Daniel Van Buyten Biography

Daniel Van Buyten, born 7 February 1978 in Chimay, Belgium, is a Belgian former footballer who played as a defender. He announced his retirement on 14 August 2014. Van Buyten started his professional career with RSC Charleroi in Belgium.

He made the move to Standard Liege in 2001. However, it was at Olympique Marseille in France that he made his name. Towards the end of the 2003/04 season, Van Buyten was sent out on loan to Manchester City in England, where he failed to establish himself and only played in five league matches.

During the following season, he was transferred on loan to Hamburg but was subsequently purchased by the same club for a fee of €4 million. It was in 2006 that Van Buyten was signed by Bayern Munich for €10.5 million, where he played more games and scored more goals than any other club in his career. His contract was not extended at the end of the 2013/14 season.

Following his spell with the Bavarian club, Daniel Van Buyten decided to end his active playing career while he had an offer from the RSC Anderlecht, one of the top Belgian clubs to play there for two more seasons.

All You Need to Know About Daniel Van Buyten Biography

After having played for the youth ranks of the Belgian national football team, Van Buyten debuted for the senior national team in 2001. In total, he played 83 matches for his country, scoring 10 goals and taking part in different tournaments. He announced his retirement from the Belgian national team at the end of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Daniel Van Buyten Information

Now that we know the Belgian footballer much better, in this section of

Daniel Van Buyten biography

we will share more general information about him such as

Daniel Van Buyten nationality

to let you know him even better.

Daniel Van Buyten Bio

• Full Name: Daniel Van Buyten

• Nickname: Big Dan

• Profession: Professional Footballer

Daniel Van Buyten Physical Stats

• Weight: 95 Kg

• Height: 1.97 m

• Eye Color: Brown

• Hair Color: Dark Brown

Daniel Van Buyten Football Information

• Position: Central Defender

• Jersey Number: 5

• Professional Debut: 1998

Daniel Van Buyten Date of Birth and Personal Info

• Date of Birth: 7 February 1978

• Birth Place: Chimay, Belgium

• Zodiac Sign: Aquarius

• Nationality: Belgian

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Daniel Van Buyten biography

as we want to share some info about

Daniel Van Buyten childhood

.

Daniel Van Buyten Early Life

Daniel joined the local JS Froidchapelle when he was eight years old, though as a child he also dreamed of a career as a wrestler. In 1991, he was taken away by Olympic Charleroi. In 1994, Van Buyten joined UBS Auvelais before switching to FC Somzée, a second division club.

Furthermore, his older brother Alain also joined Somzée. At that time, the younger Van Buyten was a midfielder and was notable for his height and a strong shot. The fact that he was a physically strong player was a result of his sportive training.

Both Van Buytens were discovered by Michel Bertinchamps, fitness trainer of first division RCS Charleroi, in 1997. In the past, Daniel had already been tried out at RCS Charleroi, but without success. He was transferred to the reserves in his first year, where he immediately made a name for himself by scoring over thirty goals. The following year, he joined the A-team.

Daniel Van Buyten Profile

At that time, it was coach Robert Waseige who allowed the 20-year-old Van Buyten to start at the highest level. With the Zebras, he became a teammate of Dante Brogno, Alexandre Teklak, Frédéric Peiremans and Roch Gérard, among others. He was given a total of nineteen playing opportunities by Waseige. It was more than enough to force a transfer to the big rival from Liège.

Standard Liege

In the summer of 1999, Van Buyten switched from RCS Charleroi to

. At the Rouches, the Walloon was transformed into a defender, but the season was not easy. First of all, coach Tomislav Ivić was dismissed, a little later it was the turn of his fellow countryman Zvletko Mijać, who was ultimately replaced by former player Jean Thissen.

In addition, Van Buyten did not find his feet as a right back. The young Walloon started the season as a flop and was awarded the Loden Schoen by Sport/Voetbalmagazine. It was not until he was a central defender, at the side of team-mate Liviu Ciobotariu, that he showed his potential.

After the Winter break, Van Buyten became a star player at Standard and was compared to former international Philippe Albert by the French-speaking press. During his second season in the Vigeige Stede, confirmation followed. Thereafter, he was linked to the national team with every strong performance. In January 2002, he finished 14th in the final ranking of the Golden Shoe.

Now stay tuned to this section of Daniel Van Buyten biography as we want to share some info about his

career.

Olympique Marseille

Back in 2001, Van Buyten took another step up. He joined Joseph Yobo and goalkeeper Vedran Runje to Olympique Marseille, a sister club of Standard. Just after the winter break, Jurgen Cavens also made the move from Standard to Marseille. In total, the French club paid around twelve million euros for the transfer of Van Buyten. It was at the time the most expensive transfer in the history of Belgian football.

He was seen in Marseille as a defender and goal scorer. This was a role that had been fulfilled by Laurent Blanc until a few years earlier. The fact that he regularly scored with his head thanks to his jumping power and excellent timing, had also not escaped the notice of the French.

