Michaël Goossens

Michaël Goossens
Personal information
Full name Michaël Goossens
Date of birth (1973-11-30) 30 November 1973
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
Total 361 (97)
National team
1988 Belgium U15 2 (1)
1989-1990 Belgium U16 7 (0)
1989–1990 Belgium U17 10 (8)
1990–1991 Belgium U18 7 (3)
1991–1995 Belgium U21 13 (3)
1993–2001 Belgium 14 (1)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


Michaël Goossens (born 30 November 1973) is a Belgian retired footballer who played as a striker.[1]

Club career

Born in Ougrée, Seraing, Goossens started playing professionally with R.F.C. Seraing at the age of 16, then moved to Standard Liège. In the 1992–93 campaign 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 the 1993 Belgian Cup, Goossens signed for Genoa C.F.C. in Italy, but only lasted there one season, as the Liguria team 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 years) and Marc Wilmots (three).

With the Gelsenkirchen club, Goossens notably scored in the quarterfinals of the 1997–98 UEFA Cup against Inter Milan, 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 reach 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 3–0 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, scoring once against Germany.

Like Genaux and Léonard, Goossens 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

  1. ↑ "Goossens, Michael" (in German). kicker. Retrieved 10 December 2011.
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