Yves Ma-Kalambay

Yves Ma-Kalambay

Ma-Kalambay in training for Hibernian
Personal information
Full name Yves Makabu-Makalambay
Date of birth 31 January 1986 (1986-01-31) (age 26)
Place of birth Brussels, Belgium
Height 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)[1]
Playing position Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club KV Mechelen
Youth career
2002–2003 PSV Eindhoven
2003–2006 Chelsea
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2007 Chelsea 0 (0)
2006 Watford (loan) 0 (0)
2007–2010 Hibernian 57 (0)
2010–2011 Swansea City 0 (0)
2011– KV Mechelen 1 (0)
National team
2008 Belgium under–23 1 (0)
2010– DR Congo 4 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 15:40, 31 October 2010 (UTC).

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 15:07, 7 April 2011 (UTC)

Yves Makabu-Ma-Kalambay (born 31 January 1986) is a Belgian footballer goalkeeper who is currently playing for the Belgian Jupiler Pro League club KV Mechelen. His parents are from the DR Congo, but Ma-Kalambay grew up in Brussels in the same neighbourhood as fellow footballers Vincent Kompany, Faris Haroun, Anthony Vanden Borre and Jeanvion Yulu-Matondo. Ma-Kalambay represented Belgium in the 2008 Olympic Games and has since played for DR Congo at full international level.

Contents

Club career

Chelsea

Ma-Kalambay signed for Chelsea as a youth. He went on loan to Watford in February 2006 to cover for the suspended Ben Foster. Watford manager Aidy Boothroyd suggested that he was interested in signing Ma-Kalambay in some capacity for the 2006–07 season,[2] but this did not come to fruition.

On 18 October, Ma-Kalambay made the bench for Chelsea's 1-0 Champions League match group stage win against Barcelona, due to injuries to Petr Čech and Carlo Cudicini.[3] After the arrival of Magnus Hedman, Ma-Kalambay was relegated to fifth choice goalkeeper at Chelsea.

Hibernian

Makalambay signed for SPL club Hibernian in June 2007.[4] He kept a clean sheet on his competitive debut for Hibs in a Edinburgh derby win at Tynecastle against Hearts. Despite making two bad errors in a 3–3 draw with Aberdeen, Makalambay then made a penalty save in his next match, a 1–0 win over Inverness.

Makalambay has received some criticism at times for his performances for Hibs, but he claimed during an interview with the Daily Record in December 2008 that he is under greater scrutiny than goalkeepers of other Scottish Premier League clubs.[5] The newspaper surmised that this scrutiny was because of the high profile mistakes made by his immediate predecessors in the Hibs goal, Zibi Malkowski and Simon Brown.[5] After making an error in an Edinburgh derby, Makalambay was replaced by Grzegorz Szamotulski at half-time due to a hamstring injury. He regained his place in the first team near the end of the season, putting in some impressive displays in draws against the Old Firm and in an Edinburgh derby win at Tynecastle, but then conceded a bizarre goal against Aberdeen on the final day of the season.[6]

Makalambay lost his place to new signing Graham Stack in the 2009–10 season.[7] With his contract due to expire at the end of the season, Makalambay expressed a desire to open talks with Hibs about a new deal.[7] Hibs signed goalkeeper Graeme Smith on the first day of the January 2010 transfer window, however, which raised further doubt over Makalambay's future at the club.[8] This doubt was confirmed on 14 May 2010 when it was announced that Ma-Kalambay's contract would not be renewed.[9] After his release, Makalambay claimed that he had only been dropped due to his refusal to sign a new contract.[10] He also claimed to have received offers from clubs in England and Spain.[10]

Swansea City

In September 2010, Makalambay went on trial with Football League Championship club Swansea City.[11] He signed a contract with the club until the end of the 2010–11 season later that month.[12] He left the club at the end of his contract in 2011.[13]

KV Mechelen

In October 2011, Makalambay signed a contract until the end of the season with Jupiler Pro League club KV Mechelen.[14] He was signed because the second choice KV Mechelen goalkeeper, Wouter Biebauw, is injured for a long time.[14] Makalambay will make his Pro League debut on 26 October 2011, as the first choice goalkeeper, Olivier Renard, is injured as well.

