Merlin Abdoulaye Tandjigora (born 6 April 1990) is a Gabonese 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

central 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 ...

Career

Born in

Port-Gentil Port-Gentil () or Mandji is the second-largest city of Gabon, and it is a leading seaport. It is the center of Gabon's petroleum and timber industries. The city is located on a delta island in the Ogooue delta with no bridges to the mainland. Nea ...

, Tandjigora was a player of the national football school located in his hometown. On 9 July 2010, he became the first player from the academy to sign a professional contract with a

European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...

club after signing a one-year contract with Metz. Tandjigora arrived at Metz in 2009 and joined the club's

Championnat de France amateur 2 The Championnat National 3, commonly referred to as simply National 3 and formerly known as Championnat de France Amateur 2, is a football league competition. The league serves as the fifth division of the French football league system behind ...

team for the 2009–10 season. He played in 21 matches and scored two goals as the reserve team of Metz were crowned champions of the league finishing with 107 points. After the season, Tandjigora signed his first professional contract and was, subsequently, promoted to the senior team and assigned the number 12 shirt by new

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

Dominique Bijotat Dominique Bijotat (born 3 January 1961) is a French football manager and former professional player who played as a midfielder. He obtained eight international caps (no goals) for the France national team during the 1980s. Club career Bi ...

. He made his professional debut on 30 July 2010 in a

Coupe de la Ligue The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in Football in France, French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was est ...

match against Clermont. Tandjigora started the match and played 76 minutes in a 3–1 defeat. He made his league debut a week later in a 2–0 defeat to

Évian Evian ( , ; , stylized as evian) is a French company that bottles and commercialises mineral water from several sources near Évian-les-Bains, on the south shore of Lake Geneva. It produces over 2 billion plastic bottles per year. Today, Evia ...

. Tandjigora was formerly a Gabonese youth international having earned caps with the nation's under-20 team in qualification for the

2009 African Youth Championship The 2009 African Youth Championship is a football tournament for under 20 players. It was held in Rwanda from 18 January until 1 February 2009. It also served as qualification for the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Qualification Preliminary round ...

. On 30 September 2010, he was called up to the senior team for the first time by coach

Gernot Rohr Gernot Rohr (born 28 June 1953) is a German professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of the Nigerian national team. Managerial career In 1996, he managed Girondins de Bordeaux to the UEFA Cup final, whe ...

for matches against

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of t ...

and

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

. He competed for Gabon at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. On 13 December 2019 it was confirmed, that Tandjigore had joined

S.C. Vila Real Sport Clube Vila Real ''(abbreviated as SC Vila Real )'' is a Portuguese football club based in Vila Real in the district of Vila Real. Background SC Vila Real currently plays in the Terceira Divisão Série B which is the fourth tier of Portu ...

.Merlin Tandjigora é reforço do SC Vila Real
desportivotransmontano.com, 13 December 2019

Honours

Club

Stade Mandji *

Gabon Championnat National D1 Gabon Championnat National D1 is the top division of the Gabonese Football Federation, it was created in 1968. Gabon Championnat National D1 Clubs - 2015/16 *Bitam (Bitam) * Cercle Mbéri Sportif (Libreville) *FC 105 Libreville (Libreville) * Ma ...

: 2009

References

External links

Merlin Tandjigora profile
a
fcmetz.com
* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tandjigora, Merlin 1990 births Living people People from Ogooué-Maritime Province Men's association football midfielders Gabonese men's footballers Gabonese expatriate men's footballers Ligue 2 players Liga Portugal 2 players China League One players Primeira Liga players Championnat National players Championnat National 2 players AS Stade Mandji players FC Metz players USJA Carquefou players FC Istres players Leixões S.C. players Meizhou Hakka F.C. players C.F. Os Belenenses players B-SAD players S.C. Vila Real players Djoliba AC players Olympic footballers for Gabon Footballers at the 2012 Summer Olympics 2017 Africa Cup of Nations players Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in China Expatriate men's footballers in Mali Gabonese expatriate sportspeople in France Gabonese expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Gabonese expatriate sportspeople in China Gabon men's international footballers 21st-century Gabonese people