Michaël Goossens

Michaël Goossens

Personal information
Full name	Michaël Goossens
Date of birth	30 November 1973 (1973-11-30) (age 37)
Place of birth	Ougrée, Belgium
Height	1.82 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Striker
Youth career
	Tilleur
	Seraing
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1989–1990	Seraing	6	(3)
1990–1996	Standard Liège	136	(41)
1996–1997	Genoa	36	(12)
1997–1999	Schalke 04	51	(5)
2000–2003	Standard Liège	88	(33)
2003–2004	Grazer AK	13	(0)
2004–2005	Sint-Truidense	15	(1)
2005–2006	Eupen	16	(2)
2006–2007	Bercheux
National team
1993–2001	Belgium	14	(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Michaël Goossens (born 30 November 1973 in Ougrée, Seraing) is a retired Belgian footballer who played as a striker.

Club career

Goossens started playing professionally with R.F.C. Seraing at the age of 16, then moved to Standard Liège. In 1992–93, he won the Young Professional Footballer of the Year award whilst, alongside Philippe Léonard and Régis Genaux, being part of The Three Musketeers generation (with Roberto Bisconti playing a smaller role), hailed for their sporting talent but with a troublesome character.

In September 1996, after helping Standard to two league runner-up places and one Belgian Cup (1993), Goossens signed for Genoa C.F.C. in Italy, but only lasted there one season, as the Liguria club failed to promote from Serie B. In the following three years, he played in Germany with FC Schalke 04, being used sparingly during his spell, and sharing team with compatriots Nico van Kerckhoven (two seasons) and Marc Wilmots (three).

With the Gelsenkirchen club, Goossens notably scored in the quarterfinals of the 1997–98 UEFA Cup against F.C. Internazionale Milano, but the defending champions were eventually ousted after losing 1–0 away and a 1–1 home draw; with three goals, he was the best scorer in European competition for Schalke, but only netted five times in two and a half seasons combined in the Bundesliga.

In the 2000 January transfer window, Goossens returned to Standard, exchanged for compatriot Émile Mpenza. He helped the team reaching the final of the cup in 2000, regaining his previous form and scoring more than 40 official goals.

Goossens then moved abroad again, aged nearly 30, spending one season in Austria with Grazer AK, who won the first – and only – double in its history, finishing one point ahead of FK Austria Wien, which were also the losing side in the domestic cup.

Subsequently, he returned home and played one year for K. Sint-Truidense VV, coached by former Standard and Schalke teammate Wilmots. Until his 2007 retirement, he would play in the lower and amateur leagues.

International career

Goossens first played with Belgium on 13 February 1993 (aged 19), in a 0–3 win in Cyprus for the 1994 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, entering the field after 87 minutes.

In the following eight years, he won a further 13 caps (17 callups), scoring once against Germany. Like Genaux and Léonard, he would miss the final cuts, after appearing during the qualifying stages, for three World Cups (1994, 1998 and 2002), not being selected for UEFA Euro 2000 due to injury.

References

External links

• Voetbal International stats (Dutch)
• Michaël Goossens at fussballdaten.de (German)
• Michaël Goossens at National-Football-Teams.com
• Kicker profile (German)

Preceded by Johan Walem

Belgian Young Footballer of the Year 1992–93

Succeeded by Olivier Doll

Persondata
Name	Goossens, Michael
Alternative names
Short description	footballer
Date of birth	30 November 1973
Place of birth	Ougrée, Belgium
Date of death
Place of death