FLASHBACK The first post-war international match of the newly liberated France was against Belgium. It was played on December 24, 1944, under primitive conditions. For Henri Meert of Anderlecht, it was his first call-up to the national team.
He would eventually earn 33 caps (out of 48 selections) and retire as an international player in 1957.
Rie Meert was a born and bred Brussels native. He played his entire career for Anderlecht. From the age of eight, he was registered with the purple and white. That was back in 1928. In the youth teams, he played one half as a striker and one half as a goalkeeper. Usually, this worked out very well, but once against Union, he conceded twenty goals. He had learned his technique from the British coach Ernest Smith, who taught him very precisely how to come off his line. Most of the time, he was able to skillfully pass to his teammates with a long kick, but once against Lierse, it went wrong when he simply kicked the ball over the entire field, right into the neighbor's backyard, who then refused to return the ball.
In any case, being a goalkeeper suited him well, and in 1942 he finally made his debut in Anderlecht's starting eleven after five years as a reserve goalkeeper. He played no less than 18 seasons for Anderlecht. During that time, he added titles to his résumé. He surpassed the milestone of 325 matches and only retired when he was 39 years old.
He also took part in one of Anderlecht's first European matches (not the very first, as he was injured then): against Glasgow Rangers. It was not a success, and early in the match, Meert collided with a Scottish striker. He continued playing but was found to have suffered a concussion, which kept him in a British hospital for two days. Meert also played many friendly matches all over the world. Perhaps his best performance was the 3-2 victory against English champions Arsenal. But he also played exhibition matches with Anderlecht in, for example, Congo and Brazil.
Besides his career as a footballer, he was also a professional handball player, which helped him with his positioning.
The ever-cheerful Meert passed away in 2006 and ran a café next to the stadium for many years after his football career. Georges Caelenberg, a former Anderlecht player, also served drinks there. He was a coach only briefly: he once saved Lierse from relegation and also coached Jean-Marie Pfaff for a short period.
Source: © Internal source
In a flashback article, we look back in time at an important event for the club or a former player.
