Stijn Stijnen

Stijn Stijnen ([ˈstɛin ˈstɛinə(n)]; born 7 April 1981) is a Belgian retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper, and the current sporting director of K.S.C. Hasselt.

He played in 189 Belgian Pro League games during thirteen seasons, mainly with Club Brugge with which he won nine major titles, including two national championships.

Born in Hasselt, Limburg, Stijnen moved from K.S.C. Hasselt to Club Brugge KV in 2000, aged 19, and became the club's first stand-in for veteran Dany Verlinden – when the latter retired at 41, he backed up Tomislav Butina. On 18 April 2003 he made his debut in the league, in a 3–0 away win against K.R.C. Genk. However, his big breakthrough came in the 2005–06 season, when he replaced the injured Butina several times; some strong performances (including the UEFA Champions League 1–2 home loss to Juventus F.C. in the group stage) made him the undisputed first-choice onwards.

In the 2006–07 campaign, Stijnen was between the posts as Brugge won the Belgian Cup 1–0 against Standard Liège, but the club only finished sixth in the domestic league. He never played in less than 31 league games in the following three seasons, but the Blue and Black did not manage to win any silverware.

On 20 February 2011 Stijnen was relegated to the B-team, after it became known that he and his family members had engaged in an anonymous campaign on the club's message board, where they were bashing both the club management and fellow team members while simultaneously hailing Stijnen as the "club hero" in order to promote his profile. The following day, both parties agreed to dissolve the contract which bound the player to the club until 2015.

Stijnen retired in the 2013 summer at the age of 32, after two top flight seasons with Beerschot AC. He returned to youth club Hasselt subsequently, after being appointed director of football.

Belgium manager René Vandereycken noticed Stijnen's performances at club level, and handed him his debut in a friendly against Saudi Arabia on 11 May 2006. In March 2007, before an UEFA Euro 2008 qualifier in Portugal, he reportedly claimed his teammates should take opponent star Cristiano Ronaldo out of the game in an early stage, by all means necessary; eventually the home side won 4–0, with Ronaldo scoring twice, and the Manchester United player accepted the Belgian's apologies.

Stijnen retired from international play in October 2009, after collecting 30 caps.