Simon Mignolet

Simon Luc Hildebert Mignolet (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈsimɔn ˈmiɲɔˌlɛː], French: [simɔ̃ miɲɔlɛ]; born 6 March 1988) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Belgian club Club Brugge and the Belgium national team.

Simon Mignolet
Mignolet with Belgium at the 2018 World Cup
Personal information
Full name Simon Luc Hildebert Mignolet[1]
Date of birth (1988-03-06) 6 March 1988[2]
Place of birth Sint-Truiden, Belgium
Height 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)[3]
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Club information
Current team
 Club Brugge
Number 88
Youth career
2004–2006 Sint-Truiden
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2010 Sint-Truiden 100 (1)
2010–2013 Sunderland 90 (0)
2013–2019 Liverpool 155 (0)
2019– Club Brugge 51 (0)
National team‡
2003 Belgium U16 1 (0)
2004 Belgium U17 2 (0)
2005–2006 Belgium U18 11 (0)
2006–2007 Belgium U19 3 (0)
2009 Belgium U20 1 (0)
2008–2010 Belgium U21 10 (0)
2011– Belgium 29 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 31 January 2021
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 11 November 2020

Mignolet started his career with Belgian Second Division side Sint-Truiden in 2004, and spent six years with the club, making 100 senior league appearances and scoring a goal. He moved to Premier League side Sunderland in June 2010[4] for £2 million, spending three years with them and making 101 appearances across all competitions before moving to Liverpool in June 2013 for £9 million.[5]

Mignolet has represented the Belgium national team at every level from under-16 upwards. He made his senior debut in 2011, has since earned over 20 caps. He was also named to Belgium's squad for the 2014 and 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

Sint-Truiden

Mignolet was born in Sint-Truiden. He first joined his local football team, Belgian Second Division side Sint-Truiden, in 2004, eventually rising through their youth system to become their first-choice goalkeeper in 2006 at age 18 after the departure of Dušan Belić. In 2009, he made 29 appearances and scored a penalty in the league, as he helped Sint-Truiden to win the Belgian Second Division, and was named Belgian Goalkeeper of the Year the following year after he helped Sint-Truiden avoid relegation.

Sunderland
Simon Mignolet with Sunderland in 2011

After being invited for a training ground tour, Mignolet signed a five-year contract with English Premier League club Sunderland on 17 June 2010 in a deal worth £2 million.[6][7] It was later confirmed by Sint-Truiden that Sunderland had beaten PSV, Twente and Udinese to secure Mignolet's signature.[8]

Mignolet made his Sunderland debut in a 2–2 draw against Birmingham City on 15 August 2010, and was named man of the match for his performance. In the next home match, a 1–0 victory against Manchester City, Mignolet kept his first clean sheet for Sunderland, following an excellent reaction save to deny Emmanuel Adebayor a goal. Mignolet put in another fine performance against Arsenal, as Sunderland drew 1–1 after Darren Bent equalised in the 95th minute. However, Craig Gordon would replace Mignolet in goal several weeks later, and remained first-choice thereafter. Mignolet did not feature again until 8 January 2011, when Sunderland suffered a loss at home to Notts County in the third round of the FA Cup. Mignolet would become first-choice goalkeeper again after a knee injury to Gordon in February, and earned a string of rave reviews for his performances. Following the draw, Sunderland manager Steve Bruce hailed the young goalkeeper's fine start to life in English football.[9] Mignolet cemented his position as first-choice goalkeeper the following season, being preferred to new signing Keiren Westwood.[10]

On 29 October 2011, Mignolet was injured during a 2–2 draw with Aston Villa, suffering a broken nose following a collision with Emile Heskey.[11] Mignolet played every single match of the following season, keeping a large number of clean sheets and producing several man of the match performances.[12][13] His form prompted Manchester City and England goalkeeper Joe Hart to praise Mignolet in December 2012 as being the best goalkeeper in the league so far that season. On 21 June 2013, it was reported Liverpool had agreed a deal to sign the player for around £9 million.[14]

2013–14 season
Mignolet with Liverpool in 2013 during Steven Gerrard's testimonial match

On 25 June 2013, Mignolet signed with Liverpool for a reported fee of £9 million on a five-year contract.[15] Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers hailed Mignolet as being "one of the top goalkeepers in the Premier League". On 13 July 2013, he made his unofficial debut for Liverpool in a 4–0 win in a pre-season friendly over Preston North End.[16] On 17 August 2013, Mignolet made his official debut in the 1–0 home win against Stoke City at Anfield. In the 89th minute of the match, he saved a Jonathan Walters penalty, as well as Kenwyne Jones' follow-up shot, to preserve Liverpool's lead and effectively win the match.[17] He then recorded two more clean sheets against Aston Villa and Manchester United, with both matches ending 1–0 in favour of Liverpool. Two weeks later, he conceded his first goals for Liverpool in the Premier League in a 2–2 draw with Swansea City, though he was still named man of the match for the fixture. Mignolet was also named man of the match in the 3–3 draw with Everton, making nine saves throughout the match.

