Michael Sylvester is a football player who played in the best clubs in Europe, but he himself was never considered a top player. The athlete was born on August 9, 1977 in France, where he began his career. The defender played for 8 clubs and went through all the youth teams of France on the way to the national team.
Carier start
Sylvester began playing at the youth level in 1984, when he was 7 years old. Michael's first club was Saint-Pierre-de-Cor. In 1991, he moved to Tour, where he played for two seasons. In 1994, Sylvester became a player in FC Rennes, where a year later his professional career began.
For the main team, “Renna” Michael Sylvester played until 1998 and spent 49 matches. The defender played another 32 matches for the second team. For the time spent in France, he could not score a single goal. In 1998, Sylvester was signed by the Milan club Internazionale.
Sylvester failed to gain a foothold in Inter. As part of the “fuzz”, the Frenchman spent one season, during which he played only 18 matches and was marked by 1 goal. After this came the best period in Michael's career.
"Manchester United"
Sylvester spent the 1999/2000 season as part of one of the best clubs in England and the world - Manchester United. Ronnie Johnsen's injury allowed the Frenchman to play in the center of defense in tandem with the Dutchman Yap Stam. Sylvester made his debut in the “Red Devils” in 1999 in a game against Liverpool. In his first season, the Frenchman took part in 38 matches.
In the second season for Manchester United, Michael Sylvester played 47 games, of which 14 matches fell on European Cups. In the English Premier League, the defender participated in 30 fights and scored 1 goal.
Until 2006, Sylvester was the main defender of the Manchester club. Over the course of five seasons, Michael played almost 250 matches and scored 8 goals. The defender took part in games on all fronts: in the championship of England, and in the Champions League, and in national cup tournaments.
After that, the career of a football player began to decline. In the 2006/07 season, Sylvester played 14 matches in the English Premier League and 7 more matches in national cups and in the Champions League. The 2007/08 season was the last for Sylvester as part of Manchester United.
End of career
From Manchester, Michael Sylvester went to London, where he signed a two-year agreement with the local Arsenal. For two seasons, the Frenchman played 43 games with the Gunners. On this, his performance in the strongest league in the world came to an end.
In 2010, Michael signed a two-year contract with the Bremen Werder Bremen, which included 31 games. The next destination of the football player was the United States of America. In the US, Sylvester signed a contract with Portland, held 8 fights and decided to break the agreement. The last club of the Frenchman was Chenayn. In India, he played 14 matches, after which he decided to end his career.
Achievements
Michael Sylvester is a five-time champion of England. In 2004, he became the owner of the FA Cup, and in 2006 - the English League Cup. Twice, Sylvester celebrated his victory in the matches for the Super Bowl of England - in 2003 and 2007. The Frenchman won all the titles with Manchester United under the leadership of Sir Alex Ferguson. In 2008, Moscow won the Champions League Cup in a series of penalty shoot-outs of 11 meters. Another international club trophy won by Sylvester is the 1999 Intercontinental Cup.
From 2001 to 2007, Sylvester played for the national team of France. During this period, the French managed to win two Confederations Cups. The first “Gallic roosters” trophy was obtained in 2001 in Japan and Korea, and the second - at a home tournament in 2003. In 2006, at the World Championships in Germany, the French with Sylvester in the squad reached the final of the tournament, but lost in the series of penalty shoot-outs of the Italian national team. For six years of playing in the national team of his country, Michael Sylvester spent 40 fights and scored two goals.