Antoine Sibierski

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Personal information
Antoine Sibierski
Full name	Antoine Sibierski
Date of birth	August 5, 1974 (age 32)
Place of birth	Lille, France
Height	6ft 2in
Nickname	Le Sib, Superbierski, Bald Avenger, Siberdinho
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Newcastle United
Number	20
Youth clubs
	Lille
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1992–96 1996–98 1998–00 2000–03 2003–06 2006–present	Lille Auxerre Nantes Lens Manchester City Newcastle United	97 (17) 42 0(8) 50 (17) 89 (23) 92 (11) 21 0(3)
National team²
	France 'B'	?
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19:14, 13 March 2007 (UTC). ² National team caps and goals correct as of 00:41, 15 December 2006 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

Antoine Sibierski (born August 5, 1974 in Lille) is a French football player who currently plays for Newcastle United.

He began his career at hometown club Lille, where he moved up the ranks and played for four complete seasons in the first team before playing for Auxerre and Nantes, where he won the French Cup in 2000. He then joined Lens, and he became club captain within his three years in the side.

His best attribute is his ability in the air earning himself the nickname 50p head by the Manchester City fans due to the astonishing amount of headers he has scored in his career.

Having been linked with Tottenham Hotspur in the early summer of 2003, he moved to Manchester City, where he scored on his debut. However, the arrivals of Steve McManaman and Claudio Reyna put extra pressure on Sibierski to do well.

He was a regular substitute for the team, having started only eighteen of the thirty-three games he participated in, during an all important first season in which he scored seven goals.

The 2005-06 season saw him fighting for a new contract at the club. Early on in the season he won a place up front due to the injury of Andy Cole but was soon reverted back to the bench. Despite this Sibierski still signed a one-year extension to his contract at the club which was meant to last until the summer of 2007.

However, he was linked with a trade back to Lens, for the highly-rated midfielder Olivier Thomert in a £2million deal, before Newcastle United signed him on August 31, 2006 on a one-year contract, just two hours and twenty minutes before the close of the transfer window. Some fans considered the Frenchman's signing a joke, considering the fans high expectations of signings from the previous season, in which Newcastle signed the likes of Michael Owen, Scott Parker and Emre.

He scored on his Newcastle debut in the UEFA cup first round tie against Levadia. His league debut for the club came at West Ham on 17 September. Sibierski scored his first domestic goal for Newcastle on 7 November against Watford in the Carling Cup. He scored his first league goal for the club in a 1-0 win over Portsmouth. Sibierski then went on to score his second league goal for the magpies against Reading in a thrilling encounter in which the Magpies went on to win 3-2. His goal scoring form at the start of the season proved many people wrong, as Sibierski has gone on to be a key European figure. In Europe, Sibierski has made 7 appearances and scored 4 essential goals against Levadia Tallinn, Fenerbahçe, Celta Vigo and Zulte-Waregem respectively.

He is quickly becoming a Newcastle favourite, nicknamed by the geordies as "Super Sibi" for his importance in the team. Due to injuries on Tyneside, including England Striker Michael Owen, Sibierski has mainly been played upfront, where his partnership with recent Nigerian signing Obafemi Martins has proved succesful. He has also played as an attacking midfielder in a 4-5-1 formation. He played a part in an exciting 2-2 draw with Manchester United; he later said he was disappointed not to get on the scoresheet against his former club's main rivals. Sibierski ended a recent goal drought of 6 games with a decisive late goal in the impressive home 3-1 victory against Aston Villa. He scored his first European goal of 2007 with a brilliant individual effort against Zulte-Waregem in the UEFA Cup on February 15. Sibierski nut-megged a defender, took it round another, took it round the keeper and tapped home the last goal in a 3-1 win.

[edit] Trivia

Sibierski has a wife called Isabelle, two daughters - Sibylle and Axelle - and a baby boy - Alessandro.
Fellow footballer and former Lille teammate Frédéric Dindeleux was best man at Sibierski's wedding.