In the south of France, Van Buyten, who was wearing the number 4 at Olympique Marseille, played alongside defenders such as Frank Lebœuf and Loris Reina. The leading newspaper L'Equipe even praised the qualities of the now Belgian international. He was linked to foreign clubs such as Manchester United, Newcastle United and Juventus in the 2002/03 season, and was also named in the team of the season in 2003.

Several years after Van Buyten's move to Marseille, his transfer came under scrutiny. The various transfers from Standard to Marseille at the start of the 21st century were all part of a money-laundering operation, according to a judicial enquiry.

Van Buyten played in the UEFA Champions League with Marseille in the 2003/04 season. In the course of the season, coach José Anigo replaced his compatriot Alain Perrin. Anigo made it very clear to the Belgian defender that he had no place in the team anymore. A disappointed Van Buyten packed his bags after the winter break.

Loan Spell at Manchester City

On the advice of Anigo, he went to the Premier League on loan. The physically strong league seemed to be the perfect fit for Van Buyten, but an injury to his adductors threw a spanner in the works. He failed to work his way into the team in a short space of time and only appeared five times for The Citizens. Leaving Marseille, Van Buyten, who would have preferred to stay, looked elsewhere after the season.

Hamburger SV

In June 2004, Van Buyten penned a four-season contract with

. Manager Klaus Toppmöller recruited him as a replacement for Dutchman Nico-Jan Hoogma, and the then 26-year-old Van Buyten became one of Émile Mpenza's teammates at HSV.

The transfer to HSV was somewhat of a homecoming for Van Buyten since his mother is from Germany. Thomas Doll was named as Toppmöller's replacement in October 2004. In 2006, the former HSV player took the club to third place and promoted Van Buyten to the captain of the team.

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Daniel Van Buyten biography

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Bayern Munich

Two seasons later, Van Buyten was transferred to German top club

and agreed for four seasons, with HSV recruiting his compatriot Vincent Kompany as his replacement. While at Bayern, Big Dan had the opportunity to compete with Lúcio, Martín Demichelis and Valérien Ismaël. He and Brazilian Lúcio formed the central duo under coach Ottmar Hitzfeld.

It was not long before Van Buyten demonstrated his value at Bayern. In fact, he scored two important goals in the quarterfinals of the UEFA

in his first season. In the first match, opponent AC Milan went in front twice, but Van Buyten equalised on both occasions. In the second match, the Germans lost 0-2. Later on, Milan also won the final. Van Buyten won his first national title and cup with Bayern in 2008.

Van Buyten had less time to play under Jürgen Klinsmann. He was often placed on the bench. However, Klinsmann did not finish the season and was eventually replaced by the successful coach Jupp Heynckes. Louis van Gaal took over the helm in 2009.

Van Buyten again became a regular under the Dutchman. Together with players like Arjen Robben, Thomas Müller, Franck Ribery and Bastian Schweinsteiger, Bayern managed to win the double. Bayern also made it to the final of the UEFA Champions League, only to lose 2-0 to Internazionale. In the final, Van Buyten was in direct opposition to goal-scorer Diego Milito, who outplayed him on his second goal.

For the 2011/12 season, Heynckes then returned as coach. By then, 34-year-old Van Buyten had to make do with a role as a substitute. However, despite a difficult start, Van Buyten started to get more starting places, along with strong performances. Van Buyten suffered a foot injury in December 2011, which ruled him out for 6 to 8 weeks. In April 2012, despite interest from a few clubs, he extended his contract until 2013.

An injured Van Buyten was hurriedly prepared for the Champions League final against

in May 2012. He was brought on for goalscorer Thomas Müller in the eighty-seventh minute when it was 1-0. Less than a minute after his substitution, his former teammate Didier Drogba equalised. In the end, Chelsea won the final after penalty kicks. The final took place in the Bayern stadium.

Bayern won its twenty-third national title on 6 April 2013. No club has ever won the Bundesliga so early in the season. During the title match against Eintracht Frankfurt, Van Buyten was sitting on the bench. On 25 May 2013, he became the first Belgian player ever to win the UEFA Champions League. At the 2-1 won final against

, Van Buyten was on the bench for the full ninety minutes.

He renewed his contract by a year in June 2013, which kept him with Bayern until 2014. He announced his departure from Bayern after the 2013/14 season. However, it was not immediately clear if he would retire from football completely or join another team. At the start of August 2014, RSC Anderlecht offered him a two-season contract.

The decision proved to be a difficult one for Van Buyten, taking plenty of time to make up his mind, who eventually decided to stop playing football for good and not accept RSC Anderlecht's offer. He indicated in an emotional farewell letter that his body was no longer able to cope with top-level sport and that he wished to spend more time with his wife and children.

Belgian national team

Daniel Van Buyten officially played his debut for the Red Devils on 28 February 2001. He was given the opportunity by national coach Robert Waseige, whom he knew from his period at RSC Charleroi, to play in the match against San Marino. The score was 10-1, the biggest victory ever for the Red Devils.

Since then, Van Buyten was regularly called up for the national team. The Belgian defender was also included in the 2002 World Cup squad in Japan and South Korea. The national team was constantly at odds with the press during the tournament but nevertheless succeeded in reaching the eighth final. Ultimately, the Red Devils were knocked out by the later world champion Brazil.

