Sylvain Wiltord

Football player infobox
playername = Sylvain Wiltord


fullname = Sylvain Wiltord
height = height|meters=1.74
nickname = Nino
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1974|5|10
cityofbirth = Neuilly-sur-Marne
countryofbirth = France
currentclub = Stade Rennes
clubnumber = 6
position = Winger/Striker
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 1991–1996
1996–1997
1996–1997
1997–2000
2000–2004
2004–2007
2007–
clubs = Stade Rennes
Deportivo de La Coruña
→Stade Rennes (loan)
Girondins Bordeaux
Arsenal
Olympique Lyon
Stade Rennes
caps(goals) = 125 0(31)
000 00(0)

099 0(46)
176 0(49)
082 0(20)
032 00(7)
nationalyears = 1999–2006
nationalteam = France
nationalcaps(goals) = 092 (26)
pcupdate = 00:25, 20 April 2008 (UTC)
ntupdate = April 1, 2007

Sylvain Wiltord (born May 10, 1974 in Neuilly-sur-Marne) is a French football forward whose parents come from Guadeloupe, France. With the French national team, Wiltord has won Euro 2000 and reached the final of the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

Early career, Rennes and Bordeaux

Wiltord's career began at Stade Rennais FC, where he emerged in 1993/94 with eight goals in 26 games. He joined RC Deportivo La Coruña briefly in 1996, where he continued to plunder goals on loan for one season before moving to FC Girondins de Bordeaux [ [http://deportivo-la-coruna.com/pastplayers.html [Depor Past Players (and Coaches): since 1991 ] ] .

He was ever present in his first term at Bordeaux and scored 22 goals the next - 1998/99 - as Bordeaux won the French Ligue 1 championship.

Arsenal

Wiltord was signed by English club Arsenal for a club-record £13 million in August 2000, weeks after scoring the stoppage-time equalizer at the Euro 2000 final. He played 175 times for the Gunners, occasionally pairing Thierry Henry up front or otherwise starting either from the bench or on the wing.

The highlight of his Arsenal career was scoring his goal at Old Trafford, a 1–0 win which clinched the 2001–02 Premier League title at the home ground of arch-rivals Manchester United as Arsenal did "the Double". He scored a total of 49 goals for the club, and was part of Arsenal's 2003–04 unbeaten season, though he did not feature much towards the end of the campaign and near the end of his Arsenal career.

In June 2008 he was voted 33rd [ [http://www.arsenal.com/article.asp?thisNav=News&article=491965&lid=NewsHeadline&Title=Gunners%27+Greatest+50+Players+-+No+33.+Sylvain+Wiltord Arsenal.com Gunners' Greatest 50 Players - No 33. Sylvain Wiltord ] ] in a list of the top 50 Arsenal players ever.

Lyon

When his contract with Arsenal expired in the summer of 2004, Wiltord took the opportunity to return to France with Olympique Lyonnais.Moving to Lyon, Wiltord found further success, winning three Ligue 1 titles and reaching the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League in successive seasons.

Rennes

Wiltord signed for Rennes in August 2007 on a 2-year contract and with an opportunity to join the coaching staff when his playing days end.

International career

Wiltord made his debut for France in a 2–0 victory over England on February 10, 1999 at Wembley Stadium. For France, Wiltord has been capped 92 times, scoring 26 goals. One of these goals came in stoppage-time of the Euro 2000 final against Italy to tie the match 1–1 and bring the game to extra-time. France would then win the final with a golden goal by David Trézéguet. Wiltord also played for his country at the 2002 World Cup where France endured a shocking first round exit, without a single win or scoring a single goal, in the worst ever performance by a defending champion at the World Cup.

Most recently, he was part of Raymond Domenech's France squad that played in the 2006 World Cup final against arch-rivals Italy. Wiltord scored France's first penalty in the ensuing penalty shootout following the 1–1 draw, however France would lose the shootout 5–3.

Within that time frame, Wiltord also took part at Euro 2004 in Portugal, having played seven games in the qualifying campaign with a fantastic return of six goals. However, a poor performance from "Les Bleus" saw a shocking quarter-final exit at the hands of eventual surprise winners Greece.

Honours

With France

*UEFA Euro 2000
*FIFA Confederations Cup: 2001, 2003
*2006 World Cup: runners-up

With Girondins de Bordeaux

*French Ligue 1: 1998/99

With Olympique Lyonnais

*French Ligue 1: 2004/05, 2005/06, 2006/07
*French Super Cup: 2005

With Arsenal

*FA Premier League: 2001/02, 2003/04
*FA Cup: 2002, 2003
*FA Community Shield: 2002

Individual

*French Ligue 1 Top Scorer: 1998/99 (22 goals with Girondins Bordeaux)
*French Footballer of the Year: 1999
*FIFA Confederations Cup Top Scorer: 2001

References

External links

* [http://www.stade-rennais-online.com/Sylvain-Wiltord.html Sylvain Wiltord's profile, stats & pics]
* [http://www.sporting-heroes.net/football-heroes/searchresults.asp?FootballHeroName=Sylvain+Wiltord Photos & stats] at sporting-heroes.net
* [http://www.soccerbase.com/players_details.sd?playerid=12266 Statistics] at soccerbase.com
* [http://www.lequipe.fr/Football/FootballFicheJoueur2986.html profile at lequipe.fr]