Mignolet playing for Liverpool in 2014

2014–15 season

On 14 December 2014, Mignolet's run of 53 consecutive Premier League starts came to an end as he was replaced by Brad Jones in the starting 11 against Manchester United, with Brendan Rodgers saying Mignolet would be dropped for an "indefinite period".[18] However, 12 days later, Jones went off injured after 16 minutes away at Burnley, and despite some errors, Mignolet kept a clean sheet in a 1–0 victory.[19] After this match, Mignolet kept four consecutive clean sheets against Sunderland, Aston Villa, West Ham United and Everton respectively.[20] On 10 February, Mignolet made some outstanding saves against Tottenham Hotspur in a 3–2 win.[21] On 16 March, Mignolet continued his resurgence in a 1–0 victory against Swansea, keeping a clean sheet as part of a strong performance.[22] On 22 March, he saved a penalty taken by Wayne Rooney in a 2–1 defeat against Manchester United.[23]

2015–16 season

On 18 January 2016, Mignolet signed a new five-year deal with the club.[24] Eight days later, he saved a penalty from Stoke City's Peter Crouch and Marc Muniesa in a penalty shoot-out to send Liverpool to the 2016 Football League Cup Final at Wembley Stadium.[25]

2016–17 season

Although he started the first five matches of the season, Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp dropped Mignolet in favor of new signing Loris Karius on 24 September 2016 for the match against Hull City.[26] On 24 October 2016, Klopp confirmed Mignolet was no longer Liverpool's first-choice goalkeeper and that he would be given cup matches instead.[27] However, Mignolet returned to the starting lineup for the team in Premier League in December 2016.

2017–18 season

On 23 September 2017, Mignolet saved his club-record 8th penalty, preserving a 3–2 victory over Leicester City.[28] On 4 November, Mignolet captained Liverpool for the first time in a 4-1 win against West Ham United.[29] On 26 December, Mignolet and teammate Philippe Coutinho both made their 200th appearances for Liverpool in a 5–0 Premier League win over Swansea.[30]

2018–19 season

Liverpool signed Alisson[31] as their first choice goalkeeper which led to Mignolet playing domestic cup games only. He started the 2–1 defeat to Chelsea in the EFL Cup on 26 September 2018. Mignolet also started in the 2–1 defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the FA Cup on 7 January 2019.[32] Mignolet was an unused substitute in the 2019 UEFA Champions League Final, which Liverpool won 2–0.[33]

Club Brugge

On 4 August 2019, following the 2019 FA Community Shield, Mignolet signed a five-year contract with Belgian side Club Brugge, for a reported fee of £6.4 million.[34][35]

International career
Mignolet (middle) with Belgian teammates Vincent Kompany (left) and Kevin De Bruyne in 2013

Mignolet first represented the Belgian under-21 side in 2008, and went on to make ten appearances for the side.[36] On 1 September 2010, he won his first call up to the Belgian senior squad after a good run of form for Sunderland.[37] He made his full international debut in a 2–0 victory over Austria on 25 March 2011 in a UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying match.[36][38] He remained in the starting line-up for each of the four remaining qualifying matches,[39][40][41][42] in addition to playing in three friendly matches during the qualifying campaign.[36] However, he was unable to help Belgium qualify for the Euro 2012 finals, as a 3–1 defeat against Germany saw them finish third in their qualifying group.[43]

Mignolet played in two further friendly internationals during the 2011–12 season, starting against Greece and England.[44][45] However, following the match against England, he did not play an international match for four months, with Thibaut Courtois being preferred instead.[46] He returned to the starting lineup on 14 November 2012 in a 1–2 friendly loss over Romania.[47] His next international match came over six months later in a 4–2 friendly victory over the United States on 29 May 2013.[48]

Mignolet served as back-up goalkeeper during the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign, with Courtois playing every minute as Belgium qualified for its first major tournament since the 2002 World Cup.[49]

On 10 October 2015, Mignolet started for an injured Courtois in Belgium's last two Euro 2016 qualifying matches: a 4–1 win over Andorra and a 3–1 victory over Israel, helping seal Belgium's qualification for the first time since co-hosting Euro 2000.[50]

In May 2018 he was named in Belgium’s preliminary squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia,[51] and later appeared on their 24-man squad as a goalkeeper together with Thibaut Courtois and Koen Casteels.[52]

