The best of Hugo Broos: Career stats and history

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Hugo Broos has been a significant part of Belgium football since the early 1970s. As he enters his fifth decade of management, we’ve taken a deeper look to unearth some of the most impressive stats and figures from his football career, which spans over half a century.

Early years

Broos grew up in a small town called Humbeek, which has only a few thousand inhabitants. Despite rising through the academy at his hometown football club, when one of the giants of Belgian football, Anderlecht, came knocking, it was an easy choice for the then-18-year-old. 

Anderlecht royalty

He quickly established himself as one of the first names on the Anderlecht team sheet. His composed, consistent presence in the Anderlecht backline rippled through the rest of the team. 

During Hugo’s time at Anderlecht, he became club captain and won 10 trophies, including two European Super Cups and a UEFA Cup. He played for the national side throughout this period, perhaps best known for their performance at the 1986 World Cup, where they finished in fourth place.

After retirement, he returned to Anderlecht as manager, where he won the Belgian Manager of the Year award twice in three seasons. While some of the more prominent European trophies eluded him during his international playing career, the Broos approach and his coaching ability helped fuel the golden age of Belgian football, during which Roberto Martinez came close to lifting silverware with the national side on several occasions.

As the Euros quickly approach, Belgium isn’t considered one of the tournament’s favorites. However, stranger things have happened, and as the Euros have shown us in the past, underdogs can emerge from nowhere to be crowned as the top team on the continent. 

Denmark achieved this feat in 1992, although many of their squad also proved to be elite players. A better example is Greece in Euro 2004. The relatively unknown squad of players defeated some of the titans of European football on their way to lifting the trophy at remarkable odds of 150/1.

Hugo Broos – Management style and stats

We imagine Hugo has his sights on managing his national side at some point, as he’s doing an excellent job with the South African national side. Despite South Africa not being considered one of the top teams on the continent, his third-place finish with them at last year’s AFCON is a testament to his management and ability to get the best out of a squad. 

You only need to consider the attitudes of the South African players and fans toward Hugo. While he can often say things that grab the headlines and occasionally come across as quite neurotic in press conferences, the proof is in the pudding, given that they were a penalty shootout away from the final.

The early days of Broos’ management career were undoubtedly his most successful. He posted win percentages of over 50% at Genk and Anderlecht and took the team he played almost 350 games with into the Champions League as a manager back in 2004. Throughout the 2010s, he did not have the same success, dotting around a selection of teams in Greece, Algeria, and Turkey before finding his feet again and managing the South African national side.

What’s next for Hugo?

Broos is currently experiencing an Indian summer in his career. After going through a barren spell and managing six clubs in five countries over the space of eight years, his third-place finish with South Africa in the AFCON has put him back on the management radar. 

He has no plans to leave his post at the moment, but if he can carry on churning out solid results with Bafana Bafana, he may find himself managing at the higher levels of the European game again before he retires.

Summary

Hugo is a testament to the quality of Belgian football. While his name might not be the first one that springs to mind when we think of Belgian football characters, he’s a huge part of their footballing heritage. He has shown resilience as a coach and player and continues to grind out results wherever he manages. 

Who knows how much longer he has left in the game now that he’s in his seventies? He seems sharp and keen to crack on in his tenure as SA boss and as he’s still getting the best out of the squad, we don’t expect him to go anywhere anytime soon.

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