Ophélie Meilleroux

Ophélie Anne-Laure Meilleroux (born 18 January 1984 in Montluçon) is a French football player who currently plays for French club Montpellier of the Division 1 Féminine. Meilleroux primarily plays as a central defender, but can also play in the defensive midfielder role. She is a member of the France women's national football team making her first major tournament appearance with her nation at UEFA Women's Euro 2009.

Ophélie Meilleroux
Personal information
Full name Ophélie Anne-Laure Meilleroux[1]
Date of birth (1984-01-18) 18 January 1984
Place of birth Montluçon, France
Height 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Playing position(s) Defender
Club information
Current team
 Montpellier
Youth career
1992–1999 Montluçon
1999–2002 Nord Allier Yzeure
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2002–2003 CNFE Clairefontaine 16 (3)
2003–2008 Soyaux 102 (7)
2008–2010 Nord Allier Yzeure 29 (2)
2010–2014 Montpellier 30 (0)
National team‡
2002 France U-19
2003–2013 France 65 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20:13, 15 February 2012 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 02:06, 24 October 2012 (UTC)

Club career

Early career

Meilleroux began her career playing for the women's section of amateur football club ÉDS Montluçon in her hometown. She spent several years with the club's youth setup before being selected to attend CNFE Clairefontaine, the women's section of the prestigious Clairefontaine academy. Meilleroux played one season with the academy scoring three goals, despite playing as a defender. After leaving the academy, she joined D1 Féminine club ASJ Soyaux. At Soyaux, Meilleroux played on the team alongside future international teammate Corine Franco and earned her first call up to the national team because of her consistent play with the club. She appearing in 20 or more matches in four straight seasons for Soyaux. Meilleroux also collected a career-high nine yellow cards in her first season with the club. In her final season (2007–08) with Soyaux, Meilleroux played in 19 matches and scored only one goal.

Yzeure

For the 2008–09 season, Meilleroux moved to Nord Allier Yzeure. Her debut season with the club was both positive and negative as Nord Allier finished in a respectable 5th-place position, however Meilleroux appeared in only ten matches. She returned to form at the start of the 2009–10 season appearing in the team's first seven matches of the season helping Yzeure reached as high as 4th position in the table. Meilleroux ultimately finished the campaign with the club appearing in 19 matches.

Montpellier

On 9 July 2010, Meilleroux announced that she would be departing Nord Allier Yzeure to join Montpellier. She joined Montpellier as a replacement for the departed Sabrina Viguier who joined Lyon. Meilleroux was penciled in as a starter by coach Sarah M'Barek and made her club debut in the team's second league match of the season; a 2–0 win over Rodez. She consistently appeared with the team for most of the campaign before suffering an injury on 9 January 2011 in the team's 2–1 return leg victory over Rodez in the league. Meilleroux missed four matches and returned to the team on 12 February in its 5–0 win over Stade Briochin.

International career

Meilleroux had previously starred with the women's under-19 team on two occasions. Her first time, she represented her nation at the 2002 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship, held in Sweden. She was among the few underage players at the tournament for France. In the tournament, France finished as runners-up to champions Germany. The next season at the 2003 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship, held in Germany, Meilleroux was installed as captain of the team and helped the team do one better winning the entire tournament. On 14 March 2003, she earned her first cap with the women's national team in a match against Denmark. Meilleroux was a regular participant in France's qualifying for UEFA Women's Euro 2009. With that in mind, coach Bruno Bini included her in the squad for the tournament, where France crashed out in the quarterfinals losing 4–5 on penalties to the Netherlands. Meilleroux in all four matches her nation contested.

Career statistics

Club

Statistics accurate as of 15 February 2012[2]

Club Season League Cup Continental Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Soyaux 2003–04 2040000204
2004–05 2000000200
2005–06 2120000212
2006–07 2200000220
2007–08 1913100222
Total 102731001058
Yzeure 2008–09 1011000111
2009–10 1910000191
Total 2921000302
Montpellier 2010–11 1503000180
2011–12 1501000160
Total 3004000340
Career total 1619810016910

International
(Correct as of 24 October 2012)[3]
National teamSeasonAppsGoals
France 2002–0330
2003–0410
2004–0500
2005–0600
2006–0770
2007–0880
2008–0920
2009–10150
2010–11100
2011–12170
2012–1320
Total650

Honours

International

France

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References
  1. "2009 UEFA European Women's Championship" (PDF). UEFA. Retrieved 24 October 2011.
  2. "La Carriere de Ophélie Meilleroux". StatsFootoFeminin. Retrieved 8 June 2011.
  3. MEILLEROUX Ophélie Archived 13 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine, French Football Federation, accessed 8 June 2011
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