Verheyen joins 100 club

Club Brugge KV attacker Gert Verheyen made his 100th appearance in European club competition on Tuesday night at FC Bayern München and was joined on that mark by Alessandro Del Piero.

Famous milestone
The Belgian international started in Munich on UEFA Champions League Matchday 2, and Juventus FC's Del Piero came off the bench for in the second half against SK Rapid Wien. Chelsea FC's Claude Makelele and AC Milan's Clarence Seedorf could also reach the century on Wednesday.

First game
Verheyen well remembers the first of his 100, a UEFA Cup tie at FC Petrolul Ploiesti in 1990 while he was playing at RSC Anderlecht. "I remember because I scored in that one," the Belgian international recalled.

Belgian pioneers
The striker would go on to play 16 European games with Anderlecht before leaving the club in 1992. He made a further 83 appearances with Club Brugge. Now he is the third Belgian to pass 100 European appearances following Filip De Wilde (106) and Michel Preud'homme (105).

European highlights
"The highlights of my European career have been the four qualifications for the Champions League," the 35-year-old Club Brugge captain said. "The excitement of the penalty shoot-out wins against [FC Shakhtar] Donetsk [in 2002/03], [BV Borussia] Dortmund [in 2003/04] and Vålerenga [IF in 2005/06]. Fantastic."

Privileged position
"And then to be able to play in Milan or Barcelona, that is something a football player does not want to miss for all the money in the world. That is why I am glad to be able to play at the new München Arena as well."

Low point
However, it has not all been glorious. "The low point in all of this came when we were knocked out by Olympique Lyonnais away [in the UEFA Cup third round in 2000/01] with a 3-0 defeat," he said. "The decisive goal was scored in the final minute, after we had wiped them away at home with a 4-1 win."