Ali Ngon Gerba (; born September 4, 1981) is a former professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. Born in Cameroon, he represented the Canada national team.

Club career

Canada and United States

In 2000 Gerba signed with the Montreal Impact, then of the A-League, where he recorded six goals and two assists, a club record for a rookie. In 2001 Gerba attempted a move up to

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

by signing with the

Miami Fusion The Miami Fusion was a professional soccer team based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. They played in Major League Soccer (MLS) for four seasons, from 1998 to 2001. Announced in 1997 as one of the league's first two expansion teams, their best seas ...

, but without success. In 2002 Gerba returned to the A-League when he signed with the

Pittsburgh Riverhounds Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC is an American professional soccer team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1999 and beginning play in 1999, the club plays in the Eastern Conference of the USL Championship, the second tier of the American so ...

. Late in the season he was traded to the

Toronto Lynx Toronto Lynx was a Canadian soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1997, the team last played in the 2014 season of the Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Great Lakes D ...

. In 2003, Gerba was the leading scorer for the Lynx with six goals when he was traded to the Impact late in the season. Gerba returned to the Lynx in 2004. During an outstanding season, he scored 15 goals, a club record. Gerba started for the Lynx in 2005, scoring two goals, before returning to the Impact in exchange for

Abraham Francois Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Jews ...

and

Sita-Taty Matondo Sita-Taty Matondo (born December 28, 1984, in Kinshasa, Zaire) is a Congolese-born Canadian former soccer player who played the majority of his career in Quebec with clubs in the Ligue de Soccer Elite Quebec, USL A-League/First Division, and ...

. Gerba left the Lynx as the club's second highest all-time scorer with 24 goals in total. With the Impact Gerba played an important role in helping the team stay undefeated in 15 games, a league record. As a result, Gerba was capped by

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

in the Gold Cup where he played three games and scored one goal.

Europe

After the Gold Cup Gerba joined Swedish club

GIF Sundsvall Gymnastik- och Idrottsföreningen Sundsvall, more commonly known as GIF Sundsvall (), Giffarna or simply Sundsvall, is a Swedish professional football club based in Sundsvall. The club is affiliated with Medelpads Fotbollförbund and plays its h ...

of the

Allsvenskan Allsvenskan (; en, the All-Swedish, also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan, en, the Football All-Swedish) is a Swedish professional league for men's association football clubs. It was founded in 1924 and is the top tier of the Swedish football lea ...

and scored 6 goals in 11 games. When the team was relegated to the

Superettan Superettan (; meaning the super first (division)) is an association football league and the second highest league in the league system of Swedish men's football. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Al ...

, Gerba moved to Swedish club IFK Gothenburg on a three-year deal. In 2006, he was loaned to

Odd Grenland Odd means unpaired, occasional, strange or unusual, or a person who is viewed as eccentric. Odd may also refer to: Acronym * ODD (Text Encoding Initiative) ("One Document Does it all"), an abstracted literate-programming format for describing X ...

in Norway, and in 2007 he went on loan again to

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga ( da, Superligaen, ) is the current Danish football championship tournament, and administered by the Danish Football Association. It is the highest football league in Denmark and is currently contested by 12 teams each yea ...

side AC Horsens before joining German club

FC Ingolstadt 04 Fußball-Club Ingolstadt 2004 e.V., commonly known as FC Ingolstadt 04 or FC Ingolstadt, is a German football club based in Ingolstadt, Bavaria. The club was founded in 2004 out of the merger of the football sides of two other clubs: ESV Ingolst ...

in January 2008. In June 2008, he was released from his contract with the club. As of June 28, 2008, Gerba was being linked with a return to North America to join Canadian manager

Frank Yallop Frank Walter Yallop (born 4 April 1964) is a British-Canadian professional soccer coach. Yallop is currently the head coach and sporting director of USL Championship side Monterey Bay FC. He played 13 years in England for Ipswich, including the ...

club

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional soccer team based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete as a member club of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). Originally as the San Jose Clash, the franchise ...

