Florent Sinama Pongolle
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Sinama Pongolle during a game with Rostov in 2012 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Florent Stéphane Sinama Pongolle | ||
| Date of birth | 20 October 1984 | ||
| Place of birth | Saint-Pierre, Réunion | ||
| Height | 1.76 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in) | ||
| Playing position | Forward | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Dundee United | ||
| Number | 54 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Saint-Pierroise | |||
| 1995–2001 | Le Havre | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2001–2006 | Liverpool | 38 | (4) |
| 2001–2003 | → Le Havre (loan) | 42 | (7) |
| 2006 | → Blackburn Rovers (loan) | 10 | (1) |
| 2006–2008 | Recreativo | 68 | (22) |
| 2008–2010 | Atlético Madrid | 40 | (5) |
| 2010–2012 | Sporting CP | 5 | (1) |
| 2010–2011 | → Zaragoza (loan) | 24 | (4) |
| 2011–2012 | → Saint-Étienne (loan) | 23 | (4) |
| 2012–2014 | FC Rostov | 18 | (2) |
| 2014 | Chicago Fire | 7 | (1) |
| 2015 | Lausanne-Sport | 0 | (0) |
| 2015– | Dundee United | 2 | (0) |
| National team | |||
| 2001 | France U17 | 6 | (9) |
| 2002–2006 | France U21 | 37 | (11) |
| 2008 | France | 1 | (0) |
|
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17 January 2016. | |||
Florent Stéphane Sinama Pongolle (born 20 October 1984) is a French professional footballer who plays for Scottish club Dundee United as a forward.
He was signed at only 16 by Liverpool, but could never impose himself in the first team. He also spent several seasons in Spain, with Recreativo, Atlético Madrid and Zaragoza.
Club career
Liverpool
Sinama Pongolle was born in Saint-Pierre, Réunion. In 2001 he, along with his cousin Anthony Le Tallec,[1] was signed from Le Havre AC by Liverpool, after some impressive performances in both the UEFA European Under-16 Championship and the FIFA Under-17 World Championship. He was named player of the tournament as France won the latter competition,[2] and would remain – as Le Tallec – two further years at Le Havre, loaned.[1]
After his return, Sinama Pongolle appeared sporadically with the English, with some highlights however: in the club's victorious campaign in the UEFA Champions League, he came from the bench against Olympiacos F.C. and immediately netted Liverpool's equaliser to make it 1–1, in an eventual 3–1 win and qualification to the round-of-16;[3] he was, however, left out of the squad for the final.
Sinama Pongolle also netted in the third round of the 2005–06 FA Cup against Luton Town, as he helped Liverpool come from 3–1 down to a final score of 5–3, with the Reds finally emerging victorious in the tournament, and scoring in the 2005–06 Champions League 2–1 success at Real Betis, with a memorable chip from 20 yards.[4]
In late January 2006, Sinama Pongolle was loaned to fellow Premier League side Blackburn Rovers until the end of the season.[5] He scored once for the club, a 2–3 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur.[6]
Spain
On 30 August 2006 Sinama Pongolle signed a one-year contract at Recreativo de Huelva,[7] with an option to sign on for a further two years. On 4 May 2007 the Andalusians confirmed he had agreed to a deal until 2011, for a fee of €4 million.[8] He was Recre's top goalscorer in his two La Liga seasons with the team, at 12 and 10 respectively.
Sinama Pongolle joined Atlético Madrid on 3 July 2008, for a fee believed to be in the region of £8 million.[9] Initially thought of as a backup to Diego Forlán and Sergio Agüero, he benefitted from an injury to the Uruguayan, scoring four goals in his first five league appearances for the Colchoneros, with braces against former club Recreativo[10] and Getafe CF;[11] later in his debut campaign, injury and match bans to Maxi Rodríguez saw him playing several games successfully at right winger, as the side once again finished fourth.
Sporting / Rostov
In the winter transfer market opening in 2010, Sinama Pongolle was transferred to Sporting Clube de Portugal for €6.5 million, with the fee possibly raising to €7.5.[12] On 26 March 2010 he scored his first goal for the Lions, but also conceded an own goal in a 2–3 loss at C.S. Marítimo.
Sinama Pongolle spent the following two seasons on loan, with Real Zaragoza and AS Saint-Étienne, the latter in his homeland. On 30 August 2012 he terminated his contract with Sporting, going on to spend two years in the Russian Premier League with FC Rostov where he featured rarely.[13]
Later years
On 9 September 2014, Sinama Pongolle signed with Major League Soccer's Chicago Fire Soccer Club.[14] In November of the following year, after a short spell in Switzerland with FC Lausanne-Sport, he joined Dundee United.[15]
International career
After his under-16 and under-17 exploits, Sinama Pongolle made his France under-21 debut on 21 August 2002. He was a part of the squad that participated in the 2006 UEFA European Championship which took place in Portugal[16] and, at the end of his four-year tenure with this category, ranked first in caps (37) and goals (11).
