Enzo Scifo facts for kids
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Vincenzo Daniele Scifo | ||
| Date of birth | 19 February 1966 | ||
| Place of birth | La Louvière, Belgium | ||
| Height | 1.78 m | ||
| Playing position | Attacking midfielder | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1983–1987 | Anderlecht | 119 | (32) |
| 1987–1988 | Internazionale | 28 | (4) |
| 1988–1989 | Bordeaux | 24 | (7) |
| 1989–1991 | Auxerre | 67 | (25) |
| 1991–1993 | Torino | 62 | (16) |
| 1993–1997 | AS Monaco | 91 | (20) |
| 1997–2000 | Anderlecht | 75 | (14) |
| 2000–2001 | Charleroi | 12 | (3) |
| Total | 478 | (121) | |
| National team | |||
| 1984–1998 | Belgium | 84 | (18) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 2001–2002 | Charleroi | ||
| 2004–2006 | Tubize | ||
| 2007–2009 | Mouscron | ||
| 2012–2013 | Mons | ||
| 2015–2016 | Belgium U21 | ||
| 2021 | Royal Excel Mouscron | ||
|
|||
Vincenzo "Enzo" Daniele Scifo was a famous Belgian football player. He was born on 19 February 1966. Enzo played as a midfielder for many top clubs in Belgium, France, and Italy.
He also played for the Belgium national football team in four FIFA World Cup tournaments. This is a big achievement, as only a few Belgian players have done this. After he stopped playing, he became a coach for several teams.
Contents
Enzo Scifo's Early Life and Football Start
Enzo Scifo was born in La Louvière, Belgium. His parents were from Sicily, Italy. From a young age, Enzo showed amazing talent in football.
People even called him "Little Pelé" because he scored so many goals. He scored 432 goals in just four seasons as a junior player! He joined his first club, R.A.A. Louviéroise, when he was only seven. In 1982, he moved to R.S.C. Anderlecht, one of Belgium's most successful clubs.
Playing for Top Clubs
Enzo Scifo started playing for R.S.C. Anderlecht's main team in 1983. He was only 17 years old. He helped Anderlecht win the Belgian First Division championship three times.
He also helped them reach the 1984 UEFA Cup final, where they lost to Tottenham. Enzo became known as one of the best young players around.
In 1987, he moved to Inter Milan in Italy. After a difficult time there, he moved to Bordeaux in France in 1988. He faced injuries and problems with other players.
His career got back on track when he joined Auxerre in 1989. He played very well there. In 1991, he returned to Italy to play for Torino. He had more success this time, reaching the 1992 UEFA Cup Final and winning the Coppa Italia (Italian Cup).
Next, Enzo joined AS Monaco in 1993. He continued to play well and helped them win the French championship in 1997. Later that year, he went back to Anderlecht. He won his fourth Belgian league title with them in 2000.
He joined Charleroi in 2000. However, he had to stop playing football that same season. He was diagnosed with a long-term joint problem called arthritis. Enzo scored 121 goals in 478 official matches during his career.
Belgium's World Cup Star
Enzo Scifo first played for the Belgium national football team on 6 June 1984. He was only 18 years old when he played in UEFA Euro 1984. He was the youngest player to ever appear in the tournament at that time.
He played for Belgium in four FIFA World Cups: 1986, 1990, 1994, and 1998. He played 16 World Cup games in total. In the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, he helped Belgium reach the semi-finals. They finished in fourth place. Enzo was named the best young player of the tournament.
In the 1990 World Cup in Italy, Enzo scored an amazing goal against Uruguay. This goal was later voted as one of the top ten greatest World Cup goals ever! Belgium was knocked out in the second round in both the 1990 and 1994 World Cups. Enzo stopped playing for Belgium after the 1998 World Cup. He played 84 games for his country and scored 18 goals.
How Enzo Scifo Played
Enzo Scifo was a very creative midfielder. He was known as a "number 10" playmaker. This means he was great at setting up goals for his teammates. He usually played right behind the main strikers.
He had excellent vision, which means he could see where his teammates were and where to pass the ball. He was also very smart about tactics and had great technical skills. Enzo was good at dribbling the ball and could shoot and pass accurately with his right foot. He could score goals himself or create chances for others.
Sometimes, coaches thought he didn't help enough with defense. But overall, he was considered one of Belgium's greatest ever players.
After His Playing Days
After retiring as a player, Enzo Scifo became a coach. He coached Charleroi from 2001 to 2002. He then coached Tubize (2004–2006) and Mouscron (2007–2009). He left Mouscron because of the club's money problems.
He returned to coaching with Mons from 2012 to 2013. From 2015 to 2016, he was the manager of the Belgium U21 national team.
