Franck Steve Songo'o (born 14 May 1987) is a retired professional Cameroonian

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 either 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 ...

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. His senior career had been spent primarily in the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

football league systems, and has also been

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

ped for the Cameroon national team.

Club career

Early career

Born in the Cameroonian capital,

Yaoundé Yaoundé (; , ) is the capital of Cameroon and, with a population of more than 2.8 million, the second-largest city in the country after the port city Douala. It lies in the Centre Region of the nation at an elevation of about 750 metres (2,50 ...

, Songo'o began his youth footballing career at Spanish club

Deportivo de La Coruña Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña (), Deportivo or simply Dépor, is a professional association football, football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. They currently p ...

. Franck's father,

Jacques Ancient and noble French family names, Jacques, Jacq, or James are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are over ...

, played for Deportivo's senior club and was part of the squad that won the

1999–2000 La Liga The 1999–2000 La Liga season, the 69th since its establishment, began on 21 August 1999 and ended on 20 May 2000. Deportivo La Coruña won their first league title with 69 points, the lowest for a champion since three points for a win was intr ...

championship. At Deportivo, Franck was spotted by Spanish club

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded ...

. He spent several years at Barcelona's youth facility centre,

La Masia La Masia de Can Planes, usually shortened to La Masia (; en, "The Farmhouse"), is a term used for FC Barcelona's youth academy. The academy includes more than 300 young players. It has been an instrumental factor in Barcelona's European success ...

, alongside future stars

Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés Messi (; born 24 June 1987), also known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Paris Saint-Germain and captains the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the ...

Cesc Fàbregas Francesc "Cesc" Fàbregas Soler (; ; born 4 May 1987) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Italian Serie B club Como. Fàbregas came through ''La Masia'', Barcelona's youth academy, leaving at 16 when h ...

, and

Gerard Piqué Gerard Piqué Bernabeu (, ; born 2 February 1987) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He is considered one of the best defenders of his generation. Initially a highly promising student at La Masia, Piqué ...

. Although Songo'o did not make an immediate impact on Barça's first team, he impressed other clubs, drawing interest from 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 Foo ...

Portsmouth

On 31 August 2005, Songo'o signed for

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

for a fee of £250,000. He made two appearances for Portsmouth in the 2005–2006 season. After several loan spells, on 13 January 2008, he made his third and final

appearance for Portsmouth as a second-half substitute for

Arnold Mvuemba Arnold Mvuemba Makengo (born 28 January 1985) is a French-Congolese professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Roeselare in the Belgian First Division B. Club career Mvuemba was born in Alençon, Orne, France. He was signed by Premi ...

against

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

while a number of Portsmouth's first eleven were away at the

African Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internati ...

in Ghana. He was then loaned out again to

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

and left England at the end of the season.

Loan spells

On 20 October 2006, Songo'o joined League 1 side

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest division of English club football. Formed in 1899 as B ...

on a one-month loan but failed to make an impact. On 8 March 2007, he signed with Championship club

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

on loan until the end of the season. He became

Neil Warnock Neil Warnock (born 1 December 1948) is an English former football manager and player. He is also a television and radio pundit. In a managerial career spanning five decades, Warnock has managed sixteen different clubs from the Premier League to ...

's first signing at

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building * ...

at the end of October 2007, returning to Portsmouth in the new year. On 7 March 2008, Songo'o joined Championship side

on an initial one-month loan deal from his parent club. Whilst making his debut for Sheffield Wednesday he showed his wealth of trickery as he performed the

rainbow kick The rainbow kick (also called the reverse flick-over, the rainbow flick, the Carretilha or the Lambreta in Brazil, the Lambretta in Italy, the Brazilian in Romania, the Ardiles flick in the UK, the ''arco iris'' in Spain, the Okocha-Trick in German ...

skill to bypass two

QPR 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 R ...

defenders in the last minute of the game. He scored his first goal in English football for Wednesday, scoring a late equaliser against

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

Spain

In the summer of 2008, Songo'o joined Spanish side

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system. Zaragoza holds its home games at La ...

, where he was given the number 11 shirt. Zaragoza played well in the

2008–09 Segunda División The 2008–09 Segunda División season (known from that season as Liga Adelante for sponsorship reasons) was the 78th since its establishment. The first matches of the season were played on 30 August 2008, and the season ended on 21 June 2009. R ...

and were promoted to

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

. Songo'o played limited minutes for Zaragoza in the top flight and was loaned to Segunda División side

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, S.A.D., more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad (; ''Royal Society''), La Real in Spanish, Erreala in Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, founded on 7 Septem ...

