Martin Hongla Yma II (born 16 March 1998) is a Cameroonian 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 ...

who plays as a

defensive 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 boundari ...

or centre-back for club Granada and the Cameroon national team.

Club career

Born in

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 ...

, Hongla joined

Granada CF Granada Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. (), known simply as Granada, is a Spanish football club based in the city of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, that plays in the Segunda División, after being relegated from La Liga in the 2021� ...

in 2016, from Blaise Nkufo's Nkufo Sports Academy. He was initially assigned to the reserves in Segunda División B. Hongla made his senior debut on 21 August 2016, starting in a 1–1 home draw against

Atlético Mancha Real Atlético Mancha Real is a Spanish football team based in Mancha Real in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1984, the club competes in Segunda Federación – Group 5, holding home games at Estadio Polideportivo Municipal de La Juv ...

. He made his first team – and

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' ...

– debut on 28 January 2017, playing the full 90 minutes in a 2–0 defeat at

Villarreal CF Villarreal Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. ( ca-valencia, Vila-real Club de Futbol, S.A.D.), usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF or simply Villarreal, is a professional football club based in Villarreal, in the Castellón province of eastern Spain, ...

. Ahead of the 2017–18 season, Hongla was definitely promoted to the main squad, now in Segunda División. On 16 January 2018, he was loaned to fellow league team

FC Barcelona B FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Pakis ...

, for six months. On 3 July 2019, after a six-month loan to

FC Karpaty Lviv Football Club Karpaty Lviv ( ) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Lviv. History Early years (1963–68) The team of Karpaty was founded on 18 January, 1963. In 1961 Silmash Lviv won the championship of Lviv Oblast but lost its p ...

, Hongla joined

Royal Antwerp FC Royal Antwerp Football Club, often referred to as Royal Antwerp or simply Antwerp, is a Belgian football club based in the city of Antwerp. Founded around 1880 as ''Antwerp Cricket Club'' by English students residing in Antwerp, 15 years before ...

in the Belgian First Division A. On 9 July 2021, he joined Italian

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...

club

Hellas Verona Hellas Verona Football Club, commonly referred to as Hellas Verona or simply Verona, is a professional Italian football club based in Verona, Italy, that currently plays in Serie A. The team won the Serie A Championship in 1984–85. His ...

on loan with a conditional purchase obligation. On 31 January 2023, Hongla returned to Spain and its top tier, after agreeing to a six-month loan deal with

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid () or Valladolid, is a professional football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León, Spain that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish league system. The club c ...

. On 12 January 2024, Hongla returned to Granada. He reportedly signed a three-and-a-half-year contract for a transfer fee of €2.5 million.

International career

Hongla played at the 2015 African U-17 Championship,

2017 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations qualification The qualification phase of the 2017 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations decided the participating teams of the final tournament. A total of eight teams will play in the final tournament, to be hosted by Zambia. The draws were conducted during the CAF Exec ...

and the 2019 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations. He made his debut for Cameroon national team on 16 November 2020 in a Cup of Nations qualifier game against

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

, as a starter.

Career statistics

International

Honours

Antwerp *

Belgian Cup The Belgian Cup (french: link=no, Coupe de Belgique; nl, Beker van België []; german: link=no, Belgischer Fußballpokal) is the main Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in Belgium, run by the Belgia ...

: 2019–20 Belgian Cup, 2019–20 Cameroon * Africa Cup of Nations third place:

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hongla, Martin 1998 births Living people Footballers from Yaoundé Cameroonian men's footballers Men's association football central defenders Men's association football midfielders Men's association football utility players Cameroon men's international footballers Cameroon men's youth international footballers Cameroon men's under-20 international footballers 2021 Africa Cup of Nations players 2022 FIFA World Cup players La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Belgian Pro League players Serie A players Club Recreativo Granada players Granada CF footballers FC Barcelona Atlètic players Ukrainian Premier League players FC Karpaty Lviv players Royal Antwerp F.C. players Hellas Verona FC players Real Valladolid players Cameroonian expatriate men's footballers Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Expatriate men's footballers in Ukraine Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Italy