Geert de Vlieger (ˈʝeːrt də ˈvli.ʝər) (born 16 October 1971 in Dendermonde

Dendermonde

Dendermonde is a Belgian city and municipality located in the Flemish province of East Flanders in the Denderstreek. The municipality comprises the city of Dendermonde proper and the towns of Appels, Baasrode, Grembergen, Mespelare, Oudegem, Schoonaarde, and Sint-Gillis-bij-Dendermonde...

) is a retired Belgian

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 football

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 goalkeeper

Goalkeeper (football)

In association football, the goalkeeper occupies a position that represents the last line of defence between the opponent's offence and his own team's goal. The primary role of the goalkeeper is to defend his team's goal and prevent the opposition from scoring a goal...

.

He started his career in his home country playing for Anderlecht

R.S.C. Anderlecht

Royal Sporting Club Anderlecht, usually known as Anderlecht or RSCA , is a Belgian professional football club based in Anderlecht in the Brussels Capital Region. Anderlecht plays in the Belgian Pro League and is the most successful Belgian football team in European competitions as well as in the...

 and Beveren

K.S.K. Beveren

Koninklijke Sportkring Beveren was a Belgian association football club from the town of Beveren in East Flanders. It was famous for its goalkeeping school that has produced such players as Jean-Marie Pfaff, Filip De Wilde, Geert De Vlieger, Erwin Lemmens, and Tristan Peersman, all of whom have...

 before moving to Holland

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 and playing for Willem II

Willem II Tilburg

Willem II , also known as Willem II Tilburg, is a football club based in Tilburg, North Brabant, Netherlands. The team was founded on 12 August 1896 as Tilburgia...

 for four years between 2000 and 2004. He played in his first international for Belgium in 1999 (first selection in 1998) and has won 43 caps (55 selections) for his country. He was the second choice goalkeeper in Euro 2000 (the first choice was Filip De Wilde

Filip De Wilde

Filip Alfons de Wilde is a retired Belgian football goalkeeper, who played mainly with R.S.C. Anderlecht.-Club career:...

) but then became the number 1 in World Cup 2002 replacing the latter after De Wilde's bad performances during the European Championship.

He signed for Manchester City in June 2004, but due to an achilles injury he sustained, he missed the whole of season 2004/05 and didn't play a single game in two seasons in England. In June 2006 he signed for Zulte-Waregem to make a come-back in the Jupiler League

Jupiler League

The Belgian Pro League is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Belgian Second Division...

.