Pierre Nlend Womé (born 26 March 1979) is a Cameroonian 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, rugb ...

who played as a defender. A

journeyman A journeyman, journeywoman, or journeyperson is a worker, skilled in a given building trade or craft, who has successfully completed an official apprenticeship qualification. Journeymen are considered competent and authorized to work in that fie ...

, Womé was a versatile and skillful left wingback who played for 14 clubs in six countries. At international level, he made 68 FIFA-official appearances scoring 1 goal for the Cameroon national team.

Club career

After spending his youth career at Fogape Yaoundé and the relatively eminent regional side

Canon Yaoundé Canon Sportif de Yaoundé, commonly known as Canon Yaoundé, is a Cameroonian association football club based in capital city of Yaoundé. The club was formed in 1930 and play their games at Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo. Their most successful period was ...

, Womé moved to Italy from Cameroon in the summer of 1996 to start his professional career. He began his senior career at

Vicenza Calcio L.R. Vicenza, commonly referred to as Vicenza, is an Italian football club based in Vicenza, Veneto. Founded in 1902 as Associazione del Calcio in Vicenza, they became Lanerossi Vicenza in 1953, then Vicenza Calcio from 1990 to 2018, a year whi ...

and spent almost seven years playing in Italy until moving to English

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

side

Fulham FC Fulham Football Club is an English professional football club based in Fulham, London, which compete in the . They have played home games at Craven Cottage since 1896, other than a two-year period spent at Loftus Road whilst Craven Cottage unde ...

in August 2002. He was sold to

Bologna F.C. 1909 Bologna Football Club 1909, commonly referred to as Bologna (), is an Italian professional football club based in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna that plays in Serie A, the top flight of Italian football. The club have won seven top-flight titles, two C ...

in a co-ownership deal for 6 billion lire in 1999, until Roma acquired him for 2 billion lire in the same summer that

Francesco Antonioli Francesco Stefano Antonioli (born 14 September 1969) is an Italian former footballer who played as goalkeeper. He was the oldest footballer in Serie A until his club Cesena were relegated to Serie B at the end of the 2011–12 season, after wh ...

Amedeo Mangone Amedeo Mangone (born 12 July 1968 in Milan) is an Italian association football coach and former player, who played as a defender. He currently serves as head coach of Italian amateur club Villa Valle. Playing career A product of A.C. Milan's ...

and Alessandro Rinaldi joined Roma for 10 billion lire, 13 billion lire and 6 billion lire respectively. In June 2000 Bologna acquired Womé outright for a fee of 1 million lire. During his time in England at Fulham, Womé scored once in the league, in a 3–0 win over West Brom in February 2003. After playing for some notable clubs, including

RCD Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league s ...

F.C. Internazionale Milano Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is ...

and

SV Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen (), Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen, Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, they are best known for the ...

, Womé joined

1. FC Köln 1. Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e. V., commonly known as simply FC Köln () or FC Cologne in English, is a German professional football club based in Cologne in North Rhine-Westphalia. It was formed in 1948 as a merger of the clubs ''Kölner Ball ...

in the summer of 2008 and left the team on 30 June 2010. In late February 2012, it was announced that Womé would join

Coton Sport FC de Garoua Coton Sport Football Club de Garoua, or simply Coton Sport, is a Cameroonian football club based in Garoua. They play their home games at the Stade Omnisport de Garoua, commonly known as the Roumde Adjia Stadium. The club is chaired by Sadou Fern ...

in his homeland. From 2012 to 2014, Womé played for

, also of the

Elite One The Championnat du Cameroun de football (also known as MTN Elite One since 2007 for sponsorship reasons) is the top division of association football in Cameroon, governed by the Cameroonian Football Federation since its establishment in 1961. ...

. In January 2014, he moved to Canon Yaoundé's league rivals

UMS de Loum Union des Mouvements Sportifs de Loum (known simply as UMS de Loum) is a Cameroonian professional football club based in Loum. They are a member of the Cameroonian Football Federation and Elite One, the topflight football league of Cameroon. C ...

. After not having made an appearance under two coaches, he decided to leave the city and return to

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 ...

