Luc Nilis

Luc Nilis
Personal information
Full name	Luc Gilbert Cyrille Nilis
Date of birth	25 May 1967 (age 57)
Place of birth	Hasselt, Belgium
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Team information
Current team	Genclerbirligi S.K.
Number	Assistant Manager
Youth career
1973–1980	Halveweg Zonhoven
1980–1984	Winterslag
Senior career*
Years	Team
1984–1986	Winterslag
1986–1994	Anderlecht
1994–2000	PSV
2000	Aston Villa
Total
International career
1982–1983	Belgium U16
1982–1983	Belgium U17
1983–1984	Belgium U18
1983–1985	Belgium U19
1986–1987	Belgium U21
1988–2000	Belgium
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Luc Nilis (born 25 May 1967 in Hasselt, Belgium) is a former Belgian football striker. He ended his career early in the 2000–01 season after he broke his leg in a match with his club Aston Villa following a clash with Ipswich Town goalkeeper Richard Wright. Nilis' Villa career had started well. He scored on his debut in the UEFA Intertoto Cup against Dukla Příbram on 22 July 2000^[1] and then went on to score on his league debut against Chelsea on 27 August 2000.^[2]

Career

His former clubs include K.F.C. Winterslag, R.S.C. Anderlecht, PSV Eindhoven. During his time with PSV, Nilis formed one of the deadliest partnerships in Europe with team-mate Ruud van Nistelrooy. In the 1998–1999 season, Nilis and van Nistelrooy scored 55 league goals between them. van Nistelrooy finished as top-scorer, Nilis came second. In the following season, Nilis' last for PSV, they scored 48 league goals between them. Ronaldo occasionally names him as one of the best strike partners he had played with despite sharing only a brief time with him at PSV.^[3] Ruud van Nistelrooy has also stated on several occasions that Nilis was one of the best players, if not the best, he had ever played with.

Nilis played 56 times for the Belgian national team, scoring 10 times. A prolific goalscorer with his clubs, he scored his first goal for Belgium only on his 24th cap (a 9–0 win against Zambia). Nilis played in the 1994 World Cup, the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000, the latter was co-hosted by his birth-country Belgium and the Netherlands. After his career, he was assigned as a trainer with PSV. In this job he was responsible for training the attackers of the club. His son, Arne, played for the PSV reserve team but currently plays with Belgians fourth division team KSK Hasselt. In January 2011, Nilis became assistant manager at Kasımpaşa Spor Kulübü.