Joel Zakarias Kabongo (; born 5 April 1998) is a Danish 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

centre-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 ...

Club career

Early career

Kabongo started playing for hometown club Albertslund IF before signing a youth contract with

Brøndby IF Brøndbyernes Idrætsforening (, usually abbreviated to Brøndby IF (), is a professional association football club based in Brøndbyvester, Capital Region of Denmark. The club was founded in 1964 as a merger between two local clubs and was p ...

. During his time in the youth teams, Kabongo was a part of the under-17 team that won the championship and the domestic cup. On 31 August 2017, Kabongo moved to

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

club

Fremad Amager Boldklubben Fremad Amager (meaning in English: The Ball Club Forward Amager ; abbreviated Fremad A) is a Danish professional football club based in the district of Amager Vest, Copenhagen. As of the 2020–21 season, the club's senior men's team ...

on loan until 1 January 2018. He made his first-team debut for Fremad on 3 September, coming on as a substitute for

Heini Vatnsdal Heini Vatnsdal (born 18 October 1991) is a Faroese professional football player. He currently plays for KÍ Klaksvík and for the Faroe Islands national football team. He plays as a midfielder. Vatnsdal has also played for the youth teams of t ...

in the 82nd minute of a 1–0 win home win against

Esbjerg fB Esbjerg forenede Boldklubber (; commonly known as Esbjerg fB or EfB in short) is a Danish professional football club based in Esbjerg, West Jutland, that plays in the 2nd division, the third-tier of the Danish football league system. Foun ...

Brøndby

After returning to Brøndby from his loan spell, Kabongo saw playing time in the team's pre-season friendlies, being in the starting lineup in a match against

Shakhtar Donetsk Football Club Shakhtar Donetsk ( uk, Футбольний клуб «Шахтар» Донецьк , short nickname "miners") is a Ukrainian professional football club from the city of Donetsk. In 2014, due to the War in Donbass, the club was f ...

. Kabongo made his official debut for Brøndby in the first match of the

2018–19 Danish Superliga The 2018–19 Danish Superliga season was the 29th season of the Danish Superliga. Midtjylland were the defending champions. The season started on 13 July 2018 and ended on 26 May 2019. Teams FC Helsingør finished as loser in the relegation pl ...

season, starting in a 2–0 away win over

Randers FC Randers FC () is a professional football club based in Randers, East Jutland, Denmark, that plays in the Danish Superliga, the top flight of the Danish football league system. Founded on 1 January 2003, the club builds upon the license of Rand ...

and playing the entire match. On 16 August 2018, Kabongo made his

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. It ...

debut, starting in a 2–1 home win over Spartak Subotica. His debut was short-lived, however, as he was sent off in the 15th minute for a

professional foul In various sports, a professional foul is a deliberate act of foul play intended to bring about an advantage for the perpetrator's team. Professional fouls are usually committed to prevent an opponent from scoring. Various sports contain provisi ...

on Dejan Đenić. On 26 August 2018, in a 2–1 win over

Vendsyssel FF Vendsyssel Forenede Fodboldklubber is a professional football club based in Hjørring, Denmark. The team competes in the Danish 1st Division, the second tier of Danish football. The club plays home matches at Nord Energi Arena, which has a capaci ...

, Kabongo was sent off again, this time for a 92nd minute foul on

Sander Fischer Sander Fischer (born 23 September 1988) is a Dutch professional association football, footballer who plays as a centre back for VV Capelle. Club career He formerly played for NAC Breda, SC Cambuur, FC Emmen, AGOVV Apeldoorn, AGOVV, SBV Excelsio ...

, resulting in a penalty and Kabongo being shown a second yellow card. On 22 April 2019, in a match against

FC Midtjylland FC Midtjylland (, "Central Jutland") is a Danish professional football club based in Herning and Ikast in the western part of Jutland. The club is the result of a merger between Ikast FS and Herning Fremad. Midtjylland competes in the Danish Su ...

, Kabongo suffered a cruciate ligament tear and was substituted in the first half. The initial prognosis suggested that he would miss 12 months. On 5 March 2020, Kabongo, alongside several other Brøndby personnel, was placed in home quarantine after having met with former Brøndby-player

Thomas Kahlenberg Thomas Zeuthen Kahlenberg (; born 20 March 1983) is a Danish former footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He started his career with Brøndby IF, winning two Danish Superliga championship, and played four seasons at French club Auxer ...

, who had tested positive for

SARS-CoV-2 Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), the respiratory illness responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had a ...

in the early stages of the

COVID-19 pandemic in Denmark The COVID-19 pandemic in Denmark is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The virus was first confirmed to have spread to Denmark ...

. Kahlenberg had been infected at a birthday party in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

, the Netherlands. Kabongo made his comeback in football on 21 May 2020 in a friendly against

Lyngby Kongens Lyngby (, Danish for "the King's Heather Town"; short form Lyngby) is the seat and commercial centre of Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality in the northern suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark. Lyngby Hovedgade is a busy shopping street and the site of ...

Randers

On 27 July 2021 it was confirmed, that Kabongo had left Brøndby to join fellow league club

on a three-year deal. He made his debut for the club on 8 August, coming on as a substitute for Frederik Lauenborg in the 88th minute in a 1–0 win. On 28 August, he was injured again and was initially sidelined for the match against

Silkeborg Silkeborg () is a Danish town with a population of 49,747 (1 January 2022).Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

account that he had suffered a more serious knee injury which had required surgery. On 1 August 2022, Randers FC announced that Kabongo had retired, aged 24, after failing to recover from a long-term knee injury originally sustained in a league match for Brøndby against Midtjylland in April 2019.

Personal life

Kabongo and his girlfriend, Melanie Litgov, have one daughter, Veneda (born 30 April 2020 at

Rigshospitalet Rigshospitalet (meaning ''The National'', ''State'' or ''Hospital of the Realm'', but not usually translated) is the largest public and teaching hospital in Copenhagen and the most highly specialised hospital in Denmark. The hospital's main buildi ...

Career statistics

Honours

Brøndby IF *

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 ...

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

Danish Cup The Danish Cup ( da, Landspokalturneringen; often referred to as Pokalen) is the official "knockout" cup competition in Danish football, run by the Danish Football Association. The cup has been contested annually since 1955. The winner will quali ...

: 2017–18

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kabongo, Joel 1998 births Living people Danish people of Zambian descent Danish men's footballers Denmark men's under-21 international footballers Denmark men's youth international footballers Men's association football defenders Brøndby IF players Fremad Amager players Randers FC players Danish Superliga players Danish 1st Division players People from Albertslund Municipality Footballers from the Capital Region of Denmark