Marc Wilmots
Marc Wilmot ( born February 22, 1969 in Dongelberg ) is a former Belgian footballer, football coach of present and politicians.
Playing career
Association
Wilmot began his career at CS Jodoigne. From 1985 he played for VV St. Truiden. For the season 1988/89 he moved to KV Mechelen. With Mechelen he won the 1988 European Super Cup and in 1989 became Belgian champion. In 1991 he moved to Standard Liege. With Liège 1993 he became the Belgian Cup winners. For the season 1996/97 he moved to FC Schalke 04 in the season 1996/97 he won with FC Schalke 04 in the UEFA Cup. In the penalty shootout in the final against Inter Milan he scored the winning penalty to victory. Because of his fighting spirit was always his nickname from the fans, "Willi, the struggle pig". In 2000 he moved to Bordeaux, but returned after just one season back to FC Schalke 04 back. In the 2001 /02 season he won the DFB Cup with FC Schalke 04. He was nominated for the Ballon d'Or in 2002.
National
In the Belgian national football team Wilmot debuted in May 1990. A month later he was part of the squad of Belgium to the World Cup in 1990, but did not play. Four years later he participated in the FIFA World Cup 1994 and arrived the next round, but could not score. With the Football World Cup 1998 Belgium already retired from in the first round, but this time Wilmot reach two goals. In the European Football Championship 2000 Belgium was one of the two hosts, but already retired from in the first round. With the Football World Cup 2002 Wilmot scored three goals. On leaving in the second round scored a goal against Brazil by him regular was not recognized. Brazil won 2-0 and Belgium was eliminated. After the World Cup Wilmot finished his career in the national team.
Coaching career
After the dismissal of Frank Neubarth as manager of FC Schalke 04 in March 2003 Wilmot ended his career and became coach of FC Schalke 04 After the 2002/ 03 season he was replaced by Jupp Heynckes. For the season 2004 /05 he took over as coach at VV St. Truiden, but was dismissed in February 2005. In October 2009, he was assistant coach of the Belgian national team coach Dick Advocaat. After Advocaat's successor Georges Leekens had resigned from his post in May 2012, Wilmot took over for the games against Montenegro and England as interim coach the management of the "Red Devils ". After the games, he was officially appointed head coach. After the team had qualified as winners of Group A Europe for the World Cup in Brazil, Wilmot was elected in December 2013 "Coach of the Year."
Wilmot is also active as a politician. He is a member of the Liberal party Mouvement Réformateur and from 2003 to 2005 Member of the Belgian Senate.
Successes as a player
- UEFA Super Cup 1988
- Belgian Champion 1989
- Belgian Cup winners 1993
- UEFA Cup winners 1997
- DFB Cup winners 2002