David N'Gog

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David N'Gog

N'Gog playing for Liverpool in 2011
Personal information
Full nameDavid N'Gog[1]
Date of birth (1989-04-01) 1 April 1989[1]
Place of birthGennevilliers, France
Height1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)[2]
Playing positionStriker
Club information
Current clubSwansea City
Number54
Youth career
2001–2006Paris Saint-Germain
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2006–2008Paris Saint-Germain18(1)
2008–2011Liverpool63(9)
2011–2014Bolton Wanderers81(14)
2014–Swansea City1(0)
National team
2004–2005France U1613(11)
2005–2006France U176(2)
2006–2007France U184(2)
2007France U196(6)
2008–2010France U2117(3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 1 February 2014.

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 30 March 2012

David N'Gog (born 1 April 1989) is a French footballer who plays for Welsh club Swansea City as a striker.

N'Gog started his career with French Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain. He made his senior debut in 2006 and in 2008 won the Coupe de la Ligue. English Premier League club Liverpool signed him at the start of the 2008–09 season. After three years he moved to fellow Premier League club Bolton Wanderers, but was relegated with them after just one season.

N'Gog is a former French youth international, having earned caps at all youth levels. However, he is also eligible to represent Cameroon, by way of his father, and has been approached by Cameroon to make the switch.

Early life

N'Gog was born in Gennevilliers, Hauts-de-Seine, to a Cameroonian father and a French mother.[3] He is the cousin of the Panathinaikos and French international player Jean-Alain Boumsong.[4]

Club career

Paris Saint-Germain

N'Gog started his career with Paris Saint-Germain in 2001. He signed his first professional contract in June 2006.

Liverpool

2008–09 season

Manager Rafael Benítez hailed his scouting network after his signing, saying that "They are finding players like N'Gog, players with quality who are not a high price".[5] N'Gog played his first game for Liverpool in a friendly game against Villarreal on 30 July 2008 and scored his first goal one game later against Rangers in another pre-season friendly. He then followed this up by scoring Liverpool's final goal in their next pre-season friendly, a 4–1 win over Norwegian side Vålerenga IF. He made his Premier League debut against Aston Villa, coming on as a substitute for Fernando Torres. N'Gog scored his first goal for Liverpool in their 3–1 victory over PSV Eindhoven in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League.[6] N'Gog made his first start for Liverpool on 7 February 2009 against Portsmouth, and scored his first league goal on 3 March 2009 against Sunderland in a 2–0 win at Anfield.[7] N'Gog scored his second league goal for the club on 11 April 2009 against Blackburn Rovers at Anfield in an emphatic 4–0 win.[8]

2009–10 season

N'Gog scored his first goal of the new season with the final goal in a 4–0 home win against Stoke City.[9] This was his fourth career goal for Liverpool, three of which came in league matches. The following month, he then went on to score the winning goal in a third-round League Cup game, to win 1–0 away against Leeds United. On 25 October, in a crucial game against Manchester United, he came on for goalscorer Fernando Torres at Anfield, scoring a goal in the 96th minute in the 2–0 win to seal an important victory for Liverpool.[10] After the crunch tie, N'Gog said scoring the goal was "a fantastic moment for me and the team and I would say it's my best moment in football." He scored his fourth goal of the season on 9 November against Birmingham City before winning a controversial penalty[11] that gave Liverpool a draw after Steven Gerrard converted from the spot.[12] N'Gog then scored Liverpool's only goal in their next match away to Debrecen in the Champions League.[13] Rafa Benitez showed his faith in N'Gog by handing him a start against Everton in the Merseyside derby; this match finished 2–0 to Liverpool.[14] He scored his fourth league goal (six in total of the 2009–10 season) in a 2–1 victory over Wigan Athletic.[15] N'Gog's goal nine minutes from time eventually broke the resistance of a determined Unirea Urziceni at Anfield in the Europa League.[16]

2010–11 season

N'Gog playing for Liverpool in 2011

On 29 July, N'Gog scored twice in Roy Hodgson's first competitive match as manager in Liverpool's UEFA Europa League third qualifying round first leg 2–0 win over Macedonian side FK Rabotnički.[17] In the second leg of the tie played at Anfield, N'Gog scored the opening goal via a header and also won a penalty which Steven Gerrard scored, as Liverpool ran out 4–0 aggregate winners.[18]

N'Gog playing for Liverpool in 2009

N'Gog then scored again in Liverpool's opening match of the season at home to Arsenal in a 1–1 draw by turning past Thomas Vermaelen and rifling the ball into the top corner of the net past Arsenal goalkeeper Manuel Almunia. He was enjoying the best start to a Liverpool season before he was taken out of the squad that played West Brom for Fernando Torres. After being left out of the game against Birmingham City N'Gog shot to fire again in the Europa League, scoring two in Liverpool's 4–1 victory over Steaua Bucharest.[19] He scored an extra-time equaliser in the League Cup defeat to Northampton Town to take the tie to penalties, but missed his penalty in the shootout,[20] and played the remaining 35 minutes in the Reds' frustrating 2–2 draw against Sunderland at Anfield.[21] On 3 October, he replaced the injured Fernando Torres after just 10 minutes in their 2–1 home loss to Blackpool.[22] On 24 October, he replaced Joe Cole in the 80th minute in Liverpool's 2–1 Premier League win at Anfield against Blackburn Rovers. He replaced Cole for the second time, in Liverpool's 1–0 Premier League win against Bolton Wanderers at the Reebok Stadium on 31 October. N'gog was praised by Sam Allardyce for the way in which his introduction changed the game for Liverpool, indirectly leading to their late winner. He continued to be an impact sub from the bench, following the departure of Fernando Torres, and the signings of Luis Suárez and Andy Carroll and often finding himself in the starting line-up. He ended his Liverpool career at the end of the 2010–11 season with a record of 19 goals in 94 games.

