Geert De Vlieger (; born 16 October 1971) is a Belgian former professional
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...
who played as a
goalkeeper
In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...
.
Career
De Vlieger was born in
Dendermonde
Dendermonde (; french: Termonde, ) is a city in the Flemish province of East Flanders in Belgium. The municipality comprises the city of Dendermonde and the towns of Appels, Baasrode, Grembergen, Mespelare, Oudegem, Schoonaarde, and Sint-Gillis-b ...
. He started his career in his home country playing for
Anderlecht
Anderlecht (, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, and Saint-Gilles, as well as the ...
and
Beveren
Beveren () is a municipality in the Belgian province of East Flanders which comprises the towns of Beveren, Doel, Haasdonk, Kallo, Kieldrecht, Melsele, Verrebroek and Vrasene.
The port of the Waasland (Dutch: ''Waaslandhaven'') is in Beveren ...
before moving to the Netherlands and playing for
Willem II for four years between 2000 and 2004. He played his first international for
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
in 1999 and won 43 caps for his country. He was the second choice goalkeeper for the
UEFA Euro 2000
The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe.
The finals tournament was ...
behind starter
Filip De Wilde
Filip Alfons De Wilde (born 5 July 1964) is a former Belgian professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.
During a 23-year professional career he played mainly with Anderlecht, appearing in nearly 400 official games in two different spe ...
, but then became the number 1 starter for the
2002 FIFA World Cup
The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...
replacing the latter after De Wilde's poor performances during the Euro 2000.
De Vlieger signed with
Manchester City
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...
in June 2004, but due to an achilles tendon injury he sustained, he missed the entirety of the 2004–05 season and did not play a single game during his two seasons in England. In June 2006, he signed for
Zulte Waregem to make a comeback in the
Belgian First Division A
The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 team ...
. On 30 May 2008, De Vlieger signed a one-year contract with
Club Brugge
(), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,062. as the backup behind
Stijn Stijnen, as former backup
Glenn Verbauwhede
Glenn Verbauwhede (born 19 May 1985) is a Belgian former professional football goalkeeper and a football agent.
Career
Verbauwhede joined Club Brugge from KSV Waregem in 1997. He was promoted to the first-team squad in 2004. In summer 2008, he ...
had been loaned out to
Kortrijk
Kortrijk ( , ; vls, Kortryk or ''Kortrik''; french: Courtrai ; la, Cortoriacum), sometimes known in English as Courtrai or Courtray ( ), is a Belgian City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Regio ...
. He announced his retirement from football in February 2011 at age 39.
Honours
Beveren
*
Second Division
In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...
:
1990–91
Anderlecht
*
Belgian Cup
The Belgian Cup (french: link=no, Coupe de Belgique; nl, Beker van België []; german: link=no, Belgischer Fußballpokal) is the main Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in Belgium, run by the Belgia ...
runner-up:
1996–97
Belgium
*
FIFA Fair Play Trophy:
2002 World Cup
The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...
Individual
*
Best Belgian Footballer Abroad: 2001
References
External links
*
Living people
1971 births
Association football goalkeepers
Belgian footballers
Belgium international footballers
Flemish sportspeople
Belgian Pro League players
Belgian First Division B players
Eredivisie players
K.S.K. Beveren players
R.S.C. Anderlecht players
K.R.C. Zuid-West-Vlaanderen players
Willem II (football club) players
Manchester City F.C. players
S.V. Zulte Waregem players
Club Brugge KV players
UEFA Euro 2000 players
2002 FIFA World Cup players
Belgian expatriate footballers
Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands
Belgian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands
Expatriate footballers in England
Belgian expatriate sportspeople in England
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