."Gerba released by FC Ingolstadt"
However, on August 7, 2008, he signed for

Football League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

newcomers

Milton Keynes Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The ...

. On August 20, 2008, he made his first appearance for the Dons in a 3–0 away victory against

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

and scored his first goal in his second game, a 2–1 defeat to

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...

. The club announced they would not be offering Gerba a new contract for the 2009–10 season.

Return to Canada

Gerba was linked with moves to MLS with

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BMO ...

, a return to his hometown Montreal Impact and also with English sides,

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east ...

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional association football, football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they wer ...

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic ...

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

and

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club moved its home groun ...

. Toronto FC announced the signing of Gerba on its website on June 23, 2009. Gerba made his unofficial debut for Toronto FC in an international friendly against the Argentinean powerhouse

Club Atlético River Plate Club Atlético River Plate, commonly known as River Plate, is an Argentine professional sports club based in the Núñez, Buenos Aires, Núñez neighborhood of Buenos Aires. Founded in 1901, the club is named after the English name for the city ...

, at

BMO Field BMO Field is an outdoor stadium located at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which is home to Toronto FC of Major League Soccer and the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League. Constructed on the site of the former Exhibit ...

on July 22, 2009. Gerba scored on his MLS debut vs.

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew, formerly known as Columbus Crew SC, is an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The Crew competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference and began play in 1996 as one ...

on July 25, 2009, in a 3–2 loss. On July 15, 2010. Gerba joined the Montreal Impact for his 4th stint with the team during which he set the club record for fastest goal in club history (18 seconds into the game) and scored the club's first regular season hat-trick. At the end of the 2011 NASL season, head coach

Jesse Marsch Jesse Alan Marsch (born November 8, 1973) is an American professional soccer coach and former player who is the current head coach of club Leeds United. Marsch played 14 seasons as a midfielder in Major League Soccer (MLS) with D.C. United, ...

and sporting director

Nick De Santis Nicolas De Santis (born November 11, 1967) is a former professional soccer player. Club career After beginning his pro career in 1987 with the Montreal Supra of the Canadian Soccer League, he signed for the Montreal Impact in 1993 where he he ...

evaluated the Impact squad in preparation for the team's move to

, and Gerba was cut on October 12, 2011.

International career

Gerba made his debut for

in a July 2005 friendly match against

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

. By December 2009, he had the country's most prolific strike-rate, with 15 goals in 28 full internationals. Gerba has represented Canada in three

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup ( es, Copa de Oro de la CONCACAF, french: Coupe D'or CONCACAF) is the main association football competition of the men's national football teams governed by CONCACAF, determining the continental champion of North Ameri ...

s and

2010 FIFA World Cup qualification Qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation — the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America), OFC (O ...

. He is the all-time leader in goals for Canada at the Gold Cup with six.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Canada's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Gerba goal''.

Honours

Individual * USSF D-2 Pro League Best XI:

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gerba, Ali 1982 births Living people Sportspeople from Yaoundé Cameroonian emigrants to Canada Naturalized citizens of Canada Soccer players from Montreal Francophone Quebec people Black Canadian soccer players Association football forwards Canadian soccer players Canada men's international soccer players 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Canadian expatriate soccer players Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Norway Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Major League Soccer players Miami Fusion players Montreal Impact (1992–2011) players Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC players Toronto Lynx players GIF Sundsvall players IFK Göteborg players Odds BK players AC Horsens players FC Ingolstadt 04 players Milton Keynes Dons F.C. players Toronto FC players USL First Division players USL Second Division players USSF Division 2 Professional League players North American Soccer League players Allsvenskan players Eliteserien players Danish Superliga players Expatriate soccer players in the United States Expatriate footballers in Sweden Expatriate footballers in Norway Expatriate footballers in Denmark Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in England Canadian people of Cameroonian descent A-League (1995–2004) players Miami Fusion draft picks Canadian expatriate sportspeople in England