Pfaff Jean-Marie
Jean-Marie Pfaff is a Belgian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper and spent most of his professional career with Beveren and Bayern Munich. Pfaff was capped 64 times playing for Belgium, and participated at the 1982 FIFA World Cup and 1986 FIFA World Cup tournaments. Pfaff was named goalkeeper of the 1986 FIFA World Cup, and he was the first player to receive the IFFHS World’s Best Goalkeeper award in 1987. Pfaff was born in Lebbeke, East Flanders. Pfaff was born in Lebbeke, East Flanders. He grew up in a family of 12 children (6 boys, 6 girls). His father was a door-to-door salesman of fabrics and carpets. The Pfaff family lived in a caravan in Lebbeke and in the summer, the whole family was obliged to help their father with sales. As a street footballer, his goalkeeping skills were quickly noticed. Pfaff joined the youth team of Eendracht Aalst, the club of his brothers Louis and Jean-Baptist Pfaff. When Louis and Jean-Baptist arranged a transfer to KSK Beveren in 1965, the younger brothers Jean-Marie and Toon also made the switch to the Waasland club. At the end of the 1971–72 season, aged 18, Pfaff made his debut for the first team of Beveren in the Belgian First Division. In 1976, the new Belgian coach Guy Thys decided to rejuvenate the Red Devils’ selection for the 1976 European Championship. Pfaff was called up and with him other young promises such as Willy Wellens, René Verheyen and Michel Renquin. And the debut of the Beveren goalkeeper was memorable. Pfaff made his debut in the quarter finals against the Dutch team of Johan Cruijff.
Did you Know?
This set was worn by Jean-Marie Pfaff during the Uefa Champions Cup semi-final between Real Madrid and Bayern Munich which took place in Madrid, “Santiago Bernabeu” stadium, on April 22nd 1987 and Pfaff played a legendary European match. Bayern won the first leg 4-1, and Pfaff made crucial saves in the 1-0 second-leg defeat at the Santiago Bernabéu to send Bayern to the final. This is an iconic Jean-Marie Pfaff goalkeeper shirt, manufactured by Adidas and featuring the distinctive padded chest construction that became a hallmark of Pfaff’s goalkeeper shirts throughout his career. The shirt also features the oversized “Commodore” chest sponsor, larger than the standard version and consistent with the style worn by Pfaff in this match against Real Madrid. This set originates directly from Jean-Marie Pfaff’s private collection and was personally offered by him through the auction of his own memorabilia collection, from which it was acquired. Pfaff joined Bayern Munich in 1982. In Munich he didn’t only discover a new football culture, but he was also exposed to the immense pressure of an absolute top club. Despite a false start in his debut match at Bremen (he underestimated one of Uwe Reinders’ famous long throw-ins and rebounded the ball into his own goal), Pfaff quickly became an indispensable link in the team. Three years after the abrupt end of Sepp Maier’s career – the Bayern icon who was critically injured in a car accident, Bayern had finally found a successor for the goalkeeper for the coming years. The 1986–87 Bundesliga was convincingly won by Bayern for the third time in a row, eventually ending with a 6 point lead over Hamburger SV. Their cup story had already ended in November after a heavy 3–0 defeat at Fortuna Düsseldorf. In the European Cup, Bayern were now able to eliminate Anderlecht with two wins this time. In the return match at the Bernabeu stadium, Real Madrid were also unable to make up for their heavy 1-4 defeat in the first leg. The final was played on 27 May 1987 in the Praterstadion, Vienna. Bayern, missing several key players due to suspensions and injuries, lost to FC Porto. For his performances with Bayern and with Belgium at the World Cup, Pfaff received the first trophy of best goalkeeper in the world in 1987 by the IFFHS.
