Joos Valgaeren

Infobox Football biography
playername= Joos Valgaeren
dateofbirth = Birth date and age|1976|3|3|df=y
cityofbirth = Leuven
countryofbirth = Belgium
height = height|m=1.87
currentclub = FC Emmen
position = Centre back, Full back
youthyears = 1985-1987
1987-1990
youthclubs = Serskamp
Verbroedering Geel
years = 1990-1994
1994-1997
1997-2000
2000-2005
2005-2008
2008-
clubs = Verbroedering Geel
KV Mechelen
Roda JC
Celtic F.C.
Club Brugge
FC Emmen
caps(goals) = 20 (0)
62 (5)
58 (7)
117 (8)
37 (0)
0 (0)
nationalyears = 1997-2004
nationalteam = Belgium
nationalcaps(goals) = 19 (0)
pcupdate = 22 June 2006
ntupdate = 22 June 2006

Joos Valgaeren (born March 3, 1976 in Leuven) is a Belgian football defender who, as of 2005, is playing for Club Brugge. His former clubs include KV Mechelenin Belgium, Roda JC in The Netherlands and Celtic F.C. in Scotland. Valgaeren played 19 times for Belgium as of November 17, 2004 and was in the squad for the Euro 2000.

Football career

Joos Valgaeren started his career at amateur side Serskamp in his home town of Leuven. He then moved to K.F.C. Verbroedering Geel where he proved to be a sturdy and consistent centre-back as well composed full-back in the club's youth squad. After a number of years at Geel he left for Eerste Klasse side KV Mechelen in 1994. At the age of 21 Valgaeren moved to Dutch Eredivisie club Roda JC where he broke into the first-team in his second season. His compotent displays for Roda earned him a call up to the Belgium squad by manager Georges Leekens in late 1997. Before he left the club the media had linked him with big-money moves to Ajax Amsterdam and Bayern Munich. Celtic F.C. manager Martin O'Neill signed Valgaeren in 2000 from Roda J.C. for an undisclosed fee, said to be around £2 million. He was an instant success at Celtic and scored two goals against Juventus FC in the 2000/01 Champions League campaign, most notably his header in Celtic's 4-3 win at Celtic Park. Under O'Neill Valgaeren was first choice in a three-man defence, consisting of Johan Mjällby, Bobo Baldé and Valgaeren. However, when Gordon Strachan took over as Celtic manager in 2005 he was released on a free transfer after five years at the club which he made over 100 appearances for. In 2005 Valgaeren returned to Belgium to sign for Club Brugge on a free transfer from Celtic. He made over 35 appearances for Club Brugge. In 2008 he signed a two year contract at FC Emmen for the seasons 2008/2009 and 2009/2010 with an option for another year.

Joos Valgaeren made his debut for Belgium in 1997 in a friendly match against Austria at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels. He was named in Robert Waseige's 23-man squad for the 2000 European Football Championships but was left out of his squad for the 2002 FIFA World Cup.