Armel Tchakounte
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| Armel Tchakounte | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | December 12, 1978 | |
| Place of birth | Cameroon | |
| Playing position | Midfielder | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Unattached | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 2006
2006-2007 |
Carshalton Athletic | 15 (2) 0 (0) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Armel Tchakounte (born December 12, 1978) is an Cameroonian professional footballer who last played for QPR. He previously played for Hong Kong clubs Rangers and Kitchee and non league Carshalton Athletic in the 2005/06 season.
Contents |
[edit] Early Career
Armel played some type of competitive football in Cameroon before moving into Asian football. Armel played competitive football in Hong Kong for two teams. He first joined Kitchee FC, a team based in Hong Kong. Whilst here, Armel featured in a Kitchee team which played Juventus in a pre-season friendly in 2005. After the game finished 2-2, Kitchee beat Juventus 7-5 on penalties. The Juventus team featured Thuram, Nedved, Del Piero and Trezeguet. He has also played for local rivals Hong Kong Rangers.
[edit] Carshalton Athletic.
Armel was signed by English Non-league side Carshalton Athletic at the beginning of January in 2006. No official announcement was made nor was there any public fanfare of the capture of the signing. His arrival was not even mentioned on the club’s official website. At the time, Athletic were struggling at the bottom of the Conference South league table. Through-out his time with the club, he was known as Tchakounte Armel.
Armel went straight in to the first team side and made his debut in their FA Trophy Second Round clash with Accrington Stanley. And what an impact he made! With 8 minutes barely on the clock, Carshalton were awarded a dubious corner. An in swinging corner from the left found an unmarked Armel. His thundering header crashed in off the underside of the crossbar to put Athletic 1-0 up. Accrington managed an equalizer before Athletic scored once more to regain the lead. However, a last minute equalizer insured Stanley a draw thus preventing Armel a winning start in English football. He did though manage to play the full 90 minutes. The replay didn’t go well for both Armel and the team. He gave away a first half penalty as Carshalton succumbed to a 2-0 defeat. Armel was substituted in the second half as he tasted defeat for the first time on English soil. This substitution was made maybe with one eye on the upcoming league encounter with Lewes.
Despite starting the two previous games, Armel was dropped to the subs bench for the Lewes game. He did manage to join in the action as a late second half substitution. He was on the field of play for a short amount of time yet managed to pick up a yellow card for persistent fouling in a 2-1 defeat. Armel was then an un-used sub in Carshalton’s next two league games before making an appearance as a sub in a 3-1 defeat against Eastleigh. Armel went back to warming the bench in the next game against Bishop Stortford before again coming on as a 2nd half sub versus Welling Utd. Another substitute appearance was made in Carshalton’s next game, a 2-2 draw with Farnborough.
Armel made his Surrey Senior Cup debut for Carshalton in the game versus Walton and Hersham. He played the full 90 minutes and inspired the team to a 1-0 away victory in a dull encounter. Despite his appearance, Armel was back to the bench and was an un-used sub in Carshalton’s next league game, a crucial victory against relegation rivals Newport. Armel showed his versatility by playing in defence as a second half sub in the next game, a 2-2 draw with Eastbourne. The following game against Weston-Super-Mare saw Armel back to bench-warming duties for the entire game.
[edit] Match Winning Display
Finally, after almost 3 months, Armel made his full league debut, starting the game in the away fixture at fellow relegation strugglers Hayes on the 26th March 2006. Although Armel only started the game as a replacement for a suspended first team regular, he grasped the opportunity with both hands. With the game heading towards a 1-1 draw and with just 8 minutes left on the clock, Carshalton were awarded a free kick. Up popped Armel with another of his trademark headers to give Carshalton a priceless 2-1 victory. The away fans in the crowd of 203 must have celebrated hard into the night. With 2 goals in 3 full starts, comparisons were made with fellow countryman Roger Milla yet this goal proved to be his last for the club.
[edit] End of season 2005/06
Armel’s goal-scoring display meant he kept his place in the Carshalton team and he played the full 90 minutes in the 3-1 win against Dorchester. He then played the full 90 has Carshalton exited the Surrey Senior Cup, losing 2-0 in the semi final game against Kingstonian. Armel then made 2 further full appearances in games against Cambridge and Havant Waterlooville. Following 5 (yes 5) consecutive appearances, Armel was dropped and was back on the bench as an un-used sub before returning to the line-up in the 1-1 draw with Bognor Regis Town and then played the full 90 in the 2-1 defeat to Thurrock in their penultimate league game. No mention was made to whether Armel played any part in Carshalton’s final league game of the season, a 2-2 draw with Yeading which secured their status in the Conference South.
Armel’s full playing record at Carshalton was 10 games + 5 substitute appearances. He was an un-used sub on 5 occasions. He scored 2 goals.
On Friday, the 5th of May 2006, Carshalton announced on their official website that Tchakounte Armel had signed for Championship club Queens Park Rangers on a one year deal, although Carshalton were disappointed that they weren’t mentioned when QPR announced the signing on the their official website. Armel became the third played with Carshalton connections to join the R’s; the other two being Gus Caesar and Derrick Razzell.
[edit] QPR Career
QPR signed Armel on the 4th of May, 2006. In contrast to when he joined Carshalton, Armel’s arrival was announced on QPR’s official website. He was pictured alongside then manager Gary Waddock, Chairman Gianni Paladini, and QPR Holdings Chairman, Antonio Caliendo on the Loftus Road pitch. Armel was described as a right footed, defensive midfielder, with great physical skills, high stamina and bags of experience in the top leagues in Africa and Asia. The midfielder was also announced as a Cameroon international footballer, although records suggest he has never represented the Cameroon national team as a footballer. A possible explanation may be that Armel represented Southern Cameroon. However,Southern Cameroon is neither a member of FIFA nor the CAF and does not participate in international tournaments
Armel featured in pre-season games against Aldershot, Gillingham and the tour of Italy.
Armel went on to make five appearances for the reserve team before a mystery injury in December of 2006 seemed to end his season. He also featured in randomly arranged fixtures including a forgettable performance at non-league HInkley United. During the course of the season, Gary Waddock was sacked as QPR manager and replaced by John Gregory. This appointment made Armel’s chance of ever playing for QPR’s first team a remote one . Armel was never to feature again for QPR but did manage to join in the end of season walk around the pitch. This was the only time the Loftus Road faithful were ever to see the great man grace its hallowed turf.
