Libor Sionko

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Personal information
Libor Sionko
Full name	Libor Sionko
Date of birth	February 1, 1977 (age 30)
Place of birth	Ostrava, Czechoslovakia
Height	178cm
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Rangers
Number	14
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1993-1994 1994-1996 1996-1997 1997-1999 1999-2004 2004-2004 2004-2006 2006-Present	Banik Ostrava Zelezarny Trinec VTJ Znojmo Banik Ostrava Sparta Prague Grazer AK Austria Vienna Rangers	01 (0) 12 (3) 00 (0) 45 (11) 95 (25) 15 (2) 63 (8) 18 (3)
National team²
1999-Present	Czech Republic	21 (3)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23 March 2007 (UTC). ² National team caps and goals correct as of 2 September 2006. * Appearances (Goals)

Libor Sionko (born February 1, 1977 in Ostrava) is an Czech footballer currently playing for Scottish Premier League club Rangers.

1 Early career
2 Rangers career
3 International career
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Early career

He previously played for Austria Vienna, Grazer AK, Sparta Prague and Banik Ostrava. Playing successfully for Sparta in Championship and UEFA-Championsleague, he left Prague, due to contract problems, to join high-rising Grazer Athletik Klub in February 2004, helping to achieve the first ever Austrian championship for the Styrians. He also was in the team winning the Austrian Cup for the 4th time.

After that remarkable success and change to Austria Vienna, he was a principal for a very successful challenge in the 2004-05 UEFA Cup, when the Viennese side reached the quarter-final. In 2005-06 the Czech player was an Austrian double winner a second time.

[edit] Rangers career

He completed a Bosman transfer to Rangers on 16 May 2006 on a three year contract.

He scored on his SPL debut against Motherwell on July 30, 2006 in Gers' 2-1 win^[1]. Frequent injury, however, meant that he was used intermittently by Paul Le Guen. He re-established himself in the team in December 2006 where he scored against Hibernian^[2] and Aberdeen^[3], as Rangers' form improved after a poor start to the season.

Sionko plays on the right of an attacking three which supports the main forward but frequently swaps position with his opposite number.

[edit] International career

He has been capped twenty times by the Czech Republic national team, and has scored 2 goals, making 6 assists. He was called up to the Czech team for the World Cup due to Vladimír Šmicer being injured, however only featured a late substitute role in some games as the Czechs were knocked out in the group stage of the competition.

His World Cup debut came against Ghana on June 17, 2006. Ghana won the game 2-0.

[edit] References

^ "Motherwell 1-2 Rangers", BBC Sport website, 30 July 2006.
^ "Rangers 3-0 Hibernian", BBC Sport website, 9 December 2006.
^ "Aberdeen 1-2 Rangers", BBC Sport website, 23 December 2006.

[edit] External links

	Czech Republic squad - 2006 FIFA World Cup
1 Čech \| 2 Grygera \| 3 Mareš \| 4 Galásek \| 5 Kováč \| 6 Jankulovski \| 7 Sionko \| 8 Poborský \| 9 Koller \| 10 Rosický \| 11 Nedvěd \| 12 Lokvenc \| 13 Jiránek \| 14 Jarolím \| 15 Baroš \| 16 Blažek \| 17 Štajner \| 18 Heinz \| 19 Polák \| 20 Plašil \| 21 Ujfaluši \| 22 Rozehnal \| 23 Kinský \| Coach: Brückner

Rangers F.C. - Current Squad
1 Klos \| 2 Webster \| 3 Weir \| 4 Buffel \| 5 Papac \| 6 Ferguson \| 7 Hemdani \| 8 Thomson \| 9 Pršo \| 10 Novo \| 11 Rae \| 12 Ehiogu \| 14 Sionko \| 15 Boyd \| 17 Burke \| 18 Murray \| 19 Svensson \| 20 Hutton \| 22 McGregor \| 23 Šebo \| 25 Adam \| 26 Smith \| 28 Ponroy \| 30 N'Diaye \| 34 Robinson \| 41 Lowing \| 42 Lennon \| 45 Loy \| 47 Furman \| 49 McMillan \| 59 Shinnie \| 63 Perry \| Manager: Smith