Jean-François Gillet

Standard Liège and Monza

He began his professional career in the youth system of Standard Liège and was called up to the first team at the age of just 17. In 1996, he made his debut in Belgian First Division and the following season he took to the field on another two occasions. In the summer of 1999, at the age of twenty, he moved outright to Monza, then in Serie B. As a starter, he disputed 33 games.

Bari and Treviso

After playing four games in August with Monza, in the final days of the transfer market he accepted a move to Bari in Serie A, who paid 5 million lire. His first season in the top flight, despite 20 appearances and some stand-out performances in goal, was marred by a prosecution for doping. After the match Bari-Reggina on 21 January, in fact, he became the first player in Italy to be indicted for testing positive for Nandrolone and was forced by the sports court to serve a four-month disqualification. Over the next ten years he played 317 games for Bari in Serie A and Serie B, with the exception of a short loan with Treviso in 2003–04, due to some disagreements with the then coach Marco Tardelli. On 13 March 2008 he renewed his contract with the Galletti until 2011. In 2007 Antonio Conte arrived at Bari, and Gillet adapted his role in the team and was employed as a sweeper keeper. The team triumphed in Serie B, returning to the top flight after a seven-year absence. In 2009–10, his performances were confirmed again at the highest level, only…

Gillet became known worldwide for conceding 10 goals against Brazil at the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship in Malaysia, in turn helping kick-start the career of Alex de Souza. In August 2009, at the age of 30, after a strong performance against Inter Milan for Bari, Gillet was called up to the Belgian senior team in view of qualification for the 2010 FIFA World Cup against eventual champions Spain and Armenia. He debuted on 5 September in Spain, parrying a David Villa penalty before conceding 5 goals, and then conceded twice in the next game, which saw Belgium suffer a shock 2–1 defeat. On 14 November 2009, Gillet kept a clean sheet in a friendly against Hungary and again against Qatar.

Considered to be a talented goalkeeper in his youth, Gillet was nicknamed "the cat from Liège”, a reference to his birthplace and quick reflexes, which allowed him to compensate for his relatively modest stature for a goalkeeper of 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in); however, his size is also thought by some pundits to have limited his performances occasionally.

International