Sylvain Distin - 254.12 Performance Pts
Born: 16/12/1977 Paris, France
Position: Centre Back Height: 1.90m Weight: 70kg
16 years
as a player at the top level - firstly with Paris Saint-Germain, then 15
seasons in the English top-flight. 469 appearances (a record for an overseas
player) in the Premier League. International caps won by Distin - zero. It
seems bizarre that someone with such a great track record could fail to pick up
a single cap for France, although his contemporaries did include multi-cap
winners Lilian Thuram and William Gallas. He announced his international
retirement with good humour on Twitter in 2014, aged 36, highlighting his 0-cap
record. His first English club side was Newcastle, but he really made his name
with Manchester City in the early 00s. This was the pre-largesse version of
City, and although he was a popular, consistent performer, no trophies were won
during Distin's time there. Success arrived in his debut season at his next
club, Portsmouth, winning the FA Cup in 2008. Distin's heroic defending in
Pompey's 1-0 win against Manchester United at Old Trafford in the quarterfinal
contributed to this success. He moved to Everton in 2009 and spent 6 seasons at
Goodison. He wasn't renowned for his goalscoring but did find the net in a
Merseyside derby in January 2011, as Everton secured a 2-2 draw at Anfield. He
scored his only other Everton goal later that season in a 2-1 win against
former club Manchester City. This proved to be the final league goal of his career.
He spent a final season with Bournemouth before retiring in 2016, aged 38.
During this final season back on the South Coast, he wasn't persuaded to come
out of international retirement, so didn't add to his caps tally of zero.
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