Cyriel Dessers

Cyriel Kolawole Dessers (born 8 December 1994) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for Genk.[1] Born in Belgium, he represents the Nigeria national team.

Cyriel Dessers
Dessers with Utrecht in 2017
Personal information
Full name Cyriel Dessers
Date of birth (1994-12-08) 8 December 1994
Place of birth Tongeren, Belgium
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Forward
Club information
Current team
 Genk
Number 9
Youth career
0000–2013 OH Leuven
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2014 OH Leuven 1 (0)
2014–2016 Lokeren 34 (4)
2016–2017 NAC Breda 36 (22)
2017–2019 FC Utrecht 47 (14)
2019–2020 Heracles Almelo 26 (15)
2020– Genk 15 (4)
National team‡
2020– Nigeria 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 9 January 2021 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 13 October 2020

Club career

During the 2013–14 season, 19-year-old Dessers stood out in the reserves and youth competitions for Oud-Heverlee Leuven, scoring over 20 goals. With OHL in danger of relegation and several first team strikers either out of shape, injured or suspended, he was given his first minutes in the first team in a 3–2 away loss against Mons.[2]

In April 2014, Dessers signed a two-year deal with Lokeren.[3]

In July 2016 he signed with NAC Breda on a contract until summer 2019, of Dutch second-tier Eerste divisie. On 28 May 2017, they were promoted to the Eredivisie, after a 1–4 victory over N.E.C., in which Dessers scored 3 goals. He finished the season with 29 goal in 40 matches.

In July 2017, Dessers moved to FC Utrecht, agreeing a contract for three years with an option for an additional year.[4] On 11 August 2017, he scored the first goal in the competition.

After the 2019–20 Eredivisie season was abandoned, Dessers was jointly awarded the Top Goalscorer award alongside Steven Berghuis with 15 goals apiece.

On 30 June 2020, Dessers moved to K.R.C. Genk on a four-year deal.[5]

International career

Born in Belgium to a Belgian father and Nigerian mother, in December 2019 he elected to represent Nigeria at international level.[6] On 4 March, 2020, Dessers was called up by the Nigerian national football team head coach Gernot Rohr as part of the team players invited for the African Cup of Nations qualifying fixtures against the Sierra leone National football team.[7] Dessers debuted for Nigeria in a friendly 1-1 tie with Tunisia on 13 October 2020.[8]

Career statistics
As of match played 18 October 2020[9][10][11]
Club statistics
Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
OH Leuven 2013–14 Belgian Pro League 1000—1[lower-alpha 1]020
Lokeren 2014–15 Belgian Pro League 214333[lower-alpha 2]02[lower-alpha 3]0297
2015–16 Belgian Pro League 11000——110
Total 324333020407
NAC Breda 2016–17 Eerste Divisie 362200—4[lower-alpha 4]74029
Utrecht 2017–18 Eredivisie 299225[lower-alpha 2]13[lower-alpha 5]03912
2018–19 Eredivisie 11322—4[lower-alpha 6]2177
Total 40124451725619
Heracles Almelo 2019–20 Eredivisie 261533—2918
Genk 2020–21 Belgian First Division A 6200—62
Career totals 1415510108114917375
  1. Appearance in the 2014 Belgian Second Division play-offs
  2. Appearances in the UEFA Europa League
  3. Appearances in the 2015 Belgian Pro League Europa League play-off
  4. Appearances in the 2017 Eredivisie promotion play-offs
  5. Appearances in the 2018 Eredivisie European play-offs
  6. Appearances in the 2019 Eredivisie European play-offs

Honours

Individual

References
  1. "Belgium - C. Dessers - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
  2. "Jupiler Pro League - 30e speeldag: RAEC Mons - Oud-Heverlee Leuven 3 - 2" (in Dutch). ohl.be. 16 March 2014. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  3. "Lokeren signs young striker from OHL" (in Dutch). sporza.be. 2 April 2014.
  4. "FC Utrecht hengelt Dessers binnen". 1 June 2018 (in Dutch). Retrieved 3 July 2018.
  5. Projects, Sanmax. "Cyriel Dessers: "Nu ben ik waar ik wil zijn." | KRC Genk". www.krcgenk.be.
  6. "Cyriel Dessers: Dutch league's leading scorer opts for Nigeria". 5 December 2019 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  7. Oludare, Shina. "Dessers & Ehizibue earn Nigeria call-ups as Leicester City's Iheanacho returns". Goal.com.
  8. "Nigeria vs. Tunisia - 13 October 2020 - Soccerway". uk.soccerway.com.
  9. Cyriel Dessers at Soccerway
  10. "Cyriel Dessers » Club matches". World Football. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  11. "Cyriel Dessers". Soccerway. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  12. "Dutch Eredivisie Top Scorers". NOS (in Dutch). 8 March 2020. Retrieved 8 March 2020.


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