Peniel Kokou Mlapa (born 20 February 1991) is a Togolese

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 striker. He also holds German citizenship.

Career

Early life and career

Born in

Lomé Lomé is the capital and largest city of Togo. It has an urban population of 837,437

, Togo, Mlapa emigrated to Germany as a young child. He began his youth career with FC Ismaning, but in 1999, he moved to

TSV 1860 Munich , commonly known as TSV 1860 München (; lettered as ) or 1860 Munich, is a sports club based in Munich. The club's football team currently plays in the 3. Liga, the third tier of German football. 1860 Munich was one of the founding members o ...

. He made his debut for 1860's U19 team on 12 September 2008 against 1. FC Heidenheim. Over the 2008–09 season, he made two appearances as a substitute for 1860's reserve side, both of which came in victories, but he remained a regular for the U19s.

1860 Munich

On 17 May 2009, Mlapa made his debut in professional football as a stoppage time substitute against Alemannia Aachen He scored his first senior goal for 1860 on 4 October against

St. Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

. In the next game against

MSV Duisburg Meidericher Spielverein 02 e. V. Duisburg, commonly known as simply MSV Duisburg (), is a German association football club based in Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia. Nicknamed ''Die Zebras'' for their traditional striped jerseys, the club was on ...

, Mlapa appeared in the starting lineup for the first time and scored again.

1899 Hoffenheim

In the summer of 2010, Mlapa joined the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

side

Hoffenheim Hoffenheim () is a village in Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It belongs to the municipality of Sinsheim and, as of 2020, it has a population of 3,191. History The village, settled since prehistoric times, and first mentione ...

, signing a contract through 2013. He scored his first goal for the club in the DFB-Pokal against

Hansa Rostock FC Hansa Rostock () is a German association football club based in the city of Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The club is also called as "the cog" because of its club crest. They have emerged as one of the most successful clubs from the forme ...

. In all, Mlapa scored five times in 54 Bundesliga games for TSG 1899 Hoffenheim.

Borussia Mönchengladbach

In May 2012, Mlapa joined Borussia Mönchengladbach for €3 million. The striker signed a four-year contract.

International career

On 7 October 2009, Mlapa made his debut for the German under-19s as a 90th-minute substitute against Luxembourg. A few weeks later, he was called up to represent

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...

in their final world cup qualifier, but he declined this invitation and progressed to the German under-21 squad. He finally accepted a call-up to the Togo national team for 2017 AFCON qualifiers against

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

in March 2016. On 1 June 2017, he made his debut with the Togolese national team, in a 3–0 defeat against Nigeria.

Personal life

The Togolese-born Mlapa acquired German citizenship in his childhood, thus becoming eligible for his adopted home country's national side.

Career statistics

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mlapa, Peniel Living people 1991 births Men's association football forwards Togolese men's footballers Togolese emigrants to Germany Naturalized citizens of Germany Togolese expatriate men's footballers Togo men's international footballers German men's footballers Germany men's youth international footballers Germany men's under-21 international footballers German people of Togolese descent TSV 1860 Munich players TSV 1860 Munich II players TSG 1899 Hoffenheim players Borussia Mönchengladbach players 1. FC Nürnberg players VfL Bochum players Dynamo Dresden players VVV-Venlo players Ittihad Kalba FC players Al-Nasr SC (Dubai) players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Eredivisie players UAE Pro League players Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in the United Arab Emirates Togolese expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands