. He plays decently in goal. When I think of him I can’t help but laugh and feel some disappointment. I don’t like how he represents Belgium. His sportsmanship is questionable considering his past comments. Before the Rode Duivels’ Euro 2008 qualifying match against Portugal he openly condoned injuring Cristiano Ronaldo: “After two minutes we will normally have massacred him so much that he will have to leave the pitch on a stretcher. What else do we need to do? Portugal have greater quality and that’s why we have to do things our way. If we try to play like them we will certainly lose.” These were strong and disturbing comments from the Rode Duivels keeper. That type of mentality is bad for the national team. Hurting the other team’s players to win shows no class and is really low. In some ways it is similar to Zidane’s stupid headbutt on Materazzi. Instead of continuing the match and playing for a win he let the anger get the better of him. Wait till the end of the match to kick Materazzi’s ass. Why let your whole country down? Anyway, we ended up losing that Portugal qualifying match badly 0 to 4. Did we deserve it? Yes. Stijnen’s behavior was unexcusable and we should have played better. Belgium fan or not I can’t support his actions. FIFA fined Stijnen 2000 euros for his comments. Furthermore, several days before that same match he refused to speak to the French speaking Belgian media. Political tensions have always been high in Belgium among the Dutch and French speakers. Stijnen, of course, added fuel to the fire.