Wesley Sonck

Wesley Sonck (born 9 August 1978) is a retired Belgian footballer who last played for KE Appelterre-Eichem.^[2] Sonck is as a striker and has previously played for Molenbeek, Germinal Ekeren, Germinal Beerschot, Genk, Ajax, Borussia Mönchengladbach and Club Brugge. He has been capped by Belgium at international level. During his time with Genk, he was the top goalscorer in the Belgian First Division in the 2001–02 season with 30 goals, and joint top in the following campaign with 22 – sharing the award with Cédric Roussel.

Club career

AFC Ajax

Sonck moved to Ajax in the summer of 2003, to replace departed striker Mido. He made his debut on the 12 August against Grazer AK. He scored his first goal for the club 13 September against RKC Waalwijk. Sonck never really made it in Amsterdam, partly because he was playing on the right wing a lot under coach Ronald Koeman. He moved to Borussia Mönchengladbach in the winter of 2004.

Borussia Mönchengladbach

His game with Borussia Mönchengladbach of the German Bundesliga was hampered by injuries. Mönchengladbach then signed him on a permanent contract, a deal initially arranged already at the start of his loan. In the summer of 2005 Sonck had three of his ribs broken after a horrific tackle by Wilfred Bouma in a goalless, meaningless friendly between Borussia Mönchengladbach & PSV Eindhoven. Sonck took six months to recover, marking his return to competitive football with a goal in a 3-1 defeat by Bayern Munich. He scored three more in 13 further Bundesliga games for Mönchengladbach until he was forced out for three months with an injury in the hollow of his knee at the start of the season of 2006-2007.

Back to Belgium

He left Gladbach at the end of the 2006-07 season, joining Club Brugge on a year-long loan deal while Borussia Mönchengladbach began playing in the second tier of the Bundesliga. Following the 2007-08 season, Sonck joined Brugge permanently for an undisclosed fee. At the end of the 2009/10 season, Sonck left Brugge to join Lierse S.K. on a free transfer having fallen out with manager Adrie Koster over contract negotiations and lack of first team action. Amongst his first goals for the club was an excellent overhead kick. Sonck was released in the summer of 2012 and spent a few months unemployed before joining newly promoted Waasland-Beveren near the end of October 2012. In January 2014 signed with 1ste Provincial Oost-Vlaanderen club KE Appelterre-Eichem,^[3] before retired just three months later.^[4]

International career

Sonck was called for the national team during the 2010 World Cup qualifiers. In the match versus Spain he scored Belgium's only goal in that match, thus ending Casillas and Reina's undefeated streak of 710 minutes.

Wesley Sonck: International Goals

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	6 June 2001	Stadio Olimpico, Serravalle	San Marino	1 – 4	Won	2002 World Cup Qualification
2	27 March 2002	Olympic Stadium, Athens	Greece	3 – 2	Lost	Friendly
3	14 June 2002	Shizuoka Stadium Ecopa, Fukoroi	Russia	3 – 2	Won	2002 World Cup
4	21 August 2002	Florian Kryger Stadium, Szczecin	Poland	1 – 1	Drawn	Friendly
5	12 October 2002	Estadi Comunal d'Aixovall, Aixovall	Andorra	0 – 1	Won	Euro 2004 Qualification
6	16 October 2002	A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn	Estonia	0 – 1	Won	Euro 2004 Qualification
7	12 February 2003	Stade 19 Mai 1956, Annaba	Algeria	1 – 3	Won	Friendly
8	30 April 2003	Stade Roi Baudouin, Brussels	Poland	2 – 1	Won	Friendly
9	11 June 2003	Stade Roi Baudouin, Brussels	Andorra	3 – 0	Won	Euro 2004 Qualification
10	20 August 2003	Stade Roi Baudouin, Brussels	Netherlands	1 – 1	Drawn	Friendly
11	10 September 2003	Stade Roi Baudouin, Brussels	Croatia	2 – 1	Won	Euro 2004 Qualification
12	10 September 2003	Stade Roi Baudouin, Brussels	Croatia	2 – 1	Won	Euro 2004 Qualification
13	28 April 2004	Stade Roi Baudouin, Brussels	Turkey	2 – 3	Lost	Friendly
14	4 September 2004	Stade du Pays de Charleroi, Charleroi	Lithuania	1 – 1	Drawn	2006 World Cup Qualification
15	24 May 2006	Cristal Arena, Genk	Turkey	3 – 3	Drawn	Friendly
16	17 October 2007	Stade Roi Baudouin, Brussels	Armenia	3 – 0	Won	Euro 2008 Qualification
17	30 May 2008	Stadio Artemio Franchi, Florence	Italy	3 – 1	Lost	Friendly
18	6 September 2008	Stade Maurice Dufrasne, Liège	Estonia	3 – 2	Won	2010 World Cup Qualification
19	6 September 2008	Stade Maurice Dufrasne, Liège	Estonia	3 – 2	Won	2010 World Cup Qualification
20	10 September 2008	Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium, Istanbul	Turkey	1 – 1	Drawn	2010 World Cup Qualification
21	11 October 2008	Stade Roi Baudouin, Brussels	Armenia	2 – 0	Won	2010 World Cup Qualification
22	15 October 2008	Stade Roi Baudouin, Brussels	Spain	1 – 2	Lost	2010 World Cup Qualification
23	28 March 2009	Cristal Arena, Genk	Bosnia and Herzegovina	2 – 4	Lost	2010 World Cup Qualification
24	17 November 2009	Stade Louis Dugauguez, Sedan	Qatar	0 – 2	Won	Friendly

Statistics

^[5]

Honours

Club

K.R.C. Genk

• Belgian First Division: 2001-02

AFC Ajax

• Eredivisie: 2003-04

Individual

• Belgian Golden Shoe: 2001
• Belgian Footballer of the Year: 2001-02

References

External links

• Wesley Sonck career statistics at Soccerbase
  
• Belgium Stats at Belgian FA

Belgium squad – 2002 FIFA World Cup
1 De Vlieger 2 Deflandre 3 De Boeck 4 Van Meir 5 Van Kerckhoven 6 Simons 7 Wilmots (c) 8 Goor 9 Sonck 10 Walem 11 Verheyen 12 Van Der Heyden 13 Vandendriessche 14 Vermant 15 Peeters 16 Van Buyten 17 Englebert 18 Vanderhaeghe 19 Thijs 20 Strupar 21 Boffin 22 Mpenza 23 Herpoel Coach: Waseige