Dominique Sossorobla Malonga (born 8 January 1989) 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 le ...

who plays as a

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

for Icelandic club

Þór Akureyri Íþróttafélagið Þór, commonly known as Þór Akureyri, simply Þór or Thór, is a multi-sport club in Akureyri, Iceland. It features departments in Basketball, football, Handball and Taekwondo. Its main rivals is another sport club from A ...

. Malonga has previously played for Italian sides Torino,

Foggia Foggia (, , ; nap, label= Foggiano, Fògge ) is a city and former ''comune'' of Apulia, in Southern Italy, capital of the province of Foggia. In 2013, its population was 153,143. Foggia is the main city of a plain called Tavoliere, also known ...

, Cesena, Vicenza and

Pro Vercelli Football Club Pro Vercelli 1892, commonly referred to as Pro Vercelli, is an Italian football club based in Vercelli, Piedmont. The club is mostly renowned as one of the most successful teams in the early football era of Italy, with seven natio ...

, as well as Murcia and Elche in Spain, Hibernian in Scotland, Servette in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, Chania in Greece,

Cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...

in Canada and

Lokomotiv Plovdiv PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv ( bg, ПФК Локомотив Пловдив), commonly known as Loko Plovdiv, is a Bulgarian professional football club based in Plovdiv. Lokomotiv's home ground is the Lokomotiv Stadium which is situated in Lauta Park ...

in Bulgaria.

Early life

Born in Châtenay-Malabry, France, Malonga grew up in the suburbs of Paris to Congolese parents. Malonga grew up supporting Monaco, and later ended up joining the club's youth team. Malonga later described his time at Monaco, quoting: ''"It is beautiful and Monte Carlo is beautiful and we were very privileged, because in the stadium we had a school and everything we needed. It was a great, great, great centre. They don’t get many people going to their games, though. The money is good but the fans are not as good. It is better to play here."''.

Club career

Torino

In 2007, after three years at Monaco, Malonga joined Torino, where he would stay until 2011. Malonga stated that he felt moving to Italy gave him confidence and that he wasn't scared. He made his Serie A debut on 23 September 2007, against

A.C. Siena Associazione Calcio Robur Siena 1904, commonly referred to as Siena, is an Football in Italy, Italian football club based in Siena, Tuscany. The club was re-incorporated in 2020 after the bankruptcy of the previous legal entity Robur Siena, whi ...

. However, his time at Torino was plagued with injuries. He spent a period on loan at

while at Torino.

Cesena

After a successful loan with the Serie B champions, he signed for Cesena in a co-ownership deal for €750,000.AC Cesena Report and Accounts on 30 June 2011 In June 2011 Cesena acquired Malonga outright for another €1.4 million, making him cost €2.15 million. (i.e. they paid Torino an additional €650,000 on top of the €750,000 already booked in the balance sheets for co-ownership) He also signed a new 3+1 year contract. However the club relegated at the end of

2011–12 Serie A The 2011–12 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM after its headline sponsors) was the 110th season of top-tier Italian football, the 80th in a round-robin tournament, and the second since its organization under a league committee separate from S ...

, which saw Malonga sent out on loan to other clubs for the rest of his contract. On 31 August 2012, Malonga joined Serie B side Vicenza on a season-long loan. Malonga made his debut soon after against Cesena and scored in a 3–1 win. Malonga would then add three more goal in his next three games against

Juve Stabia Società Sportiva Juve Stabia is an Italian football club based in Castellammare di Stabia, Campania. Juve Stabia currently plays in Serie C, the third tier of Italian football system. History The football in Castellammare di Stabia From St ...

, Hellas Verona and

Brescia Calcio Brescia Calcio, commonly referred to as Brescia (), is an Italian football club based in Brescia, Lombardy, that currently plays in . The club holds the record for total number of seasons (64) and consecutive seasons (18, from 1947–48 to 1 ...

. At the end of the season, Malonga had scored a total of 10 goals at Vicenza. On 2 September 2013, he joined Spanish

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

side Real Murcia on a season-long loan. After making the move to Spain, Malonga stated that his aim for the season was to score more than the ten goals he had produced at Vicenza. Malonga made his debut for the club on 21 September 2013, coming on as a substitute in the 60th minutes, in a draw against SD Eibar. It took until 15 December 2013 for Malonga to score his first goal for the club, in a 3–1 win over

Barcelona B Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. Malonga would score four further goals that season, thus failing to achieve his aim of scoring ten in the season. Malonga was released by Cesena on 24 July 2014 ahead of the 2014–15 season.