. On 6 September 2010, Zaragoza terminated Songo'o's contract. He then signed for another Segunda División club,

Albacete Albacete (, also , ; ar, ﭐَلبَسِيط, Al-Basīṭ) is a city and municipality in the Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha, and capital of the province of Albacete. Lying in the south-ea ...

.Songo'o, nuevo jugador del Alba
Songo'o only made six first-team appearances for Albacete, and when the club was relegated at the end of the 2011 season, he was released.

Portland Timbers

In January and February 2012, Songo'o practiced and played as a trialist with the

Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional men's soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The Timbers have played their home games at P ...

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 ...

.Newcomer Franck Songo'o Tries to Earn a Spot on the Timbers Roster
/ref> After assisting on four goals in four preseason games, Songo'o was signed to a contract by the Timbers on 16 February 2012. Songo'o was waived by Portland on 27 February 2013.

Greece

After a short spell with

Glyfada Glyfada ( el, Γλυφάδα, ) is a suburb in South Athens located in the Athens Riviera along the Athens coast. It is situated in the southern parts of the Athens' Urban Area. The area stretches from the foot of the Hymettus mountain to the Sar ...

in the

Football League South The Football League North and Football League South divisions of the Football League were created temporarily for the League to continue through the Second World War while limiting the amount of movement that was required by teams. The leagues star ...

, Songo'o signed for Superleague outfit

PAS Giannina PAS Giannina Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ ΠΑΣ Γιάννινα 1966), or with its full name Panepirotikos Athlitikos Syllogos Giannina ( el, Πανηπειρωτικός Αθλητικός Σύλλογος Γιάννινα, ''Panepirotic Athleti ...

on 1 January 2014.

International career

France U-19

Although he was born in Cameroon, he has represented the French under-19 international team.

Cameroon national team

In 2008 Songo'o applied to

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 ...

for a change in nationality to allow him to play in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The request was granted, and Songo'o was named in the Cameroon national squad for the games. He earned his first cap 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 ...

in the 2010 World Cup Qualifiers match against

Cape Verde , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...

on 6 September 2008. In November 2012, Songo'o was called up for the first time in four years. He came on as a second-half substitute in a friendly against

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

on 14 November 2012.

Personal life

The Songo'o family has raised many footballers. Franck is the son of former Cameroonian national team goalkeeper

Jacques Songo'o Jacques Celestin Songo'o (born 17 March 1964) is a Cameroonian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, and is the current goalkeeper coach of the Cameroon national team. He spent the vast majority of his professional career ...

, who featured for Spanish side

Deportivo La Coruña ''Deportivo'' (Spanish, 'sporting') may refer to: * Deportivo de La Coruña, commonly known as simply Deportivo, a Spanish football club * Déportivo, a French rock band * Deportivo (Mexicable), an aerial lift station in Ecatepec, Mexico * Deport ...

in the late 1990s and early 2000s. His brother,

Yann Songo'o Yann Songo'o (born 19 November 1991) is a professional footballer who plays as a defender for Bradford City. Born in France, he has represented Cameroon at youth level. Club career Early years Songo'o began his career in Spain, playing in Depor ...

, was formerly on the books of

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

. Near the end of his playing career it was reported that Franck Songo'o was becoming involved with several businesses in

A Coruña A Coruña (; es, La Coruña ; historical English: Corunna or The Groyne) is a city and municipality of Galicia, Spain. A Coruña is the most populated city in Galicia and the second most populated municipality in the autonomous community and s ...

owned by his father.

References

External links

* * *
BBC Profile

Cameroon change Olympic squad

Fifa clears Songo'o for Cameroon

Songo’o To Attend Olympics
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Songo'o, Franck 1987 births Living people Sportspeople from Yaoundé French sportspeople of Cameroonian descent Cameroonian footballers Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in the United States French footballers Association football midfielders Premier League players English Football League players Portsmouth F.C. players AFC Bournemouth players Preston North End F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players La Liga players Segunda División players Tercera División players FC Barcelona C players Real Zaragoza players Real Sociedad footballers Albacete Balompié players Major League Soccer players Portland Timbers players PAS Giannina F.C. players Cameroon international footballers Footballers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers of Cameroon Cameroonian expatriate footballers French expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate soccer players in the United States Expatriate footballers in Greece France youth international footballers