Sylvain Wiltord

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Sylvain Wiltord
Personal information
Full name	Sylvain Wiltord
Date of birth	May 10, 1974 (1974-05-10) (age 35)
Place of birth	Neuilly-sur-Marne, France
Height	1.74 m (5 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Olympique de Marseille
Number	22
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1991–1996 1996–1997 1996–1997 1997–2000 2000–2004 2004–2007 2007–2009 2009–	Rennes Deportivo de La Coruña →Rennes (loan) Bordeaux Arsenal Lyon Rennes Marseille	125 0(31) 000 00(0) 028 00(8) 099 0(46) 104 0(32) 082 0(20) 031 00(6) 004 00(1)
National team2
1999–2006	France	092 (26)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 00:25, 20 April 2008 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of April 1, 2007. * Appearances (Goals)

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

[edit] Club career

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

[edit] Arsenal

Wiltord was signed by English club Arsenal for a then club-record fee of £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 record club-record fee was not surprassed for the next eight-and-a-half years, when Arsenal paid £15 million for the Russian Andrei Arshavin in January 2009.

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^[1] in a list of the top 50 Arsenal players ever.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Marseille

He joined Olympique de Marseille on 15 January 2009 for the rest of the Ligue 1 season. On the 17th of May 2009 he scored Marseille's only goal in a 3-1 hammering to Lyon at home. ^[2].

[edit] 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.

[edit] Honours

[edit] With Girondins de Bordeaux

• French Ligue 1: 1998/99

[edit] With Arsenal

Winner

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

Runner-up

• FA Premier League: 2000/01, 2002/03
• FA Cup: 2001
• FA Community Shield: 2003

[edit] With Olympique Lyonnais

• French Ligue 1: 2004/05, 2005/06, 2006/07

[edit] With France

Winner

• UEFA Euro 2000
• FIFA Confederations Cup: 2001, 2003

Runner-up

• FIFA World Cup: 2006

[edit] 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

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Sylvain Wiltord's profile, stats & pics
• Photos & stats at sporting-heroes.net
• Statistics at soccerbase.com
• profile at lequipe.fr

France Squad v • d • e France squad – UEFA Euro 2000 Winners (2nd title) 1 Lama • 2 Candela • 3 Lizarazu • 4 Vieira • 5 Blanc • 6 Djorkaeff • 7 Deschamps • 8 Desailly • 9 Anelka • 10 Zidane • 11 Pirès • 12 Henry • 13 Wiltord • 14 Micoud • 15 Thuram • 16 Barthez • 17 Petit • 18 Leboeuf • 19 Karembeu • 20 Trezeguet • 21 Dugarry • 22 Ramé • Coach: Lemerre v • d • e France squad – 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup Winners (1st Title) 1 Ramé • 2 Sagnol • 3 Lizarazu • 4 Vieira • 5 Gillet • 6 Djorkaeff • 7 Pirès • 8 Desailly • 9 Anelka • 10 Carrière • 11 Wiltord • 12 Coupet • 13 Silvestre • 14 Née • 15 Bréchet • 16 Dacourt • 17 Marlet • 18 Leboeuf • 19 Karembeu • 20 Camara • 21 Dugarry • 22 Robert • 23 Landreau • Coach: Lemerre v • d • e France squad – 2002 FIFA World Cup 1 Ramé • 2 Candela • 3 Lizarazu • 4 Vieira • 5 Christanval • 6 Djorkaeff • 7 Makélélé • 8 Desailly • 9 Cissé • 10 Zidane • 11 Wiltord • 12 Henry • 13 Silvestre • 14 Boghossian • 15 Thuram • 16 Barthez • 17 Petit • 18 Leboeuf • 19 Sagnol • 20 Trezeguet • 21 Dugarry • 22 Micoud • 23 Coupet • Coach: Lemerre v • d • e France squad – 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup Winners (2nd Title) 1 Landreau • 2 Mexès • 3 Lizarazu • 4 Boumsong • 5 Gallas • 6 Dacourt • 7 Pirès • 8 Desailly • 9 Cissé • 10 Giuly • 11 Wiltord • 12 Henry • 13 Silvestre • 14 Rothen • 15 Thuram • 16 Barthez • 17 Kapo • 18 Pedretti • 19 Sagnol • 20 Marlet • 21 Dabo • 22 Govou • 23 Coupet • Coach: Santini v • d • e France squad – UEFA Euro 2004 1 Landreau • 2 Boumsong • 3 Lizarazu • 4 Vieira • 5 Gallas • 6 Makélélé • 7 Pirès • 8 Desailly • 9 Saha • 10 Zidane • 11 Wiltord • 12 Henry • 13 Silvestre • 14 Rothen • 15 Thuram • 16 Barthez • 17 Dacourt • 18 Pedretti • 19 Sagnol • 20 Trezeguet • 21 Marlet • 22 Govou • 23 Coupet • Coach: Santini v • d • e France squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup Runners-up 1 Landreau • 2 Boumsong • 3 Abidal • 4 Vieira • 5 Gallas • 6 Makélélé • 7 Malouda • 8 Dhorasoo • 9 Govou • 10 Zidane • 11 Wiltord • 12 Henry • 13 Silvestre • 14 Saha • 15 Thuram • 16 Barthez • 17 Givet • 18 Diarra • 19 Sagnol • 20 Trezeguet • 21 Chimbonda • 22 Ribéry • 23 Coupet • Coach: Domenech