Daniel Michel Cousin (born 7 February 1977) is a Gabonese 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 le ...

who played as a striker. He played for

Martigues Martigues ( in classical norm, ''Lou Martegue'' in Mistralian norm) is a commune northwest of Marseille. It is part of the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the eastern end of the Canal de Caronte. A dir ...

Chamois Niortais Chamois Niortais Football Club (often referred to as ''Les Chamois'', Chamois Niortais, or simply Niort) is a French association football club based in the commune of Niort, in the Deux-Sèvres department of western France. It was founded in 1 ...

Le Mans Union Club 72 Le Mans Football Club (; commonly referred to as Le Mans FC, formerly referred as Le Muc) is a French association football club based in Le Mans. The club was founded in 1985 as a result of a merger under the name Le Mans Union Club 72. In 2010 ...

RC Lens Racing Club de Lens (, commonly referred to as RC Lens or simply Lens) is a French professional football club based in the northern city of Lens in the Pas-de-Calais department. Its nickname, ''les sang et or'' (''the blood and gold''), come ...

, Rangers,

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Kingston upon Hull, Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving ...

Larissa Larissa (; el, Λάρισα, , ) is the capital and largest city of the Thessaly region in Greece. It is the fifth-most populous city in Greece with a population of 144,651 according to the 2011 census. It is also capital of the Larissa regiona ...

and Sapins, as well as the Gabon national team. In March 2019, Cousin formally signed a contract to serve as a coach of Gabon national team despite being confirmed in September 2018, but left a few weeks later before being appointed manager of French club ES Fos-sur-Mer.

Early life

Born in

Libreville Libreville is the capital and largest city of Gabon. Occupying in the northwestern province of Estuaire, Libreville is a port on the Komo River, near the Gulf of Guinea. As of the 2013 census, its population was 703,904. The area has been inh ...

Estuaire Province Estuaire is the most populous of Gabon's nine provinces. It covers an area of 20,740 km. The provincial capital is Libreville, which is also Gabon's national capital. The province is named for the Gabon Estuary, which lies at the heart of ...

, Cousin () moved to

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 ...

, France, when he was three.

Club career

France

Cousin played in the lower leagues in France for

and

Niort Niort (; Poitevin: ''Niàu''; oc, Niòrt; la, Novioritum) is a commune in the Deux-Sèvres department, western France. It is the prefecture of Deux-Sèvres. The population of Niort is 58,707 (2017) and more than 177,000 people live in the u ...

before moving to

. He joined

in the summer of 2004. Whilst at

he appeared in 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 Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

in both 2005–06 and 2006–07 starting 13 games with 2 appearances as a sub netting 8 goals in the process. Lens qualified for the 2005–06 tournament after triumphing in the

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 ...

competition with Cousin starting in 5 games, making 3 sub appearances and scoring 3 goals including one in the final itself versus CFR Cluj of Romania.

Rangers

On 9 August 2007, Cousin arrived at

Murray Park Murray Park may refer to: Australia * Murray Park CAE (College of Advanced Education), South Australia * Murray River National Park, South Australia *Murray-Sunset National Park, Victoria *Murray Valley National Park, New South Wales Canada * ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

to hold contract talks over a move and signed a three-year deal for a reported fee of £750,000. He scored his first goal for Rangers on his debut in a 2–0 home league win against St Mirren on 11 August 2007, and scored twice on his first start a week later against

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a ...

. Cousin played at Ibrox, against Lyon in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

on 12 December 2007. Rangers lost 3–0 with Cousin playing the first half before getting substituted for

Steven Naismith Steven John Naismith (born 14 September 1986) is a Scottish former professional footballer. He is football development manager at Scottish club Heart of Midlothian. Naismith began his career with Kilmarnock in 2004. He spent four years with th ...

in that game. In November 2007 he was linked with a transfer away from Rangers, and it was reported that he had a release clause in his current contract which means he could leave in January 2008. This was denied by Rangers but the club did reveal there was a £3 million release clause during the 2008 summer transfer window. On 21 January 2008 it was reported that

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 Foo ...

side

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 ...

had had a £2 million bid rejected by Rangers manager

Walter Smith Walter Ferguson Smith (24 February 1948 – 26 October 2021) was a Scottish association football player, manager and director, primarily associated with his two spells as manager of Glasgow club Rangers. A defender, Smith's playing car ...

. The next day a bid of £3 million from Fulham activated a release clause, however

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

regulations meant Cousin required special dispensation to complete the move. On 29 January, the transfer was cancelled as FIFA did not grant permission but it later emerged that FIFA had not reached a decision over the transfer. On 29 February, FIFA announced it would not allow the deal to be completed. On 1 May 2008, Cousin was

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

during

extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...

of the

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fo ...

v Rangers

semi-final second leg match for a

headbutt A headbutt is a targeted strike with the head, typically (when intentional) involving the use of robust parts of the headbutter's cranium as the area of impact. The most effective headbutts strike the most sensitive areas of an opponent, such as ...

. Despite Cousin's sending off, Rangers progressed to win the game on penalties. A matter of days later, he did the same to

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...

defender

Lee Wilkie Lee Wilkie (born 20 April 1980) is a Scottish former footballer, who played as a central defender. Wilkie spent the majority of his career in Dundee, playing for both Dundee and Dundee United. Wilkie started his career with Dundee, making over 1 ...