Hibernian

On 5 September 2014, it was announced that Malonga had joined Hibernian on a two-year contract. He scored on his debut as Hibernian beat Cowdenbeath 3–2 on 13 September 2014. On 26 October 2014, Malonga scored the opening goal in the

Edinburgh Derby The Edinburgh derby is an informal title given to any football match played between Scottish clubs Heart of Midlothian (Hearts) and Hibernian (Hibs), the two oldest professional clubs based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The two clubs have a fierce r ...

against Hearts, but a late equaliser meant Hibernian had to settle for a 1–1 draw. On 22 November 2014, he scored a hat-trick as Hibernian won 6–3 away at Dumbarton. His contract was due to finish in the summer of 2016 but left the club on 27 January 2016. Malonga's last goal for Hibernian was scored in his penultimate appearance for the club, during a Scottish Cup Fourth Round match win against Raith Rovers. Hibernian would go on to win the tournament for the first time in 114 years.

Pro Vercelli

Malonga subsequently returned to Italy, signing for Serie B side

for an undisclosed fee from Hibernian.

Elche

Malonga left Pro Vercelli in January 2017 by mutual consent and subsequently joined

side Elche.

Servette

On 28 August 2017, Malonga signed with

Swiss Challenge League The Challenge League is the second-highest tier of the Swiss football league system and lower of two professional leagues in the country. Ten teams play in the Challenge League; the winners of the league are promoted to the Super League, while the ...

side Servette. He made six substitute appearances that season in the league and one substitute appearance in the

Swiss Cup The Swiss Cup (; ; ; ) is a football cup tournament that has been organised annually since 1925–26 by the Swiss Football Association. Since 1999 the winner earns the chance to qualify for the UEFA Europa League or the UEFA Europa Conference L ...

, but failed to make an appearance in the second half of the season.

Chania

After leaving Servette in the summer, Malonga went on trial with Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 side

Club Africain Club Africain ( ar, النادي الإفريقي) is a Tunisian football club based in Tunis that competes in the Tunisian Championship. It fields several sports teams, including football, handball, basketball, swimming and volleyball. The foot ...

in August 2018. On 12 September 2018, Malonga signed with

Greek Football League The Football League ( el, Φούτμπολ Λιγκ) was the second highest professional football league in Greece since its inception in 1962 as ''Beta Ethniki'' and until 2019. It then served as a third tier after the creation of the Super Lea ...

side Chania Kissamikos. On 27 October 2018, he made his debut as a 59th-minute substitute against Sparta and scored a penalty. He would make five more league appearances that season, including two starts.

Cavalry FC

On 27 March 2019, Malonga signed with Canadian Premier League side Cavalry FC. Malonga was a key player in Cavalry's inaugural season, scoring thirteen goals in all competitions, and being nominated for CPL Player of the Year, as Cavalry finished the season as runners up. Malonga would not be listed on Cavalry's training camp roster for the 2020 season, ending his time with the club after one season.

Lokomotiv Plovdiv

On 6 March 2020, Malonga signed a contract with

Bulgarian First League The First Professional Football League ( bg, Първа професионална футболна лига, Parva Profesionalna Futbolna Liga), also known as the Bulgarian First League or Parva Liga, currently known as the efbet League for spon ...

club

. On 1 July 2020, he came on as a substitute during the Bulgarian Cup final and scored one of the penalties in the shootout to help Lokomotiv Plovdiv defeat CSKA Sofia and lift the trophy. Despite performing well during his few appearances for the "railwaymen", Malonga left the club in mid July 2020, in part due to physical fitness issues and not being considered a good fit for the style of football promoted by the manager

Bruno Akrapović Bruno Akrapović (born 26 September 1967) is a Bosnian professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. Club career Starting his career in his native Bosnia, at the time part of Yugoslavia, Akrapović spent the majo ...

KPV and Þór Akureyri

On 26 February 2021, Malongo joined Finnish club Kokkolan Palloveikot, also known as KPV. He made seven appearances for the club, before he moved to Icelandic club

in the beginning of July 2021.

International career

On 30 August 2012, he received a call-up to the Congo national team. Malonga also previously represented France U19. Malonga was again selected by the Congo in November 2014. He made his first full international appearance in 1–0 win for Congo against

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

. The victory for Congo secured their qualification for the

2015 Africa Cup of Nations The 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations, Equatorial Guinea 2015 for sponsorship reasons, was the 30th staging of the Africa Cup of Nations, the international men's football championship of Africa. It was orga ...

. Malonga was named as a substitute for all four of Congo's matches in the Cup of Nations in January 2015, coming on during the second half in three of them, including the quarter-final defeat at the hands of neighbours

D.R. Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Club

Calvary FC *

Canadian Premier League Finals The Canadian Premier League Finals is the annual championship game of the Canadian Premier League (CPL), the top level of Canadian soccer. As of the 2021 Final, it is played as a single match hosted by the higher seeded team. The winner is award ...

: runners-up

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

* Canadian Premier League (Regular season): Spring 2019, Fall 2019 Lokomotiv Plovdiv * Bulgarian Cup: 2019–20

References

External links