Career Stats
Club
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Europe | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Anderlecht | 1983–84 | Belgian League | 25 | 5 | – | 8 | 1 | |||||
| 1984–85 | 30 | 14 | – | 4 | 1 | |||||||
| 1985–86 | 31 | 5 | 5 | 2 | ||||||||
| 1986–87 | 33 | 8 | – | 5 | 1 | |||||||
| Total | 119 | 32 | 22 | 5 | ||||||||
| Inter Milan | 1987–88 | Serie A | 28 | 4 | 10 | 0 | – | 6 | 1 | 44 | 5 | |
| Girondins Bordeaux | 1988–89 | Division 1 | 24 | 7 | 6 | 1 | ||||||
| Auxerre | 1989–90 | Division 1 | 33 | 11 | 9 | 5 | ||||||
| 1990–91 | 34 | 14 | – | |||||||||
| Total | 67 | 25 | 9 | 5 | ||||||||
| Torino | 1991–92 | Serie A | 30 | 9 | 5 | 0 | – | 11 | 2 | 46 | 11 | |
| 1992–93 | 32 | 7 | 6 | 2 | – | 4 | 0 | 42 | 9 | |||
| Total | 62 | 16 | 11 | 2 | – | 15 | 2 | 88 | 20 | |||
| Monaco | 1993–94 | Division 1 | 31 | 6 | 11 | 2 | ||||||
| 1994–95 | 11 | 2 | – | |||||||||
| 1995–96 | 34 | 7 | 2 | 0 | ||||||||
| 1996–97 | 15 | 5 | 2 | 0 | ||||||||
| Total | 91 | 20 | 15 | 2 | ||||||||
| Anderlecht | 1997–98 | Belgian League | 30 | 4 | 5 | 1 | ||||||
| 1998–99 | 27 | 8 | 3 | 0 | ||||||||
| 1999–2000 | 17 | 2 | ||||||||||
| Total | 74 | 14 | 8 | 1 | ||||||||
| Charleroi | 2000–01 | Belgian League | 12 | 3 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 13 | 3 | ||
| Career total | 477 | 121 | 81 | 17 | ||||||||
International
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Belgium | 1984 | 8 | 1 |
| 1985 | 3 | 1 | |
| 1986 | 12 | 3 | |
| 1987 | 4 | 0 | |
| 1988 | 4 | 0 | |
| 1989 | 5 | 0 | |
| 1990 | 9 | 2 | |
| 1991 | 6 | 3 | |
| 1992 | 6 | 1 | |
| 1993 | 5 | 4 | |
| 1994 | 6 | 0 | |
| 1995 | 3 | 2 | |
| 1996 | 4 | 0 | |
| 1997 | 4 | 0 | |
| 1998 | 5 | 1 | |
| Total | 84 | 18 | |
- Scores and results list Belgium's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Scifo goal.
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 17 October 1984 | Heysel Stadium, Brussels |  Albania |
2–1 | 3–1 | 1986 World Cup qualifier |
| 2 | 27 March 1985 | Heysel Stadium, Brussels |  Greece |
2–0 | 2–0 | 1986 World Cup qualifier |
| 3 | 8 June 1986 | Estadio Nemesio Díez, Toluca |  Iraq |
1–0 | 2–1 | 1986 World Cup |
| 4 | 15 June 1986 | Estadio Nou Camp, León |  Soviet Union |
1–1 | 4–3 | 1986 World Cup |
| 5 | 10 September 1986 | Heysel Stadium, Brussels |  Republic of Ireland |
2–1 | 2–2 | Euro 1988 qualifier |
| 6 | 26 May 1990 | Heysel Stadium, Brussels |  Romania |
1–0 | 2–2 | Friendly |
| 7 | 17 June 1990 | Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi, Verona |  Uruguay |
2–0 | 3–1 | 1990 World Cup |
| 8 | 27 February 1991 | Constant Vanden Stock Stadium, Brussels |  Luxembourg |
3–0 | 3–0 | Euro 1992 qualifier |
| 9 | 11 September 1991 | Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg | Luxembourg |
1–0 | 2–0 | Euro 1992 qualifier |
| 10 | 9 October 1991 | Sóstói Stadion, Székesfehérvár |  Hungary |
2–0 | 2–0 | Friendly |
| 11 | 25 March 1992 | Parc des Princes, Paris |  France |
2–1 | 3–3 | Friendly |
| 12. | 13 February 1993 | Makario Stadium, Nicosia |  Cyprus |
1–0 | 3–0 | 1994 World Cup qualifier |
| 13 | 2–0 | |||||
| 14 | 22 May 1993 | Constant Vanden Stock Stadium, Brussels |  Faroe Islands |
2–0 | 3–0 | 1994 World Cup qualifier |
| 15 | 13 October 1993 | Stadionul Steaua, Bucharest | Romania |
1–2 | 1–2 | 1994 World Cup qualifier |
| 16. | 7 June 1995 | Philip II Arena, Skopje |  Macedonia |
2–0 | 5–0 | Euro 1996 qualifier |
| 17 | 5–0 | |||||
| 18 | 6 June 1998 | King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels |  Paraguay |
1–0 | 1–0 | Friendly |
Awards and Trophies
Anderlecht
- Belgian First Division: 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1999–2000
- Belgian Supercup: 1985
- Belgian League Cup: 2000
- UEFA Cup: runners-up 1983–84
- Jules Pappaert Cup: 1983, 1985, 2000
- Bruges Matins: 1985
- Belgian Sports Team of the Year: 2000
Monaco
- Division 1: 1996–97
Torino
- Coppa Italia: 1992–93
- UEFA Cup: runners-up 1991–92
Belgium
- FIFA World Cup: fourth place 1986
Individual
- Belgian Golden Shoe: 1984
- Ballon d'Or nominations: 1984, 1990, 1992, 1993
- 4 FIFA World Cup participations: 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998
- FIFA World Cup Best Young Player: 1986
- FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: 1990
- La Gazzetta dello Sport + Associated Press + Match World Cup All-Star Team: 1990
- French Division 1 Foreign Player of the Year: 1990
- Belgian Professional Footballer of the Year: 1990–91
- Onze Mondial: 1993
- Platina 11 (Best Team in 50 Years Golden Shoe Winners): 2003
- The Best Golden Shoe Team Ever: 2011
- RBFA 125 Years Icons Team: 2020
- IFFHS All Time Belgium Dream Team: 2021
See also
In Spanish: Enzo Scifo para niños