While Van Buyten became a regular in the national team, he was never able to count on much support in Flanders. Several crucial mistakes with the national team gave him a bad reputation in the national press over the years, and he was forced to leave the national team.

On 3 September 2010, when Van Buyten made a mistake against

, he was once again dismissed by the press. A couple of days later, Van Buyten took sporting revenge by scoring two goals against Turkey. He subsequently criticised the press in an open letter.

After this, Van Buyten regularly played in the heart of the defence, in part due to injuries to Vincent Kompany and Thomas Vermaelen. Whenever these two players were fit, they formed the heart of the defence and Van Buyten was generally on the bench.

Nevertheless, he was still called up and was the first choice if there were any injuries, in the centre back. National coach Marc Wilmots also regarded him as an experienced player who could teach the young, talented group a lot.

In total, Van Buyten played eighty-three international matches for the national team and scored ten goals. As a result, he is in the Belgian top ten in terms of the number of international matches of all time. Van Buyten was the most experienced player of the group that took part in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Belgium reached the quarter-finals of this World Cup, where they lost to Argentina.

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Style of Play

He was an extremely physically powerful central defender with a height of 1.97m and a weight of 96kg, which allowed him to score a lot of goals, unlike his colleagues in the team. However, despite his size, he also had a fair amount of speed, which enabled him to ride from defence to attack in order to score, particularly with his head. This is why he was able to score many goals as a defender.

Reception

Daniel Van Buyten is considered to be one of the best defenders of his generation to ever play for Belgium national, which happened for many years between 2001 and 2014. During the prime days of his career, many football pundits and experts regarded the famous Belgian football amongst the best defenders of

.

Daniel Van Buyten outside Football

During his time with the Bayern Munich club, the tall Belgian defender was always a part of the Oktoberfest in Munich together with his girlfriend Celine, and almost all of the times he and she was wearing traditional Oktoberfest outfit.

Back when Daniel Van Buyten used to play for

, he was a victim of a bank theft together with his teammates Djamel Belmadi and Vincente Vuoso. It was Paul Sherwood, 26, who was a cashier, and Paul Hanley, his 20-year-old supervisor, that scammed the football players over a 26-month period by withdrawing a series of funds from the Co-op Bank in Manchester city centre.

Daniel Van Buyten Personal Life

In this section of Daniel Van Buyten biography, we will take a deeper look into his personal life and share some information about things like

Daniel Van Buyten life story

and

Daniel Van Buyten religion

, stay tuned.

Family, Children and Relationships

He and his partner Céline have two daughters, Lou-Ann born on 8 August 2010 and Ly-Lou who was born on 5 May 2014, and a son, Lee-Roy, born on 31 January 2012. Celine, who is also Belgian speaks fluent English - which she learned during Daniel's brief stint with Manchester City in 2004. Needless to say, she accompanied her boyfriend to the island just as she did to Hamburg.

In the end, they made their home in Grünwald when Daniel Van Buyten was playing for Bayern Munich. Daniel Van Buyten is the son of wrestler Francis Van Buyten who faced André the Giant in the 1960s. His mother Renate is German and comes from Hanover.

Philanthropy

Daniel Van Buyten has always been part of many charity projects both during his playing days and after he ended his active career. In his most recent charity activity, Daniel Van Buyten played in the OM Legends team against the ‘Unicef’ team coached by French legendary coach Arsene Wenger in October 2021.

Legal Issues

The former FC Bayern star was defeated in a lawsuit over his daughter's party - because his partner did not like the decorations supplied by a company. At the Munich District Court, the former FC Bayern defender disputed with a party organiser about the costs for the children's birthday party of his daughter, who was three years old at the time.

Since his partner Celine did not like the decorations supplied by the company, the couple paid only 590 euros instead of 940. This led to van Buytens being sued. During the trial, however, they showed some understanding and simply paid the 368 euros demanded, including a reminder fee.

Daniel Van Buyten Career Statistics

In this section of Daniel Van Buyten biography, we will take a look at his career stats on the international and club level.

Club

Since the start of his career at the

club back in the 1998-99 season up to the day he retired from playing football at FC Bayern Munich in the 2013-14 season, Daniel Van Buyten has played a total of 506 matches in all competitions and went on to score 55 goals, which is good for a central defender.

Daniel Van Buyten had spent the biggest part of his football career playing for the German giants Bayern Munich, where he played a total of 250 matches and scored 32 goals over eight seasons.

International

Daniel Van Buyten was part of the Belgian national team for a total of 13 years between 2001 and 2014, during which he played 83 matches for his country and scored 10 goals.

Daniel Van Buyten Honors

As is the case for almost all of the Bayern Munich players, Daniel Van Buyten has won many titles during his career, including the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal, DFB-Ligapokal, DFL-Supercup, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, FIFA Club World Cup and UEFA Intertoto Cup.

He has also won some individual awards and titles, including UNFP Ligue 1 Team of the Year, ESM Team of the Year and the 2002 World Cup FIFA Fair Play Trophy.

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