 Wiltord training withRennes in 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Sylvain Claude Wiltord[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1974-05-10)10 May 1974 (age 50)[2] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Neuilly-sur-Marne, France | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)[3] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Right winger[4] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| –1988 | Neuilly-sur-Marne | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1988–1991 | Joinville-le-Pont | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1991–1993 | Rennes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1991–1996 | Rennes | 91 | (28) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1996–1997 | Deportivo La Coruña | 0 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1996–1997 | →Rennes (loan) | 35 | (3) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1997–2000 | Bordeaux | 99 | (46) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2000–2004 | Arsenal | 106 | (31) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2004–2007 | Lyon | 82 | (20) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2007–2009 | Rennes | 31 | (6) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2009 | Marseille | 13 | (1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2010 | Metz | 15 | (3) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2011–2012 | Nantes | 33 | (8) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | 505 | (146) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1999–2006 | France | 92 | (26) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sylvain Claude Wiltord (born 10 May 1974) is a French former professionalfootballer. Mainly aright winger, he also played as acentre-forward,second striker and on the left wing.[4]
Wiltord had a four-season spell atArsenal, with whom he won twoPremier League titles and twoFA Cups. He also won theLigue 1 title atBordeaux and in each of his three consecutive seasons atLyon.
With theFrance national team, Wiltord earned 92 caps and scored 26 goals. He played at the 1996 Olympics, twoFIFA World Cups and twoUEFA European Championships. Wiltord was part of the teams which wonEuro 2000 (for which he scored a last minute equaliser to take the final to extra time) and reached thefinal of the2006 World Cup.
Wiltord joinedRennes from lower-league side CO Joinville[5] in 1991.[citation needed] At Rennes, he emerged in the1993–94 season with eight goals in 26 games.[citation needed]
In summer 1996, after Wiltord's excelled for France at the1996 Summer Olympics SpanishLa Liga clubDeportivo de La Coruña reached an agreement with Rennes for him to join from 1 July 1997.[6] As part of the agreement a transfer fee of 300 millionpesetas (€1.8 million) was paid to Rennes[6] while Wiltord was loaned back to Rennes for the 1996–97 season. In the summer of 1997, at the end of his spell on loan, he returned to Spain only to request a move back to France so as to link up withBordeaux. For this transfer a fee of 375 million pesetas (€2.25 million)[6] and a 40% sell-on clause were agreed.[7]
He was ever-present in his first term at Bordeaux and went on to score 22 goals in the following1998–99 season, where he won the golden boot as Bordeaux lifted theLigue 1 championship.[8]
Wiltord was signed by English clubArsenal, for what was then a club record fee of£13 million in August 2000, weeks after scoring the stoppage-time equaliser in theEuro 2000 Final.[9] This record fee was not surpassed until eight and a half years later when Arsenal paid£15 million for Russian wingerAndrey Arshavin. Whilst with the Gunners he was occasionally paired withThierry Henry up front or otherwise upon the wing.[10] Wiltord made his debut as a substitute againstChelsea on 6 September 2000,[11] and his first goal followed againstCoventry City on 16 September 2000.[12] A highlight in his first season was scoring a first half hat-trick in a win againstWest Ham United.[13] Arsenal reached the2001 FA Cup Final which Wiltord started. He was substituted forRay Parlour with Arsenal leading 1–0, however Liverpool ultimately came back and scored two late goals to win 2–1.[14]
In the 2001–02 season Wiltord scored ten goals in the league as Arsenal finished as champions.[15] He scored crucial winning goals along the way againstChelsea andEverton.[16][17] The highlight of Wiltord's Arsenal career came at the end of that season; scoring the winning goal overManchester United atOld Trafford, a 1–0 win which clinched the2001–02 Premier League title as Arsenal achievedThe Double on 8 May.[18] Returning to Old Trafford the following season in the FA Cup, Wiltord netted again as Arsenal saw off United 2–0 in a year where they also won the Cup.[19] Wiltord started the2002 FA Cup Final and played as a substitute in the2003 final.[20][21]
Wiltord went on to form part of Arsenal's 2003–04"Invincibles" season, though his appearances were less frequent towards the end of the campaign. During the season he made a total of 12 league appearances, which was enough to earn a title winners' medal.[22] Altogether he played 175 times for the Gunners in all competitions, scoring a total of 49 goals.[10]
