Jonathan Sundy Zongo (born 6 April 1989) is a Burkinabé retired

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 winger or

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 ...

. He was a Burkina Faso international, appeared between 2013 and 2017. He spent the better part of his 11-year senior career in Spain, appearing in 111 competitive matches for

Almería Almería (, , ) is a city and municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of the same name. It lies on southeastern Iberia on the Mediterranean Sea. Caliph Abd al-Rahman III founded the city in 955. The city gr ...

and taking part in two

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 ...

seasons with the club. He also played professionally in Thailand.

Club career

Almería

Born in

Ouagadougou Ouagadougou ( , , ) is the capital and largest city of Burkina Faso and the administrative, communications, cultural, and economic centre of the nation. It is also the country's largest city, with a population of 2,415,266 in 2019. The city's n ...

, Zongo began his career with hometown club US Ouagadougou. In October 2010, he moved to Spain and joined UD Almería, being initially assigned to the

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

in the

Segunda División B Segunda División B ( en, Second Division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish Foot ...

. One month after arriving he suffered a knee injury, going on to miss several weeks. Zongo made his official debut with the

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...

ns' main squad on 13 January 2011, coming on as a second-half substitute for

Kalu Uche Kalu Uche (born 15 November 1982) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a forward. He spent most of his career in Spain, mainly with Almería, with which he amassed La Liga totals of 117 matches and 27 goals (212 appearances and ...

in a 1–0 home win against Deportivo de La Coruña in the quarter-finals of the

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...

. He played his first game in the

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 ...

on 29 January of the following year, against Gimnàstic de Tarragona. Again coming from the bench, Zongo scored his first goals for Almería on 19 May 2012, netting a late brace in a 2–0 home victory over AD Alcorcón. For the 2012–13 season he was promoted to the first team, and appeared mostly from the bench in the early stages. However, in January, after the departures of

Aarón Ñíguez Aarón Ñíguez Esclápez (born 26 April 1989) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a winger. A Valencia youth graduate, he was capped by Spain at various youth levels, and competed mainly in Segunda División during his career, ...

and Leonardo Ulloa, he began being more utilised in manager Javi Gracia's starting XI as a winger, keeping his place under Gracia's successor Francisco. On 28 June 2013, Zongo was definitely promoted to Almería's main squad, with the club in

. In August, however, he declined a first-team contract, being again demoted to the reserves. On 12 November he finally agreed to a deal, running until 2017. Zongo played his first match in the Spanish top division on 4 January 2014, featuring the last 19 minutes in a 3–0 home defeat of Granada CF and becoming the first Burkinabé footballer to appear in the competition. He scored his first league goal late in the month, the only in a win over

Getafe CF Getafe Club de Fútbol (), or simply Getafe, is a professional football club based in Getafe, a city in the Community of Madrid. The team competes in La Liga, the highest tier of the Spanish football system. The club's home stadium (owned and op ...

also at the

Estadio de los Juegos Mediterráneos Power Horse Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Almería, Spain. It is the home ground of UD Almería, and holds 15,274 people. History Inaugurated on 31 July 2004 and originally built for the 2005 Mediterranean Games, the stadium cost around ...

. On 16 December 2014, in a 2–1 home win against

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito Vill ...

in the Copa del Rey, Zongo scored from 50 metres to lob goalkeeper Dani Giménez. He was regularly used during the campaign, but the side suffered relegation. Zongo suffered a knee injury while on international duty in January 2017 and was sidelined for several months. His contract expired before he was fully recovered, and he left the club.

Later years

On 8 January 2019, following a lengthy period as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

, Zongo signed for

Thai League 2 Thai League 2 ( th, ไทยลีก 2), commonly known as the T2, formally called Thai Division 1 League, is the second-tier professional league in the Thai football league system. The top 3 are promoted to Thai League 1 at the end of the s ...

side Army United FC. He returned to Spain on 16 August, agreeing to a deal at

CF Badalona Club de Fútbol Badalona () is a Spanish football team based in Badalona, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1903 it plays in Tercera Federación – Group 5, temporarily holding home games at Estadi Municipal de Badalona, with ...

of the third tier. Zongo announced his retirement from professional football on 23 December 2020 at the age of 31, after failing to completely recover from his 2017 injury.

International career

On 7 August 2013, Zongo was called up to the Burkina Faso national team for a

friendly Friendly may refer to: Places * Friendly, West Yorkshire, a settlement in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England * Friendly, Maryland, an unincorporated community in the United States * Friendly, Eugene, Oregon, a neighborhood in the United States * ...

with

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

. He made his debut seven days later, playing the full 90 minutes in a 2–1 away win. On 21 May of the following year he scored his first international goal, the equaliser in a 1–1 draw against

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 � ...

.Match Amical International, Burkina Faso # Sénégal: 1–1 – Manque de réalisme des Etalons (International friendly, Burkina Faso # Senegal: 1–1 – Unrealistic ''Etalons'')
AOuaga, 22 May 2014 (in French) In January 2017, during a

2017 Africa Cup of Nations The 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (abbreviated as AFCON 2017 or CAN 2017), known as the Total 2017 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 31st edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's football champions ...

match against

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 ...

, Zongo suffered a severe knee injury.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zongo, Jonathan 1989 births Living people Footballers from Ouagadougou Burkinabé men's footballers Men's association football wingers Men's association football forwards US Ouagadougou players La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players UD Almería B players UD Almería players CF Badalona players Jonathan Zongo Jonathan Zongo Burkina Faso men's international footballers 2015 Africa Cup of Nations players 2017 Africa Cup of Nations players Burkinabé expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Thailand Burkinabé expatriate sportspeople in Spain Burkinabé expatriate sportspeople in Thailand 21st-century Burkinabé people