Michel Jean de Wolf is a retired Belgian

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 footballer who played as a left defender.

Club career

During his Belgium career, de Wolf played, always as first-choice safe for one season out of 17, for R.W.D. Molenbeek

R.W.D. Molenbeek

Racing White Daring Molenbeek was a Belgian football club founded in 1909 as White Star Club de Bruxelles. It then became a member of the Belgian Football Association later the same year as White Star Athletic Club and received the matricule n°47....

, K.A.A. Gent (winning the 1984 Belgian Cup

Belgian Cup

The Belgian Cup is the main knockout football competition in Belgium, run by the Belgian Football Association. The first cup was held in 1911-12. The most successful cup club is Club Brugge KV with 10 titles followed by RSC Anderlecht and R Standard de Liège...

), K.V. Kortrijk

K.V. Kortrijk

Koninklijke Voetbalclub Kortrijk is a Belgian professional football club based in Kortrijk, West Flanders. They have been playing in the Belgian Pro League since the 2008-09 season, and they achieved they best ranking ever during the 2009-10 season, finishing 4th after the play-offs...

 and R.S.C. Anderlecht

R.S.C. Anderlecht

Royal Sporting Club Anderlecht, usually known as Anderlecht or RSCA , is a Belgian professional football club based in Anderlecht in the Brussels Capital Region. Anderlecht plays in the Belgian Pro League and is the most successful Belgian football team in European competitions as well as in the...

 (where he arrived at the ripe age of 32, winning three leagues).

At 36 years of age, he moved abroad, signing with Olympique de Marseille

Olympique de Marseille

Olympique de Marseille is a French association football club based in Marseille. Founded in 1899, the club plays in Ligue 1 and have spent most of its history in the top tier of French football. Marseille have been French champions nine times and have won the Coupe de France a record ten times. In...

 of Ligue 2

Ligue 2

Ligue 2 , formerly known as Division 2, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Professionnel , the other being Ligue 1, the country's top football division...

 – the club had just been relegated due to a match-fixing scandal, playing in more than 40 official matches in one sole season, after which he retired from professional football, still going on to appear for K.F.C. Avenir Lembeek and KSC Grimbergen at amateur level (and as player-coach

Player-coach

A player-coach, in sports, is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. The term can be used to refer to both players who serve as head coaches, or as assistant coaches....

).

International career

De Wolf was capped

Cap (sport)

In sports, a cap is a metaphorical term for a player's appearance on a select team, such as a national team. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of association football...

 42 times for the Belgian national team, his debut coming in 1980, and appeared at three FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup

The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...

s: he played two matches in the 1986 edition

1986 FIFA World Cup

The 1986 FIFA World Cup, the 13th FIFA World Cup, was held in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia had been originally chosen to host the competition by FIFA but, largely due to economic reasons, was not able to do so and officially...

, four in 1990

1990 FIFA World Cup

The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event twice. Teams representing 116 national football associations from all six populated...

 – scoring from 35 meters in the Diables Rouges 2–0 win against South Korea

Korea Republic national football team

The Korea Republic national football team represents Korea Republic in international football and is controlled by the Korea Football Association. Korea Republic is the most successful Asian football team in the history of the FIFA World Cup having participated in eight World Cup tournaments,...

, in the group stage – and another four (at 36) in 1994

1994 FIFA World Cup

The 1994 FIFA World Cup, the 15th staging of the FIFA World Cup, was held in nine cities across the United States from June 17 to July 17, 1994. The United States was chosen as the host by FIFA on July 4, 1988...

.

De Wolf was also selected for UEFA Euro 1984, in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

.

External links

• Biography at RWDM
• Michel de Wolf at worldfootball.net