In June 2008, Wiltord was voted 33rd in a list of 50 of the greatest Arsenal players of all time.[10]
When his contract with Arsenal expired in the summer of 2004, Wiltord trained for two weeks with Rennes and rejected a move to newly promoted Premier League teamWest Bromwich Albion.[23] He was also reportedly keen on a move to Arsenal's rivalsTottenham Hotspur.[24] On 31 August, he signed forLyon on an initial two-year contract.[25] Moving to Lyon, Wiltord found further success, winning three Ligue 1 titles and reaching the quarter-finals of theUEFA Champions League in successive seasons.[citation needed]
Wiltord signed forRennes in August 2007 on a two-year contract and with an opportunity to join the coaching staff when he finished his professional career.[citation needed]
He joinedMarseille on 15 January 2009 for the remainder of theLigue 1 season. On 17 May 2009, he scored Marseille's only goal in a 3–1 loss to Lyon at home.[26] He was released at the end of the 2008–09 season, and was considering a possible move to either America, UAE or perhaps retirement.[27]
On 30 January 2010, after training withUS Créteil,[28] Wiltord signed withFC Metz until the end of the season.[29]
On 18 July 2011, Wiltord came back from retirement and signed a contract atNantes until the end of2011–12.[30] He announced his immediate retirement on 11 June 2012.[31]
Wiltord made his debut forFrance in a 2–0 victory overEngland on 10 February 1999 atWembley Stadium. ForFrance, Wiltord has beencapped 92 times, scoring 26 goals. His most memorable goal for Les Bleus was scored in dramatic fashion in the last seconds of theUEFA Euro 2000 Final againstItaly to tie the match 1–1 and bring the game toextra-time. France then won the final from agolden goal scored byDavid Trezeguet.[32]
Wiltord remained in the national squad for the2002 World Cup, where France endured a shocking first round exit without a single win or scoring a single goal, the worst ever performance by a defending champion at theWorld Cup.[citation needed]
Wiltord also took part atUEFA Euro 2004 in Portugal, having played seven games in thequalifying campaign with a fantastic return of six goals. However, a poor performance fromLes Bleus saw a shocking quarter-final exit at the hands of eventual surprise winnersGreece.[33]
Wiltord also was a part ofRaymond Domenech'sFrance squad that played in the2006 World Cup final against arch-rivals Italy. Wiltord scored France's first penalty in the ensuingpenalty shootout following the 1–1 draw, but France lost the shootout 5–3.[34]
Wiltord is France's 12th highest scorer with 26 goals netted for Les Bleus.[35]
Wiltord's parents moved fromMartinique tometropolitan France before his birth.[citation needed]
Born inNeuilly-sur-Marne, a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, to a mother from theWest Indies and a father he did not know.[36] he was one of eight children.[37] At the age of 14, he went to live at his 27-year-old sister's apartment where he cared for his 2-year-old niece.[38]
In 2015, he competed on theTF1 reality showDropped, in which sportspeople were dropped by helicopter into inhospitable environments. The day after his elimination from the programme, there was amid-air helicopter collision which killed ten, including three contestants: swimmerCamille Muffat, boxerAlexis Vastine, and sailorFlorence Arthaud. He wrote onTwitter after the crash, "I'm sad for my friends, I'm trembling, I'm horrified, I have no words, I don't want to say anything."[39]
Wiltord was sponsored by sportswear companyNike and appeared in Nike commercials. In a global Nike advertising campaign in the run-up to the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan, he starred in a "Secret Tournament" commercial (branded "Scopion KO") directed byTerry Gilliam, appearing alongside football players such asThierry Henry,Ronaldo,Edgar Davids,Fabio Cannavaro,Francesco Totti,Ronaldinho,Luís Figo andHidetoshi Nakata, with former playerEric Cantona the tournament "referee".[40][41]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Rennes | 1992–93 | Division 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | 2 | 0 | |||
| 1993–94 | 26 | 8 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | 27 | 8 | |||||
| 1994–95 | Division 1 | 26 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 27 | 5 | |||
| 1995–96 | 37 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | – | – | 40 | 18 | ||||
| Total | 91 | 28 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 3 | – | – | 96 | 31 | ||||
| Rennes (loan) | 1996–97 | Division 1 | 35 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | – | – | 40 | 3 | ||
| Bordeaux | 1997–98 | Division 1 | 34 | 11 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 2[c] | 0 | – | 43 | 16 | |
| 1998–99 | 33 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8[c] | 5 | – | 42 | 27 | |||
| 1999–2000 | 32 | 13 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 12[d] | 4 | 1[e] | 0 | 51 | 17 | ||
| Total | 99 | 46 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 1 | 22 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 136 | 60 | ||