Personal life

Mignolet can speak Dutch, English, French and German .[53] He has a degree in political science from the Catholic University of Leuven.[54] On 20 June 2015, Mignolet married his girlfriend Jasmien Claes in his hometown.[55] Their son, Lex, was born in October 2019.[56]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 31 January 2021.[57]
Club Season League National Cup[lower-alpha 1] League Cup Europe Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Sint-Truiden 2005–06 Belgian Pro League 0000——00
2006–07 2000——20
2007–08 25010——260
2008–09 Belgian Second Division 35110——361
2009–10 Belgian Pro League 39010——400
Total 100140——1041
Sunderland 2010–11 Premier League 2301020—260
2011–12 2906000—350
2012–13 3802000—400
Total 9009020—1010
Liverpool 2013–14 Premier League 3800020—400
2014–15 36070308[lower-alpha 2]0540
2015–16 340303015[lower-alpha 3]0550
2016–17 2800030—310
2017–18 19010002[lower-alpha 4]0220
2018–19 0010100020
Total 15501201202502040
Club Brugge 2019–20 Belgian First Division A 27050—12[lower-alpha 5]0440
2020–21 24000—5[lower-alpha 4]0290
Total 51050—170730
Career total 39513001404204821
  1. Appearances in Belgian Cup and FA Cup
  2. Six appearances in UEFA Champions League and two appearances in UEFA Europa League
  3. Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League
  4. Appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League
  5. Ten appearances in UEFA Champions League and two appearances in UEFA Europa League

International
As of match played 11 November 2020.[58]
National teamYearAppsGoals
Belgium
201180
201230
201330
201400
201530
201610
201720
201820
201910
202060
Total290

