Abdoul Rachid Achille Rouga (born 10 June 1987) is a

Benin Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the nort ...

ese 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 ...

who played as a defender. A Rennes youth product, he played for lower-league teams in France, the Netherlands, and England and spent one season with

Benin Premier League The Benin Premier League, also called ''Championnat National du Bénin'' in French, is the highest football division in Benin. The league was held in 1969 for the first time. Currently, the initial round is a double round-robin tournament, with 36 ...

side with Avrankou Omnisport FC. In 2008, he made one appearance for the Benin national team.

Club career

Rouga was born in

Parakou Parakou is the largest city in northern Benin, with an estimated population of around 206,667 people, and capital of the Borgou Department. Administratively the commune of Parakou makes up one of Benin's 77 communes. Since 2015, its mayor is Sour ...

, Benin. He was on the books of

Stade Rennais F.C. Stade Rennais Football Club (), commonly referred to as Stade Rennais FC, Stade Rennais, Rennes, or simply SRFC, is a French professional football club based in Rennes, Brittany. They compete in Ligue 1, the top tier of French football, and pla ...

, but never played a senior match. He left Rennes in summer 2008 to join . He left F.C. Flers after one year for Dutch club for Unitas '30 from Etten-Leur. In summer 2010 he returned to Benin where he signed with Avrankou Omnisport FC. In summer 2011 he returned to Europe, with English-based

Basingstoke Town Basingstoke Town Football Club is a football club based in Basingstoke, Hampshire, England. The club are currently members of the and play at the Winklebury Sports Complex. Their motto, 'Vestigia Nulla Retrorsum', means 'Never a step backward' ...

. After one game for Basingstoke he left the club in December 2011 to join

Isthmian League Division One North The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 teams ...

side

Waltham Forest The London Borough of Waltham Forest () is a London borough in north-east London, England. Its population is estimated to be 276,983 in 2019. It borders five other London boroughs: Enfield to the north-west, Haringey to the west, Hackney to t ...

. After the end of the 2012 season he was released by Waltham Forest and in December 2012 signed with the

Non-League Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to d ...

club UK Football Finder Football Club of the

Spartan South Midlands League The Spartan South Midlands Football League is an English football league covering Hertfordshire, northwest Greater London, central Buckinghamshire and southern Bedfordshire. It is a feeder to the Southern Football League or the Isthmian League, ...

International career

Rouga earned his first reputation with the Benin national team squad during the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, where he was a last minute inclusion to the roster. His selection was a shock to his French club who did not even know he had gone on a pre-tournament tour to Brazil. He held five caps; his first game was on 19 November 2008 against Egypt.Rachid Rouga Info Générales

References

1987 births Living people People from Parakou Men's association football defenders Beninese men's footballers 2008 Africa Cup of Nations players Stade Rennais F.C. players Waltham Forest F.C. players Basingstoke Town F.C. players Avrankou Omnisport FC players Beninese expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Beninese expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate men's footballers in France Beninese expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England Benin men's international footballers {{Benin-footy-bio-stub