Simon Mignolet

Simon Mignolet

Personal information
Full name	Simon Mignolet
Date of birth	6 August 1988 (1988-08-06) (age 23)
Place of birth	Sint-Truiden, Belgium
Height	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) [1]
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club	Sunderland
Number	22
Youth career
2004–2005	Sint-Truiden
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2005–2010	Sint-Truiden	104	(1)
2010–	Sunderland	33	(0)
National team‡
2007–	Belgium U-21	8	(0)
2011–	Belgium	8	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 30 October 2011. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 11 October 2011

Simon Mignolet (born 6 August 1988, in Sint-Truiden) is a Belgian football goalkeeper, who currently plays for Sunderland in the Barclays Premier League, and the Belgian national team.

Career

Sint-Truiden

Simon appeared 104 times in five years for his home town club Sint-Truiden, aiding them superbly on their road to success both in the Belgian top flight and the second tier, scoring one goal, after the supporters and his teammates insisted on him taking a penalty when leading 3–0. Even though he missed the initial shot, he scored the rebound.

Sunderland

After a training ground tour,^[2] Mignolet signed a five-year contract at Sunderland on 17 June 2010.^[3] The deal was undisclosed^[4] but was widely reported to have cost Sunderland £2m.^[5] It was later confirmed that Sunderland had pipped PSV Eindhoven, FC Twente and Udinese to Mignolet's signature.^[6]

Mignolet made his Sunderland debut against Birmingham City on 15 August 2010, where the game finished in a 2–2 draw. He picked up the Man of the Match award for his performance. In the next home game, a 1–0 victory against Manchester City, Mignolet kept his first clean sheet for Sunderland, following an excellent reaction save to deny Yaya Toure a goal. Mignolet put in another fine performance against Arsenal, as Sunderland drew 1–1 after Darren Bent equalised in the 95th minute. He made further appearances against West Ham United in the Carling Cup, Liverpool, Manchester United, Blackburn Rovers and Aston Villa, keeping four clean sheets. After Sunderland were beaten 5–1 by local rivals Newcastle United, there was speculation as to whether Mignolet would retain his place from goalkeeper Craig Gordon. Sunderland beat Stoke 2–0 to bounce back from the defeat. However, Gordon replaced Mignolet in goal in the following Tuesday's 1–1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane, and remained first choice after. Mignolet did not feature again until January 8, 2011, when Sunderland suffered a loss at home to Notts County in the 3rd Round of the FA Cup. Mignolet was recalled to the Sunderland first team after a knee injury to Gordon in February, and he came into the team for the trip to Goodison Park where Sunderland were defeated 2–0 by Everton. Simon retained his place for the away trip to the Emirates Stadium to face Arsenal, a 0–0 draw in which he made a series of fine saves and won the Man of the Match award.^[7] Following the draw, manager Steve Bruce hailed the young keeper's fine start to life in English football.^[8] Mignolet's clean sheet on the final day of the season (a 3-0 victory at West Ham) gave him a total of 9 for the season, as Sunderland finished 10th in the league.

Mignolet was preferred to new signing Keiren Westwood in goal in the opening game of the 2011-12 season, as Sunderland drew 1-1 away to Liverpool.^[9] His first clean sheet of the season came in the 4-0 win against Stoke. On 29 October, Mignolet was injured during Sunderland's 2-2 draw with Aston Villa and had to be substituted. He had suffered a broken nose, and had scans to check his jaw, cheekbones and teeth.^[10]

International career

Mignolet appearing for Belgium in the EURO 2012 qualifier against Austria on 25th March 2011

Mignolet has so far represented the Belgium under-21 national side on eight occasions. On 1 September 2010 he won his first call up to the Belgium national football team after a string of fine performances for Sunderland.^[11] On 25 March 2011 he kept a clean sheet in his first start for his national side, helping them earn a 2–0 victory against Austria for a UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying match.

References

1. ^ "Premier League Player Profile". Premier League. http://www.premierleague.com/page/PlayerProfile/0,,12306~51758,00.html. Retrieved 24 March 2011. 
2. ^ http://www.eatsleepsport.com/sunderland/bruce-close-to-keeper-deal-1065467.html
3. ^ http://www.safc.com/news/20100617/mignolet-on-dream-move_2256213_2073163
4. ^ http://www.safc.com/news/20100617/mignolet-on-dream-move_2256213_2073163
5. ^ http://www.tribalfootball.com/sunderland-poised-%C2%A35m-double-swoop-898731
6. ^ http://www.goal.com/en/news/462/netherlands/2010/03/29/1854728/there-has-been-no-contact-between-psv-and-simon-mignolet
7. ^ http://www.sundaysun.co.uk/sport/sunderland-afc/safc-news/2011/03/06/bruce-heaps-praise-on-goalkeeper-simon-mignolet-79310-28286986/
8. ^ http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/premier-league/2011/03/05/2380907/sunderland-boss-steve-bruce-hails-performance-of-goalkeeper
9. ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/competitions/premier-league/8695430/Liverpool-1-Sunderland-1-match-report.html
10. ^ http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11695/7281455/Mignolet-suffers-broken-nose
11. ^ http://www.belgiumnews.com/story.php?title=sunderland-form-wins-mignolet-belgium-call-up

External links

• Profile at K. Sint-Truidense V.V. Official website
• Profile at transfermarkt
• Simon Mignolet career stats at Soccerbase
• Simon Mignolet's Premier League profile

Persondata
Name	Mignolet, Simon
Alternative names
Short description	footballer
Date of birth	6 August 1988
Place of birth	Sint-Truiden, Belgium
Date of death
Place of death