Igor Mavuba Vetokele (born 23 March 1992) 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

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 ...

for

Belgian First Division A The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 team ...

club

Westerlo Westerlo () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises seven towns: * Westerlo centrum * * Tongerlo * Heultje * Voortkapel * Oosterwijk * In 2021, Westerlo had a total population of 25,288. The ...

. Born in Belgium, he plays for the Angola national team.

Club career

Cercle Brugge

Vetokele started his youth career at Oostende in 2006 and after a year at the youth club he joined

Gent Gent is a shortened form of the word gentleman. It may also refer to: * Ghent (Dutch: Gent), a Belgian city ** K.A.A. Gent, a football club from Ghent ** K.R.C. Gent, a football club from Ghent ** Gent RFC, a rugby club in Ghent ** .gent, a ...

. There, manager

Bob Peeters Bob Peeters (born 10 January 1974) is a Belgian football manager and former player currently manager of Eerste Divisie club Helmond Sport. Club career Lierse Noted for his large stature, measuring 1.96 m, Peeters grew up in Wommelgem, Antwerp ...

saw him play and was impressed with his playing style. Vetokele appeared as an unused substitute in the last game of the season. On 31 August 2011 Vetokele joined

Cercle Brugge Cercle Brugge Koninklijke Sportvereniging () is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges. Cercle have played in the Belgian Pro League since the 2003–04 season, having previously spent several years in the Belgian Second Divisio ...

on a permanent transfer, where he rejoined Peeters. Vetokele made his Cercle Brugge debut, coming on as a substitute for Kevin Janssens in the 87th minute, in a 0–0 draw against

Lierse Koninklijke Lierse Sportkring (), often simply known as Lierse, was a Belgian professional football club from the city of Lier in the Antwerp province. Lierse have won four championship titles and two Belgian Cups. Lierse was one of the six Be ...

on 17 September 2011. On 5 October 2011 Vetokele scored his first goal for the club, in a 2–1 win over

Mechelen Mechelen (; french: Malines ; traditional English name: MechlinMechelen has been known in English as ''Mechlin'', from where the adjective ''Mechlinian'' is derived. This name may still be used, especially in a traditional or historical contex ...

. In his first season at Cercle Brugge Vetokele made thirty-six appearances and scored eight goals in all competitions. In the opening game of the season Vetokele scored his first goal of the season in a 3–3 draw against Genk and went on to make four more appearances before leaving Cercle Brugge for Copenhagen.

Copenhagen

On 20 August 2012, Vetokele joined

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

on a four-year contract with a fee of DKK 7,500,000. Prior the move, Danish newspapers reported that the club were linked to Vetoleke after finding a replacement for

Dame N'Doye Dame N'Doye (born 21 February 1985) is a Senegalese former professional footballer who played as a forward. He spent the better part of his career with Copenhagen, serving two spells at the club and becoming its all-time topscorer in 2018. He ...

, who left for Lokomotiv Moscow. He made his debut for F.C. Copenhagen in the last minutes of

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 ...

in a Champions League playoff match against

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

side

Lille OSC Lille Olympique Sporting Club (), commonly referred to as LOSC, LOSC Lille or simply Lille, is a French professional football club based in Lille, Hauts-de-France that competes in Ligue 1, the top flight of French football. Lille has played its ...

at Grand Stade Lille Métropole. Vetokele later recalled playing in the Champions League as a "nice experience". Vetokele scored on his league debut, on 15 September 2012, just two minutes after coming on as a substitute, in a 2–1 win over

Nordsjælland North Zealand, also North Sealand ( da, Nordsjælland), refers to the northern part of the Danish island of Zealand which is not clearly defined but generally covers the area north of Copenhagen. The Danish tourist authorities have recently in ...

. Vetokele scored his first European goal in the last game of the group stage, in a 1–1 draw against Steaua București, which saw Copenhagen eliminated from the Europa League tournament. However, his first season was poor as he made only fifteen appearances and scored only three times. Despite this, the club ended up winning the

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 ...

