| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 23 July 1988 | ||
| Place of birth | Toulouse, France | ||
| Height | 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Playing position | Left back | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Toulouse | ||
| Number | 12 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1994–1996 | FA Roques | ||
| 1996–2007 | Toulouse | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2007– | Toulouse | 79 | (1) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2008–2011 | France U21 | 12 | (0) |
| 2011– | Senegal | 2 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 14 June 2011. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Cheikh M'Bengue (born 23 July 1988) is a French-born Senegalese international footballer who plays professionally for French club Toulouse in Ligue 1, as a left back.
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M'Bengue has been with his hometown club Toulouse since he was seven joining the club's juvenile team. He played frequently with the club's underage teams slowly ascending the ranks. Following the 2006–07 season, M'Bengue graduated from the club's youth academy and was promoted to the club's Championnat de France amateur squad. During the 2007–08 season, he earned call ups to the first team and eventually made his debut on 15 September 2007 against Marseille coming on as a substitute in a 2–1 victory.[1] Two weeks later, M'Bengue appeared as a substitute again in a 1–0 win over Sochaux.[2] He made his first start the following week in a 2–0 defeat to Saint-Étienne.[3]
After just a few matches into the CFA 2007-08 season, M'Bengue was embroiled in controversy. While playing in a match against the second team of AS Monaco, he committed a dangerous foul on an opposing player. He was swiftly given a yellow card, however, after realizing the severity of the player's injury, the referee decided to send off M'Bengue. The French Football Federation responded by suspended him 13 matches, which effectively made him ineligible for play until March 2008.[4]
Though M'Bengue was suspended by the federation, he was still allowed participation in UEFA-sanctioned matches. Since Toulouse were participating in the UEFA Cup that season, he made the bench several times and eventually made his first start in the team's 2–1 win over Russian club Spartak Moscow. That winter, M'Bengue signed his first professional contract agreeing to a three-year deal.[5] He was officially promoted to the senior squad for the 2008–09 season and given the starting left back spot ahead of Jérémy Mathieu who moved into the left midfield role.
M'Bengue was one of the main bright spots during the club's successful play during the season. However, on 14 March 2009, he would be involved in another incident. Coincidentally, while playing against the Monaco senior team in a league match, M'Bengue committed another rough foul, this time on the Argentine midfielder Alejandro Alonso. He received a yellow card for the tackle and Alonso was eventually ruled out for the season. In response to the tackle, the FFF again suspended M'Bengue until 1 June, which ruled him out for the rest of the season.[6]
Cheikh made his French under-21 debut on 19 November 2008 against Denmark in a 1–0 victory. He was a part of the 2009 Toulon Tournament squad that reach the finals; however, due to picking up an injury, he missed the match. In May 2011, he announced that he would represent the Senegal national team at senior international level after previously representing France at youth level.[7] On 9 May 2011, the manager of the Senegal national team, Amara Traore, confirmed that M'Bengue would be representing Senegal at senior international level, and on 4 June 2011, M'Bengue was cleared to play for Senegal,[8] making his international debut later that month.[9]
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