Honours

Club

Sint-Truiden

Liverpool

Club Brugge

International

Belgium

Individual

References
  1. "In profile: Simon Mignolet". Sells Goalkeeper Products. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  2. "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia: List of players: Belgium" (PDF). FIFA. 10 June 2018. p. 3. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  3. "Player Profile: Simon Mignolet". Premier League. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  4. "Sunderland sign keeper Mignolet". BBC Sport.
  5. Parrish, Rob (26 June 2013). "Transfer news: Liverpool sign goalkeeper Simon Mignolet from Sunderland". Sky Sports.
  6. "Sunderland sign Belgium Under-21 goalkeeper Simon Mignolet". The Guardian. 17 June 2010. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  7. "Mignolet on dream move". Sunderland A.F.C. 17 June 2010. Archived from the original on 19 June 2010. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  8. "FINISHED: No Contact Yet Between PSV And Simon Mignolet". Goal.com. 29 March 2010.
  9. "Sunderland boss Steve Bruce hails performance of goalkeeper Simon Mignolet after draw with Arsenal - Goal.com". 5 March 2011.
  10. Smith, Rory (13 August 2011). "Liverpool 1 Sunderland 1: match report". The Daily Telegraph. London.
  11. "Mignolet suffers broken nose". Sky Sports. 30 October 2011. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  12. Rayner, Stuart (2 October 2012). "Simon Mignolet just fails to save the day – Sunderland News – SAFC". JournalLive. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  13. Holden, Kit (28 October 2012). "Match Report: Sunderland's Simon Mignolet at his best to keep Stoke City at bay – Premier League – Football". The Independent. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  14. "BBC Sport – Simon Mignolet: Liverpool sign Sunderland keeper for £9m". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  15. "Simon Mignolet: Liverpool sign Sunderland keeper for £9m". BBC Sport. 25 June 2013. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
  16. Urquhart-Cannon, Alex (13 July 2013). "Reds hit Preston for four – report". Liverpool F.C. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
  17. "Liverpool 1–0 Stoke" BBC Sport. 17 August 2013. Retrieved 17 August 2013.
  18. Winter, Henry (14 December 2014). "Manchester United 3 Liverpool 0, match report: David de Gea the Old Trafford hero as rivals are swept aside". The Telegraph. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  19. Johnston, Neil (26 December 2014). "Burnley 0–1 Liverpool". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 December 2014.
  20. Keegan, Mike (10 January 2015). "Sunderland 0–1 Liverpool". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
    Sanghera, Mandeep (17 January 2015). "Aston Villa 0–2 Liverpool". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
    Johnston, Neil (31 January 2015). "Liverpool 2–0 West Ham". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
    McNulty, Phil (7 February 2015). "Everton 0–0 Liverpool". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  21. McNulty, Phil (10 February 2015). "Liverpool 3–2 Tottenham". BBC Sport. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  22. Pritchard, Dafydd (16 March 2015). "Swansea City 0–1 Liverpool". BBC Sport. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  23. McNulty, Phil (22 March 2015). "Liverpool 1–2 Manchester United". BBC Sport. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  24. "Simon Mignolet: Liverpool goalkeeper signs new five-year deal". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  25. "Joe Allen fires Liverpool to Wembley in shootout win over Stoke City". Guardian. 26 January 2016. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  26. "Liverpool 5–1 Hull City". BBC Sports. 24 September 2016.
  27. "Liverpool news: Jurgen Klopp confirms Simon Mignolet is no longer No 1 as Liverpool prepare for EFL Cup clash". The Independent. 24 October 2016.
  28. "Penalty specialist Simon Mignolet's eight spot kick saves for Liverpool". ESPNFC.com. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
  29. "Mignolet: To captain Liverpool was unbelievable". Liverpool FC. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  30. Reddy, Melissa (26 December 2017). "Liverpool Team News: Matip and Oxlade-Chamberlain start against Swansea". Goal. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  31. "Liverpool sign Alisson from Roma in record deal for a goalkeeper". Sky Sports. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  32. Jones, Mark (24 June 2019). "Why Liverpool want Mignolet to stay despite just four appearances in 18 months". mirror. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  33. "Champions League Final line-ups: Confirmed team news". Evening Standard. 1 June 2019. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  34. "Princiepsakkoord: Simon Mignolet naar Club Brugge". clubbrugge.be (in Dutch). 4 August 2019. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
  35. "Simon Mignolet to leave Liverpool for Club Brugge for an initial £6.4m". The Guardian. 4 August 2019. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
  36. "Simon Mignolet". Royal Belgian Football Association. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  37. "Sunderland form wins Mignolet Belgium call-up". Tribal Football. 2 September 2010. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  38. "Euro 2012 qualifying Group A: Austria 0 Belgium 2". Soccerway. 26 March 2011. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  39. "Belgium 4–1 Azerbaijan – Lineups". UEFA. 29 March 2011. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  40. "Belgium 1–1 Turkey – Lineups". UEFA. 3 June 2011. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  41. "Azerbaijan 1–1 Belgium – Lineups". UEFA. 2 September 2011. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  42. "Germany 3–1 Belgium – Lineups". UEFA. 11 October 2011. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  43. Potter, Stefan (11 October 2011). "Germany 3–1 Belgium – Lineups". UEFA. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  44. "Match: Greece v Belgium". ESPN. 29 February 2012. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  45. McNulty, Phil (2 June 2012). "England 1–0 Belgium". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  46. Niblock, Gary (15 August 2012). "Belgium – Netherlands Team News: Courtois starts in goal for the Rode Duivels". BeNeFoot. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  47. "Romania 2–1 Belgium". Royal Belgian Football Association. 14 November 2012. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  48. "USA 2–4 Belgium". Royal Belgian Football Association. 29 May 2013. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  49. "Chelsea keeper Thibaut Courtois labelled 'best in world' by Belgium team-mate Toby Alderweireld". BSkyB. 18 November 2013. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  50. "Belgium claim Euro 2016 spot by trashing Andorra 4–1". Reuters. 10 October 2015. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  51. "World Cup 2018: Belgium announce initial 28-man squad for Russia". Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  52. Fifield, Andrew (15 July 2018). "Belgium World Cup 2018 squad list and team guide". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  53. "Free video: Brand new Kop Kids". Liverpool FC.
  54. Sunderland's accidental goalkeeper is more interested in completing his political sciences degree than boy toys -The Guardian
  55. fivr (20 June 2015). "Rode Duivel Simon Mignolet stapt in het huwelijksbootje". Gazet Van Antwerpen (in Dutch). Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  56. Gibbons, Lottie (9 October 2019). "Liverpool players including Trent Alexander-Arnold and Divock Origi congratulate Simon Mignolet on birth of son". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  57. Simon Mignolet at Soccerway. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
  58. "Mignolet, Simon". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
  59. McNulty, Phil (1 June 2019). "Tottenham Hotspur 0–2 Liverpool". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  60. McNulty, Phil (26 May 2018). "Real Madrid 3–1 Liverpool". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  61. McNulty, Phil (28 February 2016). "Liverpool 1–1 Manchester City". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  62. McNulty, Phil (18 May 2016). "Liverpool 1–3 Sevilla". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  63. "Club Brugge awarded Belgian Pro League title as season ended early". Sky Sports. 15 May 2020. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  64. "Antwerp wins Belgian Cup as soccer resumes in Belgium". Washington Post. 1 August 2020. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  65. "Belgium 2–0 England: Line-ups". FIFA. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  66. Copley, James (10 May 2019). "Every star to be named Sunderland Player of the Year in the Premier League era - including some surprising winners". Sunderland Echo. Sunderland Echo. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  67. Zakharchenko, Artem (16 January 2020). "Simon Mignolet wins Goalkeeper of the Year award in Belgian Pro League". Tribuna. HLN Sport. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  68. "Half year at Club Brugge and immediately bingo: Simon Mignolet elected Goalkeeper of the Year". HLN Sport. HLN Sport. 15 January 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.