, in a 3–1 win mired in refereeing controversy. Although he was not sent off, Cousin was widely criticised for his stupidity. On 31 August, Cousin scored the opening goal in the first

Old Firm The Old Firm is the collective name for the Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers, which are both based in Glasgow. The two clubs are by far the most successful and popular in Scotland, and the rivalry between them has become deeply em ...

match of the season. Rangers went on to win the match 4–2 and he was later sent off for two bookable offences. This was the player's final game for Rangers, but Rangers' then-assistant manager

Ally McCoist Alistair Murdoch McCoist, (; born 24 September 1962) is a Scottish former footballer who has since worked as a manager and TV pundit. McCoist began his playing career with Scottish club St Johnstone before moving to English side Sunderland i ...

said: "That was as good a centre-forward performance in an Old Firm game as I've ever seen from anybody. That particular day he was phenomenal.""Si Ferry Meets... Ally McCoist"
- Open Goal, YouTube, published on 16 April 2018

Hull City

On 1 September 2008, Cousin signed for English

side

on a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee. Cousin scored his first Hull goal against Arsenal at the

Emirates Stadium The Emirates Stadium (known as Arsenal Stadium for UEFA competitions) is a football stadium in Holloway, London, England. It has been the home stadium of Arsenal Football Club since its completion in 2006. It has a current seated capacity ...

on 27 September 2008. His header was the decisive goal and helped to exalt Hull City to a historic 1–2 victory against Arsenal at their home. He scored in a 4–3 defeat to

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

before scoring again at home to

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

. On 1 September 2009, a loan deal to Premier League rivals

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

fell through. In total, Cousin scored five goals in 33 matches for the Tigers.

Larissa

Cousin joined the Greek side

on loan for the second half of the 2009–10 season. He was the second player from

Gabon Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north ...

to play for Larissa after

Henry Antchouet Henri Arnaud Antchouet Rebienot (born 2 August 1979), known as Antchouet, is a Gabonese former footballer who last played the for French club FC Gobelins. Nicknamed "The Arrow" due to his agility, the striker spent most of his professional ca ...

. The transfer was made permanent on 18 August 2010. Despite a good performance the following season, Larissa were relegated from the top tier, and he left the club.

Sapins

On 13 October 2011, Cousin returned home to Gabon to play for local team

Sapins FC Sapin means "fir tree" in French. It may refer to: * Michel Sapin (born 1952), French politician * Sapin-sapin, a dessert in Philippine cuisine * Sapins FC, a Gabonese football club * The Kingdom of Sapin, a fictional country from the game '' Ace ...

in an attempt to boost his chances of playing at the

2012 Africa Cup of Nations The 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 28th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa organized by the Confederation of African Football ( ...

. The deal with Sapins allowed the striker to leave without any conditions if he received an offer from a club in Europe. Cousin was released by Sapins on 31 January 2012. Cousin agreed personal terms to rejoin Rangers until the end of the season, but Rangers entered

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative assistant, Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an admini ...

and had a transfer embargo applied by the

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...

. When Rangers attempted to register Cousin with the league, their application was rejected.

International career

Cousin made his debut for Gabon on 23 January 2000 in a 3–1 defeat to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. He participated in all three of Gabon's matches at the

2000 Africa Cup of Nations The 2000 African Cup of Nations was the 22nd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the association football championship of Africa (Confederation of African Football, CAF). It was co-hosted by Ghana and Nigeria, who jointly replaced Zimbabwe as ho ...

. On 2 September 2006, he was made captain of the national team and led them to a 4–0 win over

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

. He scored the only goal in a 1–0 win at the

2010 Africa Cup of Nations The 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange (telecommunications), Orange Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 27th Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial association football, football championship of Africa (Confederat ...

over

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 ...

Coaching career

On 4 September 2014, Cousin was named general manager of the Gabon national team. In September 2018, he became manager of the Gabon national team. He left in March 2019. On 20 May 2019, Cousin was appointed manager of French club ES Fos-sur-Mer. He was sacked on 30 September 2019. In June 2020, Cousin joined the technical staff of FC Côte Bleue, where he would be in charge of the attacking section of the U18 to the senior reserve of the French club.

Career statistics

International goals

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

Honours

Lens *

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

References

External links

* *
Daniel Cousin Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cousin, Daniel 1977 births Living people Sportspeople from Libreville Gabonese footballers Gabon international footballers 2000 African Cup of Nations players 2010 Africa Cup of Nations players 2012 Africa Cup of Nations players Association football forwards FC Martigues players Chamois Niortais F.C. players Le Mans FC players RC Lens players Gabonese emigrants to France Rangers F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players Athlitiki Enosi Larissa F.C. players Sapins FC players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Scottish Premier League players Premier League players Super League Greece players Gabonese football managers Gabon national football team managers Gabonese expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Scotland Gabonese expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate footballers in France Gabonese expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate footballers in Greece Gabonese expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate footballers in England 2014 African Nations Championship players Gabon A' international footballers