International career

Makalambay was selected by Belgium in January 2008.[15] He was then selected for their squad in the 2008 Olympic Games.[16] Makalambay played in only one match during the Olympics,[17] when he came on as a substitute for Logan Bailly during their 3–2 victory over Italy in the quarter final.[18] Belgium eventually finished in fourth place; Makalambay missed out on a medal due to Belgian defeats by Nigeria and Brazil.[19]

Makalambay was selected by the Democratic Republic of Congo national football team for a friendly against Saudi Arabia in May 2010.[20] He made his international debut as Congo lost 2–0.[21]

References

  1. ^ "First team profiles: Yves Ma-Kalambay". Swansea City A.F.C. http://www.swanseacity.net/page/ProfilesDetail/0,,10354~29983,00.html. Retrieved 19 October 2010. 
  2. ^ "Boss hints at possible keeper move" Watford Observer
  3. ^ "Chelsea 1-0 Barcelona". BBC Sport. 18 October 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/6050878.stm. 
  4. ^ "Hibs sign keeper Makaba-Makalamby". BBC Sport. 27 June 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/hibernian/6244440.stm. Retrieved 28 June 2007. 
  5. ^ a b Marshall, Alan (19 December 2008). "Hibernian goalkeepers are under more scrutiny than SPL rivals, claims Ma-Kalambay". Daily Record. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/football/spl/hibernian/2008/12/19/hibernian-goalkeepers-are-under-more-scrutiny-than-spl-rivals-claims-ma-kalambay-86908-20981941/. 
  6. ^ Murray, Keir (24 May 2009). "Aberdeen 2–1 Hibernian". BBC Sport. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/scot_prem/8062742.stm. 
  7. ^ a b "Ma-Kalambay set for talks over future at Hibs". Edinburgh Evening News. 2 December 2009. http://sport.scotsman.com/football/-MaKalambay-set-for-talks.5875289.jp. 
  8. ^ "Hibs secure ex-Well keeper Smith". BBC Sport. 2 January 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/motherwell/8437719.stm. 
  9. ^ "Benjelloun among three Hibs players shown the door". BBC Sport. 14 May 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/hibernian/8683061.stm. Retrieved 14 May 2010. 
  10. ^ a b Leslie, Colin (23 June 2010). "Makalambay accuses Hibs of refusing to play him". The Scotsman. http://www.scotsman.com/hibernianfc/Makalambay-accuses-Hibs-of-refusing.6377709.jp. Retrieved 23 June 2010. 
  11. ^ "Swansea City sign Congo keeper on trial". BBC Sport. 1 September 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/swansea_city/8958261.stm. Retrieved 1 September 2010. 
  12. ^ "Swans add Yves to their ranks". Swansea City official website. 20 September 2010. http://www.swanseacity.net/page/Latest/0,,10354~2159627,00.html. Retrieved 20 September 2010. 
  13. ^ "Brendan hoping to take new keeper to Austria". South Wales Evening Post. 18 July 2011. http://www.thisissouthwales.co.uk/Brendan-hoping-new-keeper-Austria/story-12963539-detail/story.html. Retrieved 19 July 2011. 
  14. ^ a b "Yves Ma-Kalambay is officieel van KVM". KV Mechelen. 14 October 2011. http://www.kvmechelen.be/site/artikel.php?id=3561. Retrieved 26 October 2011.  (Dutch)
  15. ^ Paterson, Colleen (29 January 2008). "Mixu's delight at Ma-Kalambay's full Belgium squad call-up". Edinburgh Evening News. http://sport.scotsman.com/international/Mixu39s-delight-at-MaKalambay39s-full.3721332.jp. Retrieved 18 June 2008. 
  16. ^ Pope, Gordon (16 July 2008). "Hibs lose keeper to Olympics". Setanta Sports. http://www.sports.setanta.com/en/Sport/News/Football/2008/07/16/SPL-Ma-Kalambay-called-up-by-Belgium/?facets/sport-space/great-britain-locale/. Retrieved 16 July 2008. 
  17. ^ "Yves Ma-Kalambay". FIFA. http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/statisticsandrecords/players/player=290815/index.html. 
  18. ^ "Italy 2–3 Belgium". Eurosport. 16 August 2008. http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/football/beijing-2008/2008/nigeria-ivory-coast-249378.html. 
  19. ^ "Ronaldinho leads Brazil to bronze". BBC Sport. 22 August 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics/football/7577449.stm. 
  20. ^ Stamford, Frank (20 May 2010). "DR Congo to miss key players in Saudi friendly". StarAfrica. http://www.starafrica.com/en/sport/football/article/football-dr-congo-to-miss-key-players-50533.html. Retrieved 22 May 2010. 
  21. ^ http://www.footballdatabase.eu/football.coupe.rd-congo.arabie-saoudite.112232.en.html

External links