Luc Nilis
Encyclopedia
Luc Nilis is a former Belgian 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...

 striker
Striker
Forwards, also known as strikers, are the players on a team in association football who play nearest to the opposing team's goal, and are therefore principally responsible for scoring goals...

. He ended his career early in the 2000–01 season after he broke his leg in a match with his club Aston Villa
Aston Villa F.C.
Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...

 following a clash with Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town F.C.
Ipswich Town Football Club are an English professional football team based in Ipswich, Suffolk. As of 2011, they play in the Football League Championship, having last appeared in the Premier League in 2001–02....

 goalkeeper Richard Wright
Richard Wright (footballer)
Richard Ian Wright is an English professional goalkeeper, currently playing for Ipswich Town, now his third spell with the club having played earlier in the season for the reserves...

.

His former clubs include K.F.C. Winterslag
K.R.C. Genk
Koninklijke Racing Club Genk , usually referred to as Racing Genk or simply Genk, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Genk in Belgian Limburg. Racing Genk plays in the Belgian Pro League and they have won 3 Belgian champion titles in 1998–99, in 2001–02 and in 2010–11 as...

, R.S.C. 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...

, PSV Eindhoven.
During his time with PSV, Nilis formed one of the deadliest partnerships in Europe with team-mate Ruud van Nistelrooy
Ruud van Nistelrooy
Rutgerus Johannes Martinus "Ruud" van Nistelrooy, , is a Dutch footballer who plays as a striker for Málaga CF in Spain's La Liga. He is the second-highest goalscorer in Champions League history with 60 goals...

. 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
Ronaldo
Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima , commonly known as Ronaldo, is a retired Brazilian footballer who last played for Corinthians. Ronaldo is widely considered to be the greatest 'pure' striker in the history of the modern game, and by some accounts, in the history of football. Ronaldo was one of the...

 occasionally names him as one of the best strike partner he had played with despite sharing only a brief time with him at PSV. Ruud van Nistelrooy
Ruud van Nistelrooy
Rutgerus Johannes Martinus "Ruud" van Nistelrooy, , is a Dutch footballer who plays as a striker for Málaga CF in Spain's La Liga. He is the second-highest goalscorer in Champions League history with 60 goals...

 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
Zambia national football team
The Zambia national football team represents the country of Zambia in the sport of association football and is governed by the Football Association of Zambia. Before independence they were known as the Northern Rhodesia national football team. The side is nicknamed Chipolopolo as copper is one of...

).
Nilis played in the 1994 World Cup, the 1998 World Cup
1998 World Cup
1998 World Cup may refer to:*1998 IAAF World Cup*1998 Men's Hockey World Cup*1998 Women's Hockey World Cup*1998 FIFA World Cup*1998 Alpine Skiing World Cup...

 and Euro 2000 which Belgium co-hosted with the Netherlands
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...

. Afer 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 Kasimpasaspor

Club honours

  • 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...

     – 1987, 1991, 1993, 1994
  • Belgian Cup
    Belgian Cup
    The Belgian Cup is the main knockout football competition in Belgium, run by the Belgian Football Association. The first cup was held in 1911-12. The most successful cup club is Club Brugge KV with 10 titles followed by RSC Anderlecht and R Standard de Liège...

     – 1988, 1989, 1994
  • Eredivisie
    Eredivisie
    The Eredivisie is the highest football league in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956 two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is currently ranked the ninth best league in Europe by UEFA....

     – 1997, 2000
  • KNVB Cup
    KNVB Cup
    The KNVB Cup is a competition in the Netherlands organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association since 1899. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Outside of the Netherlands, it is often referred to as the Dutch Cup...

    – 1996
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