Benoît Pierre David Assou-Ekotto (born 24 March 1984) is a former 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 played as a
left back. Born in France, he represented the
Cameroon national team.
Assou-Ekotto began his career at
Lens
A lens is a transmissive optical device which focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements ...
and in 2006 was signed by
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...
. He became a first-team regular for the
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
club, totalling 200 appearances across all competitions. He was loaned to
Queens Park Rangers
Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...
in 2013 and released in 2015, after which he joined
Saint-Étienne. The final club of his career was
Ligue 1 club
Metz
Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand ...
.
Despite being born in France, Assou-Ekotto represented Cameroon at international level, participating in two
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...
tournaments.
Early life
Benoît Pierre David Assou-Ekotto was born on 24 March 1984 in
Arras, Pas-de-Calais.
Club career
Lens
At the age of ten, Assou-Ekotto followed his brother in signing for
Lens
A lens is a transmissive optical device which focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements ...
, before making his
Ligue 1 debut on 28 March 2004 against
Paris Saint-Germain
Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...
, which Lens won the match 1–0. He played in 66 matches in Ligue 1 for Lens. He then played in seven of eight
UEFA Cup
A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...
matches as Lens fell to
Udinese
Udinese Calcio, commonly referred to as Udinese, is a professional Italian football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, that currently plays in Serie A. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sports club, and on 5 July 1911 as a ...
in the round of 32. After breaking into the first-team with three appearances in
2003–04, Assou-Ekotto caught the eye with 29 starts in 2004–05. At the start of the 2005–06 season, he played in all of Lens' matches in the
UEFA Intertoto Cup, as they won that tournament and secured a place in
that season's UEFA Cup. In the
2005–06 season, he was an almost ever-present for Lens in the league missing just four of 38 league matches as his team finished fourth and again qualified for the
UEFA Cup
A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...
. Assou-Ekotto's outstanding performances throughout the season led to him being praised as one of the best left-backs in the country.
Tottenham Hotspur
2006–2009
In the summer of 2006, Assou-Ekotto moved to
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...
for an undisclosed fee, though estimated to be in the region of £3.5 million by the media. Manager
Martin Jol and club sporting director
Damien Comolli described him as one of the brightest prospects in French football at that time. Assou-Ekotto was expected to provide competition with South Korean
Lee Young-pyo
Lee Young-pyo ( ko, 이영표; ; born 23 April 1977) is a retired South Korean professional footballer who played as a right-footed left back. Lee was recognized for his speed and dribbling skills. His former manager Martin Jol once called h ...
at the
left-back
In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring.
Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...
position, but his performances in pre-season secured him a place in the starting line-up ahead of Lee. Assou-Ekotto made his full debut in a 2–0 defeat at
Bolton Wanderers on the opening day of the
2006–07 Premier League season and looked to have unseated Lee until he picked up a knee injury in December. He then appeared to have lost his place to Lee and played just two matches throughout the entire
2007–08 season due to another injury.
When he first arrived in England, Assou-Ekotto spoke little English and he initially struggled at Tottenham. Assou-Ekotto has since argued that his injury changed his attitude to football because he realised that it could have ended his career:
When your surgeon tells you maybe you won't play football anymore many things are different in your mind. Before, when you're injured, your money comes into your account every month and everything is cool. But when they speak to you about the end of your career at 22 or 23… it's why maybe I changed. I'm safe now but this gave me a lesson. That's why I changed many things in my mind and in my life.
At the start of the
2008–09 season, Tottenham made their worst start to a campaign since 1912, losing six and drawing two of their opening eight
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
matches. At that time, Assou-Ekotto's chances of first-team football were limited and he claimed that he wanted to leave England to go back to French football. However, Spurs manager
Harry Redknapp decided to give Assou-Ekotto the chance to play in the team. He improved rapidly with regular matches and became first choice towards the end of the 2008–09 season. Having regained his fitness in the 2008–09 season, he became the North London club's first-choice left back due to a string of good performances under Redknapp. He started the
2009 League Cup final against
Manchester United, where he played exceptionally well up against
Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward and captains the Portugal national team. He is currently a free agent. Widely regarded as one of the greatest p ...
.
Even though Tottenham lost the match on penalties, Assou-Ekotto made left back his own position for the rest of the season as he made such a performance throughout the final. On 19 August 2009, he signed an extension to his contract keeping him at the club until June 2013. Manager Redknapp praised Assou-Ekotto, saying, "I think he has been injured before but I have been very impressed with him this season as he has been in great form. He has looked an outstanding left back."
2009–2015
Assou-Ekotto scored his first career goal in a 2–1 win over
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
on the opening weekend of the
2009–10 Premier League season with a half-volley from 20 yards. He was rewarded for this fine form with a four-year contract extension on 19 August. During mid-season, he temporarily lost his place to youngster
Gareth Bale but regained it when Redknapp moved Bale onto the left wing.
Assou-Ekotto started the
2012–13 season well with a career fifth goal from 25 yards out against
West Bromwich Albion
West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...
, but was sidelined after three league matches with a knee injury.
On 2 September 2013, Assou-Ekotto signed on a season-long loan with
Queens Park Rangers
Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...
, with QPR manager Harry Redknapp also signing
Niko Kranjčar and
Tom Carroll from his former team. Assou-Ekotto made his debut for the club 16 days later against
Brighton & Hove Albion
Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...
at
Loftus Road
Loftus Road is a football stadium in White City, London, England, which is home to Queens Park Rangers.
In 1981, it became the first stadium in British professional football to have an artificial pitch of Omniturf installed. This remained in ...
, coming on as a first-half substitute to replace
Nedum Onuoha
Chinedum Onuoha (born 12 November 1986) is an English former professional footballer and television pundit for ESPN. He also works for Manchester City as a community ambassador.
As a player he was a centre back, but could also play at right ba ...
in a goalless draw. He played 27 league matches and helped QPR return to the Premier League via the play-offs.
On 2 February 2015, having played no part in the season, he was released from his contract by the club.
Later career
On 1 July 2015, French Ligue 1 club
Saint-Étienne signed Assou-Ekotto on a one-year contract.
"Officially at St Étienne so happy – back in football," he wrote on Twitter after not having played for the entire 2014–15 season.
During the course of the 2015–16 season Assou-Ekotto made 20 league appearances and 4 in the
UEFA Europa League
The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...
.
On 16 August 2016, newly promoted Ligue 1 club
Metz
Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand ...
signed Assou-Ekotto to a one-year contract after he served his one year with Saint-Étienne.
International career
Assou-Ekotto made his debut for
Cameroon
Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...
against
Guinea in a friendly match on 11 February 2009. He also played the full 90 minutes in Cameroon's 1–0 surprise
2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying
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 ...
defeat to
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 ...
on 28 March 2009. He was named in Cameroon's
2010 Africa Cup of Nations squad but was forced to withdraw prior to the tournament due to injury. Assou-Ekotto was also named in
Paul Le Guen
Paul Joseph Marie Le Guen (, ; born 1 March 1964) is a French professional football manager and former player. He was most recently the manager of Ligue 2 club Le Havre.
During his playing career, Le Guen played as a midfielder, and enjoyed a su ...
's final 23-man roster for the
2010 World Cup
, image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg
, size = 200px
, caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...
in South Africa and played every minute of Cameroon's three matches.
In an interview with the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
as a teenager, but that "I told them I don't need to go because there is no point to wear the French shirt, I don't have feelings with French players".