Sandy Walsh

Sandy Henny Walsh (born 14 March 1995) is a professional footballer who plays as a defender for Belgian Pro League club Mechelen. Born in Belgium and a former Netherlands youth international, he plays for the Indonesia national team.

Sandy Walsh

Walsh playing for Indonesia in 2023
Personal information
Full name	Sandy Henny Walsh
Date of birth	(1995-03-14) 14 March 1995 (age 29)
Place of birth	Brussels, Belgium
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Position(s)	Right-back, centre-back
Team information
Current team	Mechelen
Number	5
Youth career
2001–2002	Tempo Overijse
2002–2003	ERC Hoeilaart
2003–2011	Anderlecht
2011–2012	Genk
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2012–2017	Genk	51	(1)
2017–2020	Zulte Waregem	48	(2)
2020–	Mechelen	123	(8)
International career‡
2009–2012	Netherlands U17	18	(1)
2012–2014	Netherlands U19	10	(0)
2023–	Indonesia	16	(2)
Medal record Men's football Representing  Netherlands UEFA European Under-17 Championship Winner 2012 Slovenia
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 5 October 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 10 October 2024

Club career

Youth

Walsh spent time in the youth sides of Tempo Overijse and ERC Hoeilaart before joining Anderlecht in 2003 where he stayed until 2011 when he joined Genk.^[2]

Genk

On 2 September 2012, he made his professional debut for Genk, coming on as a substitute for the final moments of a 2–2 draw with his former side Anderlecht in the Belgian Pro League.^[3]

Zulte Waregem

Wals moved to Zulte Waregem in the summer of 2017, making his league debut on 5 August 2017 as a substitute in a 2–0 win over Sint-Truiden.^[4]

Mechelen

In October 2020, he moved to another Belgian club Mechelen.^[5] He making his league debut on 1 November 2020 as a starter in a 2–2 draw over Club Brugge. He scored the only goal in the quarter-final of the Belgian Cup in injury time against Kortijk, sending Mechelen to the semi-finals.^[6]

International career

Walsh with Netherlands U17 after winning the 2012 Euro Under-17 Championship

Walsh has represented the Netherlands at youth international and won the UEFA European Under-17 Championship with the under-17 side in 2012.^[7] He has represented the Netherlands at every level from under-15 to under-20.^[8]

In November 2022, Walsh received a call-up from Indonesia national team coach Shin Tae-Yong for a training camp in preparation for the 2022 AFF Championship. He was however called back by his club.^[9]

On 27 May 2023, Walsh received call-up to the Indonesia national team for friendly matches against Palestine and Argentina. However, Walsh unable to play in both matches, as he got a calf injury during training.^[10]

On 29 August 2023, Walsh received another call-up to the national team for the friendly match against Turkmenistan.^[11] He went on to make his debut against said team in a 2–0 win.

On 24 January 2024, Walsh scored his debut goal in injury-time for the national team in a 1–3 loss against Japan in the final match of the 2023 AFC Asian Cup group stage.^[12][13]

Personal life

Walsh was born in Belgium to an Irish father who was born in England, and an Indonesian mother who was born in Switzerland and raised in Netherlands.^[14][15] He was therefore eligible for either Belgium, England, Ireland, Switzerland, Netherlands, or Indonesia.^[16]

On 17 November 2022, Walsh officially acquired Indonesian citizenship.^[17]

On 15 August 2024, Walsh married Canada national basketball team player Aislinn Konig in Spain.^[18]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 5 October 2024^[7]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Belgian Cup		Europe		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Genk	2011–12	Belgian Pro League	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2012–13		1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
	2013–14		4	0	1	0	1[lower-alpha 1]	0	0	0	6	0
	2014–15		11	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	11	0
	2015–16		23	1	5	0	0	0	0	0	28	1
	2016–17		12	0	2	0	9[lower-alpha 1]	0	5[lower-alpha 2]	1	28	1
	Total		51	1	9	0	10	0	5	1	75	2
Zulte Waregem	2017–18	Belgian Pro League	18	1	2	0	4[lower-alpha 1]	0	10[lower-alpha 2]	0	34	1
	2018–19		21	1	2	0	0	0	10	1	33	2
	2019–20		9	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	13	0
	Total		48	2	8	0	4	0	20	1	80	3
Mechelen	2020–21	Belgian Pro League	30	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	31	3
	2021–22		33	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	34	3
	2022–23		25	2	5	1	0	0	0	0	30	3
	2023–24		31	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	31	0
	2024–25		4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
	Total		123	8	7	1	0	0	0	0	130	9
Career total			223	11	23	1	14	0	25	2	287	14

1. Appearances in the Europa League
2. Appearances in the First Division A 'Europa League' play-offs

International

As of match played 10 October 2024^[19]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Indonesia	2023	4	0
	2024	12	2
Total		16	2

As of match played 10 September 2024

Scores and results list Indonesia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Walsh goal.