, in a season where he had been struggling with muscle injury. After a poor first season, Vetokele's goal drought continued, until it came to an end on 1 September 2013, in a 4–1 win over Viborg. Vetokele then scored three braces during the season against Nordsjælland on 2 November 2013, then against Viborg on 24 November 2013 and Brøndby on 1 December 2013. Two days after the Danish Cup Final, Vetokele scored the opener, in a 3–2 victory against OB, to ensure second place and earning the club a place in the Champions League. The goal also confirmed Vetokele as the club's top goalscorer with thirteen goals. Vetokele previously stated he hoped to score more goals throughout the season. On 17 June 2014, F.C. Copenhagen accepted a bid from Championship side

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...

. Copenhagen agreed to the sale after the club purchased

Steve De Ridder Steve Danny Marc De Ridder (born 25 February 1987) is a Belgian footballer who plays as a winger for Sint-Truiden. He has played in the Netherlands for De Graafschap and FC Utrecht and in England for Southampton and Bolton Wanderers. He was ...

as they could no longer guarantee him first team football.

Charlton Athletic

On 24 June 2014,

completed the signing of Vetokele from

for £2.4 million on a five-year deal. Upon joining Charlton, Vetokele spoke of the move as a new challenge. Vetokele made his competitive debut in a friendly match, a 0–0 draw against Sint-Truiden on 6 July 2014. After three goals in the pre-season friendlies, Vetokele scored on his Championship debut, putting Charlton ahead in a 1–1 draw away to League new-boys

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 ...

. He scored his second against Derby County, his third against Huddersfield Town and then scored twice against Brighton & Hove Albion. On 5 September, he was named Championship player of the month for August. Vetokele then scored in a 1–1 draw against

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

on 4 October 2014, ending his five-game goal drought. After missing two games due to fitness concerned during a match against

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...

, Vetokele scored on his return on 1 November 2014, in a 1–1 draw against

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 scored seven days later, in a 1–0 win over

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

. He then scored three goals in three matches against Norwich City, Brentford and Wigan Athletic In his first season at Charlton Athletic Vetokele went on to make 33 appearances in all competitions, scoring 11 times. On 24 June 2016, Vetokele joined

Zulte Waregem Sportvereniging Zulte Waregem (), commonly known as Zulte Waregem or by their nickname Essevee (), is a Belgian professional football club based in Waregem, West Flanders. Zulte Waregem plays in the Belgian First Division A. Their highest finish a ...

on a season long loan deal. He was released by Charlton at the end of the 2018–19 season.

Westerlo

On 26 June 2019, Vetokele joined

International career

Vetokele has represented Belgium at various youth levels, from under 16 to under 21. In May 2014, Vetokele pledged his commitment to play for

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Copenhagen *

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

* Danish Cup runner-up: 2013–14 Westerlo *

Belgian First Division B The Challenger Pro League (previously known as ''1B Pro League'') is the second-highest division in the Belgian football league system, one level below the Belgian First Division A. It was created by the Royal Belgian Football Association in 201 ...

: 2021–22

References

External links

www.cafc-fans.co.uk
* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vetokele, Igor 1992 births Living people Sportspeople from Ostend Footballers from West Flanders Angolan footballers Angola international footballers Belgian footballers Belgium youth international footballers Belgium under-21 international footballers Belgian people of Angolan descent Belgian expatriate footballers Angolan expatriate footballers K.A.A. Gent players Cercle Brugge K.S.V. players F.C. Copenhagen players Charlton Athletic F.C. players S.V. Zulte Waregem players Sint-Truidense V.V. players K.V.C. Westerlo players Danish Superliga players English Football League players Challenger Pro League players Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Expatriate footballers in England Angolan emigrants to Belgium Angolan expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Association football forwards Belgian expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Angolan expatriate sportspeople in England Belgian expatriate sportspeople in England