Alain Goma (born 5 October 1972) is a French former footballer who played as a right back or a central defender. In a 16-year professional career he appeared in 196

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

games, mostly for Auxerre. He then played 147 matches in the Premier League, with Newcastle and

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

Club career

Born in Sault, Vaucluse, Goma started his football career playing for Paris-suburb club RC Versailles, joining AJ Auxerre's famed youth academy in 1988 at the age of 15. Three years later, he made his

debut for the team led by legendary Guy Roux. In

1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 ''Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since th ...

, Goma took part in Auxerre's unprecedented semifinal run in the UEFA Cup, where they lost in the semi-finals to AFC Ajax in a penalty shootout. At the end of the season he signed his very first professional contract, going on to be instrumental in the side's 1996 double while also helping them to the 1996–97 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals – losing to eventual winners Borussia Dortmund – after winning the group stage over Ajax. After ten years at Auxerre, Goma moved to Paris Saint-Germain F.C., conquering the 1998 Trophée des Champions soon after signing. After that single campaign he joined

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

for £4.7 million, becoming an important player at the start of 2000–01 and scoring in a 3–1 win against Middlesbrough in October 2000. On 13 March 2001, following a dispute with the Magpies, Goma signed with First Division leaders

, who paid a club record £4 million for his services. On 21 April 2001 he made his debut in a 1–1 draw at Portsmouth, and became a vital player for the club in its debut season in the Premier League, eventually serving as

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

under countryman Jean Tigana. Goma's form earned him a new contract during 2003–04, to keep him at the Cottagers until the summer of 2006. Despite missing two months due to injury, he made his 100th appearance during the campaign but, after the emergence of younger players such as Zat Knight, his importance and role gradually diminished in 2005–06; he was the most notable of six players released on 18 May 2006, after being unable to agree on a new deal. Goma subsequently retired, aged 33. However, in 2007, he came out of retirement, joining Qatar's

Al-Wakrah Sport Club Al-Wakrah Sport Club ( ar, نادي الوكرة الرياضي) is a Qatari professional sports club based in Al Wakrah. Their professional football team competes in the Qatar Stars League and play their home games at the Al-Haribo Stadiu ...

and retiring for good the following year.

International career

After starting representing the French under-21s in 1992, Goma would go on to earn two caps for the senior side. The first was on 9 October 1996, starting in a 4–0

friendly Friendly may refer to: Places * Friendly, West Yorkshire, a settlement in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England * Friendly, Maryland, an unincorporated community in the United States * Friendly, Eugene, Oregon, a neighborhood in the United States * ...

win against Turkey, and the second was in another exhibition game, coming on as a substitute for Frank Lebœuf for the last ten minutes of a 2–2 draw in Austria on 19 August 1998.

Club statistics

Honours

Auxerre * Division 1: 1995–96 * Coupe de France: 1993–94, 1995–96 Paris Saint-Germain * Trophée des Champions:

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

Fulham *

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

: 2000–01 *

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from la, Inter, 'between' + german: toto, 'betting pool'),Most precisely, from (football pool); cf. often abbreviated and more known in the German-speaking world as UI Cup and originally called the International Foot ...

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Goma, Alain 1972 births Living people French sportspeople of Democratic Republic of the Congo descent French footballers Association football defenders Ligue 1 players AJ Auxerre players Paris Saint-Germain F.C. players English Football League players Premier League players Newcastle United F.C. players Fulham F.C. players Qatar Stars League players Al-Wakrah SC players France under-21 international footballers France international footballers French expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Qatar French expatriate sportspeople in England French expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Black French sportspeople