Thomas N'Kono (born 20 July 1956) 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, rugby lea ...

. One of the greatest goalkeepers from the continent of Africa, he was mainly associated with Espanyol, whom he represented for almost a decade playing more than 300 official matches. N'Kono appeared for the Cameroon national team in three

World Cups A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

, and four

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...

tournaments.

Playing career

Club

N'Kono was born in Dizangue. After playing in his country with

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

and

Tonnerre Yaoundé Tonnerre Kalara Club of Yaoundé is a professional football club based in Yaoundé, Cameroon. The club was most prominent during the 1980s, winning all of their 5 national championships. They have also won the national cup 5 times. Among the clu ...

he moved to Spain with

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

in 1982, after solid performances in the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

played in that country; he received the France Football African Footballer of the Year award in that year, and also in 1979. N'Kono hardly ever missed a game while with the

Catalans Catalans ( Catalan, French and Occitan: ''catalans''; ; ; or ) are a Romance ethnic group native to Catalonia, who speak Catalan. The current official category of "Catalans" is that of the citizens of Catalonia, a nationality and autono ...

, going on to make 333 competitive appearances. In the 1988–89 season, however, he was not able to help prevent the team's

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

relegation, and was eventually replaced by Vicente Biurrun. N'Kono played three more years in Spain, incidentally also in Catalonia, with

CE Sabadell FC Centre d'Esports Sabadell Futbol Club, S.A.D. () is a historical List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Sabadell ( Catalonia) Founded in 1903, its first men's team plays in the . Its first CE Sabadell (women), women's tea ...

(

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

) and CE L'Hospitalet. He retired in his 40s at

Club Bolívar Club Bolívar () is a Bolivian professional football club that currently plays in the Bolivian Primera División. Founded in 1925 in honor of military leader Simón Bolívar, the club has used light blue kits throughout its history, which is why ...

from Bolivia, and subsequently returned to his main club as a goalkeeping coach, helping develop young talent and countryman Carlos Kameni. N'Kono placed second in

IFFHS The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for so ...

' "African Goalkeeper of the Century" elections, behind Joseph-Antoine Bell.

International

A Cameroonian international for almost two decades, N'Kono was included in three

squads:

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

and

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

. In the first tournament, he was the starter as the nation went out in the group stage without any defeats, while in the second they lost in the quarter-finals against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. The 37-year-old N'Kono was called as backup to Bell in the last minute of the 1994 edition's preparations and did not play.

Coaching career

N'Kono served as assistant coach to the Cameroon national team, at the same time as being goalkeeping coach at former club Espanyol. In 2002, he was arrested by Malian police for allegedly using "

black magic Black magic (Middle English: ''nigromancy''), sometimes dark magic, traditionally refers to the use of Magic (paranormal), magic or supernatural powers for evil and selfish purposes. The links and interaction between black magic and religi ...

", prior to the

African Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...

semi-final against

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

(3–0 win). He was dragged onto the running track after stepping onto the pitch at the ''26 March Stadium'' alongside coach

Winfried Schäfer Winfried "Winnie" Schäfer (born 10 January 1950) is a German football manager and former player who is the technical director for the Ghana national football team. Playing career Winfried Schäfer played 403 Bundesliga matches and scored 46 goa ...

, and eventually received a one-year ban, which was then lifted, although he was not allowed to sit on the bench for the final; the former also received an apology from the office of the Malian president. N'Kono, who was the national side's goalkeepers coach, also worked briefly as

interim manager Interim management is the temporary provision of management resources and skills. Interim management can be seen as the short-term assignment of a proven heavyweight interim executive manager to manage a period of transition, crisis or change wi ...

after German

Otto Pfister Otto Martin Pfister (born 24 November 1937) is a German former football manager and one of Germany's most successful coaching exports, voted Africa's ''Manager of the Year'' in 1992. He is formerly the manager of the Afghanistan national team. ...

resigned in protest. The following month, as Paul Le Guen took the reins of the team, he was reset in his old post.

Style of play

N'Kono was a strong and athletic goalkeeper, who was known in particular for his speed, agility, reactions, positioning, and ability to produce acrobatic saves. One of his most notable characteristics was his ability to come out and punch the ball away with power when crosses were delivered into the area; his aggressive style inspired

Gianluigi Buffon Gianluigi Buffon (; born 28 January 1978) is an Italian former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. Widely regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, he is ...

as a youngster. In addition to his goalkeeping abilities, N'Kono was also known for his moustache and for wearing long trackpants instead of shorts; furthermore, he also had a penchant for performing flamboyant and acrobatic celebrations during matches. Unlike compatriot Bell, he preferred to position himself in deeper areas, rather than rushing out to sweep up the ball.

Legacy

Buffon declared that he decided to play in the goalkeeping position after seeing N'Kono's performances at the 1990 World Cup. In addition, he named his first son Louis Thomas in the Cameroonian's honour.

Honours

Canon Yaoundé *

Elite One The Championnat du Cameroun de football (also known as MTN Elite One since 2007 for sponsorship reasons) is the highest division of professional association football league system in Cameroon, governed by the Cameroonian Football Federation sin ...

: 1974, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1982 *

CAF Champions League The CAF Champions League, known for sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League and formerly the African Cup of Champions Clubs, is an annual football club (association football), club football competition organized by the Conf ...

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

Espanyol *

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

runner-up: 1987–88 Bolívar *

Liga de Fútbol Profesional Boliviano Liga (Spanish and Portuguese: ''League'') or LIGA may refer to: Sports Basketball * Liga ACB, men's professional basketball league in Spain * Liga Femenina de Baloncesto, women's professional basketball league in Spain Football Latin Amer ...

: 1996,

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

Cameroon *

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

; runner-up:

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

Individual *

African Player of the Year The African Footballer of the Year award, presented to the best African footballer each year, has been conferred by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) since 1992. Samuel Eto'o and Yaya Touré have won the award the most times (four wins ...

: 1979, 1982 *La Liga Team of The Year: 1982–83, 1985–86, 1988–89 * MasterCard African Team of the 20th Century: 1998 *

International Federation of Football History & Statistics The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for so ...

All-time Africa Men's Dream Team: 2021

References

External links

* * *
Biography at CamLions
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nkono, Thomas 1956 births Living people Sportspeople from Littoral Region (Cameroon) 20th-century Cameroonian sportsmen Cameroonian men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Canon Yaoundé players Tonnerre Yaoundé players La Liga players Segunda División players RCD Espanyol footballers CE Sabadell FC footballers CE L'Hospitalet players Bolivian Primera División players Club Bolívar players CAF Champions League–winning players Cameroon men's international footballers 1982 FIFA World Cup players 1990 FIFA World Cup players 1994 FIFA World Cup players 1982 African Cup of Nations players 1984 African Cup of Nations players 1986 African Cup of Nations players 1990 African Cup of Nations players Africa Cup of Nations–winning players Cameroonian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Bolivia Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Bolivia African Footballer of the Year winners Cameroonian football managers Cameroon national football team managers RCD Espanyol non-playing staff