Bolton Wanderers

On 31 August 2011, for £4 million transfer fee,[23]Liverpool announced that N'Gog had completed a move to Bolton Wanderers in a three-year deal.[24] N'Gog made his first appearance for Bolton as a substitute for Kevin Davies in Bolton's 5–0 defeat to Manchester United at the Reebok Stadium on 10 September. His first goal for Bolton Wanderers came in Bolton's 3–1 win against Wigan Athletic at the DW Stadium on 15 October.[25] Fulham made an unsuccessful £3 million bid for him in August 2012.[26]

Swansea City

On 27 January 2014, N'Gog joined Premier League side Swansea City until the end of the season, signing for an undisclosed fee.[27] He made his debut on the 1st of February 2014 against West Ham United, Swansea lost the game 2-0.

International career

N'Gog has played for France at many youth levels. He scored one goal in a 2–0 victory over England U19s in 2007.[citation needed]

In November 2009, David N'Gog was approached to play for Cameroon, despite having already represented France at youth levels. The then Liverpool striker said: "I have had contact with the Cameroonian federation. Now I need some time to think about things. I'm very flattered."[28] In February 2010, with Cameroon preparing for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Cameroon's Minister of Sports, Michel Zoah, met with N'Gog's father on two occasions to try and convince the player to switch allegiances.[3] A few months later, in May, N'Gog was not included Cameroon's preliminary squad for the World Cup. When asked why, Cameroon coach Paul Le Guen said that N'Gog had insisted on a starting spot with the Indomitable Lions.[29] However, N'Gog refuted the claims.[3]

Career statistics

As of 4 January 2014[30]
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Europe Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Paris Saint-Germain 2006–07 Ligue 1 4010001060
2007–08 Ligue 1 1414012193
Total 181501210253
Liverpool 2008–09 Premier League 142002031193
2009–10 Premier League 245202192378
2010–11 Premier League 2521011115388
Total 63930522389419
Bolton Wanderers 2011–12 Premier League 3334120394
2012–13 Championship 3182000338
2013–14 Championship 1731110194
Total 811472309116
Career total 162241528424821038

Honours

Liverpool

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2010). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2010–11. Mainstream Publishing. p. 307. ISBN 978-1-84596-601-0. 
  2. "Premier League Player Profile". Premier League. Retrieved 28 March 2011. 
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Guy Nsigué (7 March 2012). "David Ngog veut "enfin" jouer pour le Cameroun". Camfoot. Retrieved 9 April 2012. 
  4. "David N'Gog profile". Liverpool FC. Retrieved 6 August 2008. 
  5. "Gerrard Worry For Liverpool". Sporting Life. 5 August 2008. Retrieved 6 August 2008. 
  6. Champions League round-up Sky Sports, 9 December 2008
  7. Liverpool 2–0 Sunderland BBC Sport, 3 March 2009
  8. Sanghera, Mandeep (11 April 2009). "Liverpool 4–0 Blackburn". BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 April 2009. 
  9. "Liverpool 4 – 0 Stoke". BBC Sport. 19 August 2009. Retrieved 4 September 2009. 
  10. "Reds stun rivals to end losing run". TEAMtalk. 25 October 2009. Retrieved 25 October 2009. 
  11. "Liverpool 2 – 2 Birmingham". BBC Sport. 9 November 2009. 
  12. "Birmingham angry at 'cheat' N'Gog". BBC Sport. 10 November 2009. Retrieved 10 November 2009. 
  13. "Debrecen 0 - 1 Liverpool". BBC Sport. 24 November 2009. Retrieved 27 January 2014. 
  14. "Everton 0 - 2 Liverpool". BBC Sport. 29 November 2009. Retrieved 27 January 2014. 
  15. "Liverpool 2 - 1 Wigan". BBC Sport. 16 December 2009. Retrieved 27 January 2014. 
  16. Liverpool 1 – 0 Unirea Urziceni ESPN Soccernet, 18 February 2010
  17. "Rabotnicki Skopje 0 – 2 Liverpool". BBC Sport. 29 July 2010. Retrieved 29 July 2010. 
  18. "Liverpool 2 - 0 Rabotnicki Skopje (agg 4 - 0)". BBC Sport. 5 August 2010. 
  19. "Liverpool 4 - 1 Steaua Bucharest". BBC Sport. 16 September 2010. 
  20. Smith, Rory (22 September 2010). "Liverpool 2 Northampton Town 2; 2–4 pens: match report". London: Telegraph. Retrieved 23 September 2010. 
  21. "Liverpool 2 - 2 Sunderland". BBC Sport. 25 September 2010. 
  22. "Liverpool 1 - 2 Blackpool". BBC Sport. 3 October 2010. 
  23. Ngog completes Bolton move
  24. "Swans snap up Ngog". Swansea City. Retrieved 27 January 2014. 
  25. Khaled Karouri (20 May 2012). "Paul Le Guen torpille David". Foot-Mercato. Retrieved 9 April 2012. 
  26. David N'Gog career stats at Soccerbase

External links

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