List of international goals scored by Sandy Walsh

No.	Date	Venue	Cap	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	24 January 2024	Al Thumama Stadium, Doha, Qatar	8	Japan	1–3	1–3	2023 AFC Asian Cup
2	5 September 2024	King Abdullah Sports City, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia	14	Saudi Arabia	1–0	1–1	2026 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Genk

• Belgian Cup: 2012–13
• Belgian Super Cup: 2011–12; runner-up 2013

Zulte Waregem

• Belgian Super Cup runner-up: 2017

Mechelen

• Belgian Cup runner-up: 2022–23

Netherlands U-17

• UEFA European Under-17 Championship: 2012^[20]

See also

• List of Indonesia international footballers born outside Indonesia

References

1. "Sandy Henny Walsh". pssi.org. PSSI. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
2. "Sandy Walsh profile at Zulte Waregem" (in Dutch). Zulte Waregem. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
3. "ANDERLECHT VS. GENK 2 - 2". Soccerway. 2 September 2012. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
4. "ZULTE-WAREGEM VS. SINT-TRUIDEN 2 - 0". Soccerway. 5 August 2017. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
5. "Sandy Walsh KV Mechelen". www.kvmechelen.be. 8 October 2020. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
6. "Sandy Walsh Cetak Gol Injury Time, Mechelen ke Semifinal Piala Belgia". CNN Indonesia (in Indonesian). 12 January 2023. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
7. Sandy Walsh at Soccerway. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
8. "Speler: Sandy Walsh". onsoranje.nl (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 20 September 2014. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
9. "Persiapan Piala AFF 2022 Shin Tae-Yong Panggil 28 Pemain". PSSI (in Indonesian). Retrieved 22 November 2022.
10. "Timnas Indonesia Panggil 26 Pemain untuk Lawan Argentina, Ada Ivar Jenner dan Rafael Struick". viva.co.id (in Indonesian). 27 May 2023. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
11. "Kembali Dipanggil ke Timnas Indonesia, Sandy Walsh Sambut Antusias dengan Cara Ini". suara.com (in Indonesian). 2 September 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
12. "Group D: Ueda steers Japan into Round of 16". the-AFC. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
13. Kurniawan, Hery (25 January 2024). "Cetak Gol Pertamanya untuk Timnas Indonesia di Piala Asia 2023, Sandy Walsh: Rasanya Luar Biasa!". bola.com (in Indonesian). Retrieved 25 January 2024.
14. Garage.com), Ludibundus bvba - Hosting. "Voetbalpassie op het internet! - Belgiumsoccer.be". www.belgiumsoccer.be. Archived from the original on 22 February 2017.
15. DH.be (2 February 2024). "Sandy Walsh, l'homme aux six nationalités (et au passé mauve)".
16. Cam (5 February 2019). "Sandy Walsh: The successful Dutch youth international who has a strong English heritage".
17. "Jordi Amat dan Sandy Walsh Resmi Jadi WNI" [Jordi Amat and Sandy Walsh Officially Becomes Indonesian Citizens] (in Indonesian). CNN Indonesia. 17 November 2022.
18. "Sandy Walsh Resmi Menikah dengan Aislinn Konig" [Sandy Walsh Officially Married with Aislinn Konig] (in Indonesian). CNN Indonesia. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
19. "Sandy Walsh". National Football Teams. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
20. "Under-17 finals schedule confirmed". UEFA.com. 13 May 2012.

External links

• Profile at the K.V. Mechelen website
• Profile at the Royal Dutch Football Association (archived)
• Profile at the Football Association of Indonesia
• Sandy Walsh at National-Football-Teams.com
• Sandy Walsh at Soccerway