| Arsenal | 2000–01 | Premier League | 27 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 13[d] | 1 | – | 47 | 15 | |
| 2001–02 | 33 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 11[d] | 1 | – | 54 | 17 | |||
| 2002–03 | 34 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 12[d] | 1 | 1[f] | 0 | 54 | 13 | ||
| 2003–04 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4[d] | 0 | 1[f] | 0 | 20 | 4 | ||
| Total | 106 | 31 | 20 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 40 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 175 | 49 | ||
| Lyon | 2004–05 | Ligue 1 | 25 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8[d] | 6 | – | 35 | 11 | |
| 2005–06 | 35 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10[d] | 2 | – | 48 | 14 | |||
| 2006–07 | 22 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6[d] | 0 | – | 31 | 7 | |||
| Total | 82 | 20 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 24 | 8 | – | 114 | 32 | |||
| Rennes | 2007–08 | Ligue 1 | 25 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4[c] | 0 | – | 32 | 7 | |
| 2008–09 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | – | 9 | 1 | |||
| Total | 31 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 0 | – | 41 | 8 | |||
| Marseille | 2008–09 | Ligue 1 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 14 | 1 | |
| Metz | 2009–10 | Ligue 2 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 15 | 3 | |
| Nantes | 2011–12 | Ligue 2 | 33 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 34 | 8 | |
| Career total | 505 | 146 | 40 | 17 | 25 | 12 | 92 | 20 | 3 | 0 | 665 | 195 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| France | |||
| 1999 | 8 | 2 | |
| 2000 | 14 | 6 | |
| 2001 | 13 | 4 | |
| 2002 | 11 | 3 | |
| 2003 | 13 | 5 | |
| 2004 | 8 | 3 | |
| 2005 | 9 | 1 | |
| 2006 | 16 | 2 | |
| Total | 92 | 26 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 31 March 1999 | Stade de France,Saint-Denis, France |  Armenia | 1–0 | 2–0 | UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying |
| 2 | 5 June 1999 | Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France |  Russia | 2–1 | 2–3 | UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying |
| 3 | 29 March 2000 | Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland |  Scotland | 1–0 | 2–0 | Friendly |
| 4 | 6 June 2000 | Stade Mohamed V,Casablanca, Morocco |  Morocco | 5–1 | 5–1 | 2000 King Hassan II International Cup Tournament |
| 5 | 11 June 2000 | Jan Breydel Stadium,Bruges, Belgium |  Denmark | 3–0 | 3–0 | UEFA Euro 2000 |
| 6 | 2 July 2000 | Feijenoord Stadion,Rotterdam, Netherlands |  Italy | 1–1 | 2–1 | UEFA Euro 2000 |
| 7 | 4 October 2000 | Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France |  Cameroon | 1–0 | 1–1 | Friendly |
| 8 | 15 November 2000 | BJK İnönü Stadium,Istanbul, Turkey |  Turkey | 2–0 | 4–0 | Friendly |
| 9 | 24 March 2001 | Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France |  Japan | 3–0 | 5–0 | Friendly |
| 10 | 25 April 2001 | Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France |  Portugal | 1–0 | 4–0 | Friendly |
| 11 | 30 May 2001 | Daegu World Cup Stadium,Daegu, South Korea |  South Korea | 5–0 | 5–0 | 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup |
| 12 | 3 June 2001 | Munsu Cup Stadium,Ulsan, South Korea |  Mexico | 1–0 | 4–0 | 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup |
| 13 | 7 September 2002 | GSP Stadium,Nicosia, Cyprus |  Cyprus | 2–1 | 2–1 | UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying |
| 14 | 12 October 2002 | Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France |  Slovenia | 4–0 | 5–0 | UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying |
| 15 | 16 October 2002 | Ta' Qali Stadium,Ta' Qali, Malta |  Malta | 3–0 | 4–0 | UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying |
| 16 | 29 March 2003 | Stade Félix-Bollaert,Lens, France | Malta | 1–0 | 6–0 | UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying |
| 17 | 26 June 2003 | Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France | Turkey | 3–1 | 3–2 | 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup |
| 18 | 20 August 2003 | Stade de Genève,Genève, Switzerland |  Switzerland | 1–0 | 2–0 | Friendly |
| 19 | 6 September 2003 | Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France | Cyprus | 2–0 | 5–0 | UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying |
| 20 | 3–0 | |||||
| 21 | 28 May 2004 | Stade de la Mosson,Montpellier, France |  Andorra | 1–0 | 4–0 | Friendly |
| 22 | 2–0 | |||||
| 23 | 13 October 2004 | GSP Stadium,Nicosia, Cyprus | Cyprus | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 24 | 12 October 2005 | Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France | Cyprus | 2–0 | 4–0 | 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 25 | 1 March 2006 | Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France |  Slovakia | 1–1 | 1–2 | Friendly |
| 26 | 31 May 2006 | Stade Félix-Bollaert, Lens, France | Denmark | 2–0 | 2–0 | Friendly |
Bordeaux[8]
Arsenal[43]
Lyon[8]
France[8]
Individual
France squads | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Awards | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||