Sinama Pongolle played his only game with the senior side on 14 October 2008, during a 3–1 friendly win with Tunisia.[17]
Statistics
Club
- As of 8 December 2013[18]
| Club performance | League | Cup | League Cup | Continental | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Club | League | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 2001–02 | Le Havre | Ligue 2 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | - | 13 | 3 | |
| 2002–03 | Ligue 1 | 31 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | 33 | 6 | ||
| 2003–04 | Liverpool | Premier League | 15 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 23 | 2 |
| 2004–05 | 16 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 25 | 4 | ||
| 2005–06 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 14 | 3 | ||
| Blackburn Rovers | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 | ||
| 2006–07 | Recreativo | La Liga | 34 | 12 | - | - | 34 | 12 | ||||
| 2007–08 | 34 | 10 | - | - | 34 | 10 | ||||||
| 2008–09 | Atlético Madrid | 30 | 5 | - | 9 | 0 | 30 | 5 | ||||
| 2009–10 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | - | 3 | 0 | 11 | 1 | |||
| 2009–10 | Sporting | Primeira Liga | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 1 |
| 2010–11 | Zaragoza | La Liga | 24 | 4 | 0 | 0 | - | - | 24 | 4 | ||
| 2011–12 | Saint-Étienne | Ligue 1 | 23 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | 25 | 4 | |
| 2012–13 | Rostov | Russian Premier League | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | 11 | 1 | ||
| 2013–14 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 0 | - | - | 11 | 1 | ||||
| 2014 | Chicago Fire | MLS | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 7 | 1 | |
| Country | France | 65 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | - | 71 | 13 | ||
| England | 48 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 12 | 2 | 72 | 10 | ||
| Spain | 132 | 31 | - | 12 | 0 | 132 | 31 | |||||
| Portugal | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 1 | ||
| Russia | 18 | 2 | 4 | 0 | - | - | 22 | 2 | ||||
| USA | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | ||
| Total | 275 | 51 | 14 | 3 | 9 | 2 | 25 | 2 | 346 | 59 | ||
International
| France | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 2008 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 1 | 0 |
Honours
Club
- Liverpool
- Rostov
Country
Individual
- 2001 U-17 World Championship: Golden Ball, Golden Shoe
References
- 1 2 Bright future ahead for rising French cousins; Bleacher Report, 24 April 2009
- ↑ Florent Sinama Pongolle – FIFA competition record
- ↑ Liverpool through after thriller
- ↑ Liverpool savour flying start
- ↑ Sinama seals Rovers loan move; UEFA.com, 31 January 2006
- ↑ "Tottenham 3–2 Blackburn". BBC Sport. 5 March 2006. Retrieved 25 August 2009.
- ↑ Spain calls for Sinama Pongolle; UEFA.com, 30 August 2006
- ↑ Sinama Pongolle signs for Recreativo; UEFA.com, 4 May 2007
- ↑ Sinama Pongolle alights at Atlético; UEFA.com, 4 July 2008
- ↑ Atlético Madrid 4–0 Recreativo Huelva; ESPN Soccernet, 20 September 2008
- ↑ Getafe 1–2 Atlético Madrid; ESPN Soccernet, 24 September 2008
- ↑ "Comunicado" [Announcement] (PDF) (in Portuguese). CMVM. 28 December 2009. Retrieved 4 October 2010.
- ↑ "Sinama-Pongolle heads to Russia". FIFA.com. 5 September 2012. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
- ↑ "NEWS: Chicago Fire announce the signing of French forward Florent Sinama-Pongolle". Chicago Fire. 9 September 2014. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
- ↑ "Florent Sinama Pongolle signs for Dundee United after trial". BBC Sport. 27 November 2015. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
- ↑ Goals the goal for Sinama-Pongolle; UEFA.com, 23 May 2006
- ↑ "Des Bleus à réaction" [Blues react] (in French). Foot 365. 14 October 2008. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
- ↑ "F. Sinama-Pongolle". Soccerway. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
External links
- Florent Sinama-Pongolle – French League Stats at LFP.fr (French)
- L'Équipe stats (French)
- Florent Sinama Pongolle career statistics at Soccerbase
- Liverpool historic profile
- Stats at Liga de Fútbol Profesional (Spanish)
- Florent Sinama Pongolle profile at BDFutbol
- Florent Sinama Pongolle at National-Football-Teams.com
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