Jacques-Alaixys Romao (born 18 January 1984), commonly known as Alaixys Romao, is a professional
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...
who plays as a midfielder for
Super League Greece club
Ionikos, for which he is
captain. Born in France, he represents
Togo
Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...
at international level.
Club career
Early career
Romao started his professional career with
Toulouse FC, but only managed appearances for the B team in 2004–05 and was then transferred for free to
Louhans-Cuiseaux in the
Championnat National
The Championnat de France National ( en, French National Championship), commonly referred to as simply National or Division 3, serves as the third division of the French football league system behind Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. Contested by 18 clubs, ...
, the French third tier.
Grenoble
In the 2007–08 season, he was traded for free to
Grenoble
lat, Gratianopolis
, commune status = Prefecture and commune
, image = Panorama grenoble.png
, image size =
, caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...
and his career took off. A solid and rugged defensive midfielder, Romao proved a valuable asset for Grenoble. His first season with the club saw him appear 30 times in Ligue 2 with 2 goals and 10 yellow cards topped with a promotion to
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 ...
.
In 2008–09, he made 37 appearances, 32 of them as a starter in Ligue 1 and managed to avoid the drop. The next season, Romao made 29 appearances for Grenoble and 2 assists. However, Grenoble was not able to avoid the drop this time and was relegated.
Lorient
Romao was then signed by
FC Lorient
Football Club Lorient Bretagne Sud (; commonly referred to FC Lorient or simply Lorient) is a French association football club based in Lorient, Brittany. The club was founded in 1926 and currently competes in Ligue 1, the top flight of French ...
in July 2010 for a reported fee of 8,000.00 GBP. In the 2010–11 season, his first with FC Lorient, Romao made 33 appearances in Ligue 1 with a goal and 2 assists, 2 appearances in the Ligue Cup and 2 appearances in the French Cup competition with 1 goal. Romao made another 32 appearances as a starter in the 2011–12 season with a goal and an assist, but also with 11 yellow cards and 2 red cards.
Marseille
On 31 January 2013, Romao was signed by
Marseille
Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...
. According to
L'Équipe
''L'Équipe'' (, French for "the team") is a French nationwide daily newspaper devoted to sport, owned by Éditions Philippe Amaury. The paper is noted for coverage of association football, rugby football, rugby, motorsport, and cycle sport, ...
, the transfer fee paid to Lorient was €2 million and the duration of Romao's contract was 3.5 years. At the end of his contract in the summer of 2016, he was released by the club, having made 127 appearances in all competitions, scoring 4 goals.
Olympiacos
On 31 August 2016, Romao joined Greek club
Olympiacos
Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...
, signing a two-year contract with the option of another year.
At the end of the season, he helped the club to win the 7th consecutive
Super League
The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...
title.
On 16 August 2017, he scored his first international goal with the club, as Olympiacos came from behind, in first half, to win 2–1 against
HNK Rijeka
Hrvatski nogometni klub Rijeka ( en, Croatian Football Club Rijeka), commonly referred to as NK Rijeka or simply Rijeka, is a Croatian professional association football, football club from the city of Rijeka.
HNK Rijeka compete in Croatia's top ...
in added time for the 1st leg of
UEFA Champions League play-offs. On 16 September 2017, he signed a new contract with the club, which would keep him at the club till the summer of 2020.
Reims
On 24 July 2018, Romao joined French club
Stade de Reims, signing a two-year deal with the option of another year.
Guingamp
The 36-year-old midfielder has teamed up with the
Ligue 2
Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by Balkrishna Industries, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions ...
outfit following the expiration of his contract at Stade Auguste-Delaune. Togo international Alaixys Romao has been snapped up by French Ligue 2 outfit Guingamp on a free transfer having seen out his contract at Reims.
Ionikos
On 30 June 2021, the converted center-back midfielder
Guingamp
Guingamp (; ) is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France. With a population of 6,895 as of 2017, Guingamp is one of the smallest towns in Europe to have a top-tier professional football team: En Avant Gui ...
Alaixys Romao has signed a year with Greek club Ionikos. The Togolese was free as no agreement could be found on the contours of an extension in Brittany.
International career
The French-born player has featured for the French under-18 national team, but is a member of the
Togolese national team since 2005, for which he was called up to the
2006 World Cup.
In 2013 he played in all matches at
2013 Africa Cup of Nations where his team reached the quarter-finals.
In March 2019, Romao was called up for the first time since October 2017, being selected for the decisive
2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification match against
Benin
Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north ...
.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Romao, Alaixys
1984 births
Living people
People from L'Haÿ-les-Roses
Footballers from Val-de-Marne
French sportspeople of Togolese descent
Citizens of Togo through descent
Togolese people of French descent
Association football midfielders
Togolese footballers
French footballers
Togo international footballers
2006 FIFA World Cup players
Togolese expatriate footballers
Togolese expatriate sportspeople in Greece
Expatriate footballers in Greece
French expatriate footballers
French expatriate sportspeople in Greece
Ligue 1 players
Championnat National players
Ligue 2 players
Super League Greece players
Louhans-Cuiseaux FC players
Grenoble Foot 38 players
FC Lorient players
Olympique de Marseille players
Olympiacos F.C. players
Stade de Reims players
En Avant Guingamp players
Ionikos F.C. players
2006 Africa Cup of Nations players
2010 Africa Cup of Nations players
2013 Africa Cup of Nations players
2017 Africa Cup of Nations players