. The club's president, Pierre Kwemo, threatened to take Womé to court for "fraud and breach of trust". In March, two months after joining the club, he agreed the termination of his contract. In March 2014, shortly after his release by UMS de Loum, he joined Renaissance de Ngoumou. In September 2014, Womé signed with

Championnat National The Championnat de France National ( en, French National Championship), commonly referred to as simply National or Division 3, serves as the third division of the French football league system behind Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. Contested by 18 clubs, ...

side

FC Chambly Football Club Chambly Oise, commonly known as Chambly, is a French football club based in Chambly in the Hauts-de-France region. Their home stadium is the Stade des Marais in the town, and they compete in the Championnat National 2, the fourth ...

. In 2015, he joined French fourth-tier side

US Roye-Noyon Union Sportive Roye-Noyon Cœur de Picardie is a French association football club founded in 2010 as a result of a merger between Union Sportive Royenne (founded in 1928) and Sporting Club Noyon (founded in 1927). It is based in Roye, Somme, F ...

International career

Womé was a regular starter in the left back position for Cameroon during the late 1990s and early 2000s. He was a key member of the squads that won consecutive African Cup of Nations titles in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

and 2002 and the

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

gold medal in 2000. All three tournaments were won on penalty shoot-outs, and Womé was a taker in all three victories. In the Olympic gold medal match, Womé scored the fifth and decisive penalty to win the title for his country. He also scored from the spot in the 2000 African Cup of Nations final, but his penalty in the following tournament was saved by

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

's Tony Sylva. Womé also played as Cameroon's first choice left back in the

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

and

2002 World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial football world championship for men's national teams organized by FIFA. It was held from 31 May to 30 June 2002 at sites in South Korea an ...

s. On 8 October 2005, Womé missed a 95th-minute

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) A p ...

during Cameroon's final World Cup qualifier against

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

that would have sent the ''Indomitable Lions'' to the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host th ...

; unfortunately for Womé he cannoned the shot off the outside of the post and Ivory Coast qualified at their expense. During a press conference several days afterward, Womé said about the penalty: “No one wanted to take that penalty. No one. Neither

Samuel Eto'o Samuel Eto'o Fils (; born 10 March 1981) is a Cameroonian football administrator and former player who is the current president of the Cameroonian Football Federation from 11 December 2021. In his prime, Eto'o was regarded by pundits as one of ...

nor our captain

Rigobert Song Rigobert Song Bahanag (born 1 July 1976) is a Cameroonian former professional footballer who is the manager of the Cameroon national team. Known for his defensive skills, Song usually played as a centre-back but could also operate at right-back ...

, because they knew what could have happened if they missed. I have always had the courage and I went to the spot.” He also claimed that some Cameroon fans wanted to kill him. On 19 March 2007, Womé announced his retirement from international football. He later returned to the team in 2009 for a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification match against

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 t ...

Post-playing career

In March 2017, Womé was appointed sporting director of

by the club's president Emmannuel Mve.

Honours

Club

Werder Bremen *

DFL-Ligapokal The DFL-Ligapokal (, officially Premiere Ligapokal , previously DFB-Ligapokal ) or the ''German League Cup'' was a German football competition that took place before the start of the Bundesliga season, featuring the top five teams of the previous B ...

: 2006

International

Cameroon * Africa Cup of Nations: 2000, 2002 *

Olympic Gold Medal Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wome, Pierre 1979 births Living people Sportspeople from Douala Association football defenders Cameroonian footballers Canon Yaoundé players L.R. Vicenza players S.S.D. Lucchese 1905 players A.S. Roma players Bologna F.C. 1909 players Serie A players Serie B players Fulham F.C. players RCD Espanyol footballers Brescia Calcio players Inter Milan players SV Werder Bremen players 1. FC Köln players UMS de Loum players Renaissance FC de Ngoumou players US Roye-Noyon players FC Chambly Oise players Premier League players La Liga players Bundesliga players Cameroonian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in France Olympic footballers of Cameroon Olympic gold medalists for Cameroon Footballers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Cameroon under-20 international footballers Cameroon international footballers 1996 African Cup of Nations players 1998 African Cup of Nations players 2000 African Cup of Nations players 2002 African Cup of Nations players 2006 Africa Cup of Nations players 1998 FIFA World Cup players 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2002 FIFA World Cup players Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Olympic medalists in football Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics