| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Simon Pierre Mvondo Atangana | ||
| Date of birth | 10 July 1979 | ||
| Place of birth | Yaoundé, Cameroon | ||
| Height | 1.81 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in)[1] | ||
| Playing position | Striker | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1995 | Fougre | ||
| 1996–1998 | Olympic Mvolyé | ||
| 1998 | Al-Fat'h | ||
| 1999–2000 | Tonnerre Yaoundé | ||
| 2000–2002 | Dundee United | 11 | (0) |
| 2002 | → Port Vale (loan) | 2 | (0) |
| 2002–2003 | Colchester United | 6 | (0) |
| 2003 | Grays Athletic | ||
| 2003 | Halstead Town | 19 | (10) |
| 2004 | Luch-Energia | 39 | (11) |
| 2005 | Lakamatyu Minsk | 10 | (5) |
| 2005–2006 | Terek Grozny | 40 | (7) |
| Total | 127+ | (33+) | |
| National team | |||
| Cameroon under-21s | |||
| 2000 | Cameroon | 1 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Simon Pierre Mvondo Atangana (born 10 July 1979 in Yaoundé, Cameroon) is a former Cameroonian international footballer.
After spells in his native country with Fougre, Olympic Mvolyé and Tonnerre Yaoundé, as well as a short period in Saudi Arabia with Al-Fat'h, he moved into Scottish Premier League football with Dundee United in 2000. In 2002 he played for English club Port Vale on loan, before signing with Colchester United. The next year he moved on to non-league sides Grays Athletic and Halstead Town. In 2004 he moved to Russia to play for First Division Luch-Energia, before moving on to Belarus Premier League side Lakamatyu Minsk the following year. He ended his career at Russian side Terek Grozny in 2006.
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Atangana started his career in his native Cameroon with Fougre and Olympic Mvolyé. In 1998 he won a move to Saudi Arabian side Al-Fat'h, though as a devout Catholic he found himself uncomfortable in the Islamic country.[2] Following his spell abroad he returned to Cameroon to play for Tonnerre Yaoundé.
He joined Dundee United from Tonnerre Yaoundé in August 2000 after impressing manager Alex Smith in a trial.[3] He made twelve appearances in the 2000–01 campaign, eleven of which were in the SPL. He was transfer listed in May 2001 after failing to make the first team in eight months.[4]
He missed much of the pre-season after suffering with malaria.[5] He recovered to win a loan move to English club Port Vale in January 2002,[6] but returned to Tannadice Park after picking up a hamstring injury at Vale Park during his second appearance for the "Valiants".[7] He was then released by Dundee United in April 2002,[8] at which point he joined English side Colchester United of the Second Division.
He played six league and one cup game for Colchester in the 2002–03 season, before moving on to Grays Athletic of the Isthmian League Premier Division. He ended the year with Halstead Town in the Eastern Counties Football League.
From there he took the leap into Russian football on the advice of his agent.[2] He signed with Luch-Energia of the First Division. His agent had told him that the club played in the Russian Premier League, but Atangana put the deception behind him to earn the affectionate nickname "Maxim" from Energia supporters.[9] He scored eleven goals in 39 league games for the club.
In 2005 he went to Belarus to play for Premier League club Lakamatyu Minsk. He scored a ten minute hat-trick past BATE Borisov,[10] and overall managed to bag five goals for the club in ten games.
He returned to Russian later in 2005 to play for Terek Grozny, this time a genuine Premier League club. However they did lose their top-flight status at the end of 2005. He departed in 2006 after making forty appearances for the club, and seemingly retired from the professional game.
He came out of retirement in 2010 to play for amateur French club CO Saint-Dizier of the Championnat de France amateur 2.
After making a number of appearances for the under-21 side,[11] he made one appearance for Cameroon on 23 April 2000 when he came off the bench to replace Pius Ndiefi 51 minutes into the 3–0 World Cup qualifying win over Somalia at the Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo.[12]
He was in contention to play for Cameroon at the 2000 Summer Olympics, but instead opted to concentrate on his club career with Dundee United.[13][14] Cameroon went on to take home the gold medal.