Valentin Sébastien Roger Roberge (born 9 June 1987) is a 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 for Cypriot club AEK Larnaca FC as a centre-back. Born in France, he represents

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...

at international level.

Club career

Early years

Born in Montreuil, Seine-Saint-Denis, Roberge had spells with hometown's ESD Montreuil, Les Lilas FC and

Paris FC Paris Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris FC or simply PFC, is a French professional football club based in Paris, that competes in the Ligue 2, the second tier of French football. Paris FC play their home matches at the Stade C ...

before joining

En Avant Guingamp En Avant Guingamp (, en, Forward Guingamp), commonly referred to as EA Guingamp, EAG, or simply Guingamp (), is a professional football club based in the commune of Guingamp in France's Brittany region. The club was founded in 1912 and play i ...

for his senior debut, but he went on to appear only for the reserve side. For the 2007–08 season he signed with Paris Saint Germain FC, but met the exact same fate.

Aris and Marítimo

In the summer of 2008, Roberge signed for Aris Thessaloniki FC, penning a three-year contract. He made his debut against

Panathinaikos F.C. Panathinaikos Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ Παναθηναϊκός Α.Ο. ), known as Panathinaikos, or by its full name, and the name of its parent sports club, Panathinaikos A.O. or PAO (; ''Panathinaïkós Athlitikós Ómilos'', "All-Athenian ...

but, midway through his

second year Second year (also known as S2 in Scotland) is the second year of schooling in secondary schools in Scotland and in the Republic of Ireland, and is roughly equivalent to Year 9 in England and Wales and Year 10 (Third Form) in Northern Ireland. M ...

in the Super League Greece, an economic crisis took hold of the club, and he went five months without being paid before his link was terminated. Following his release, Roberge moved to Portugal's

C.S. Marítimo Club Sport Marítimo MH M, commonly known as Marítimo ( locally ), is a Portuguese sports club founded in Funchal, Madeira, in 1910. Marítimo is best known for its football team playing in Portugal's top-flight competition, the Primeira Lig ...

after a successful trial. He started in all of his 25 Primeira Liga appearances in the 2011–12 campaign, helping the Madeirans to finish fifth and qualify for the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

Sunderland

On 10 June 2013,

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 Sunderland announced the signing of Roberge on a free transfer. He made his debut on 17 August in a 0–1 home defeat against Fulham, and scored his first goal on 24 September in the 2–0 home win over

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

in the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

, heading in an Adam Johnson cross. Roberge left the Stadium of Light in June 2016, with only 13 competitive matches to his credit.

Apollon Limassol

Roberge joined

Apollon Limassol FC Apollon Limassol FC ( el, Απόλλων Λεμεσού, ''Apollon Lemesou'') is a Cypriot sports club, based in Limassol. It has football, basketball and volleyball teams. Founded in 1954, Apollon FC currently plays in the Cypriot First Divis ...

in the 2016 off-season. He won several accolades during his spell, including the

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division ( el, Πρωτάθλημα Α΄ Κατηγορίας) is the top tier football league competition in Cyprus, run by the Cyprus Football Association. Since February 2016, it is sponsored by Cyta and is thus officially ...

in 2021–22.

International career

In September 2022, Roberge became a Cypriot citizen. He won his first

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

for the national team on the 24th at the age of 35, in a 1–0 victory against

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

in the

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is a biennial international football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The first tournament began in September 2018. The ...

. He scored his first goal three days later, but in a 5–1 loss in

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

in the same competition.

Career statistics

Honours

Apollon Limassol *

: 2021–22 *

Cypriot Cup The Cypriot Cup () is the main cup competition in Cypriot football, run by the Cyprus Football Association (CFA). It began in 1934, the same season with the Cypriot Championship. It is the second most important competition for Cypriot club team ...

: 2016–17; runner-up: 2017–18 *

Cypriot Super Cup The Cypriot Super Cup is a Cypriot football trophy, contested in an annual match between the previous season's Cypriot First Division champions, and the Cypriot Cup winners. The match is contested at the beginning of the football season, and is u ...

: 2016, 2017, 2022

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Roberge, Valentin 1987 births Living people French emigrants Immigrants to Cyprus Naturalized citizens of Cyprus Cypriot people of French descent French men's footballers Cypriot men's footballers Naturalised association football players Footballers from Montreuil, Seine-Saint-Denis Men's association football central defenders Ligue 1 players Stade de Reims players Super League Greece players Aris Thessaloniki F.C. players Primeira Liga players C.S. Marítimo players Premier League players Sunderland A.F.C. players Cypriot First Division players Apollon Limassol FC players AEK Larnaca FC players Cyprus men's international footballers French expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus French expatriate sportspeople in Greece French expatriate sportspeople in Portugal French expatriate sportspeople in England French expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus