Alain N'Kong (born 6 April 1979) is a Cameroonian former professional football who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

Club career

N'Kong was born in

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 ...

, Cameroon. Early in his career, he played all over the world, including

Las Palmas Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife), the most populous city in the auto ...

in Spain,

Nacional Nacional, the Portuguese and Spanish word for "national", may refer to: Airlines * Nacional Transportes Aéreos, a Brazilian airline defunct in 2002 * Transportes Aéreos Nacional, a Brazilian airline defunct in 1961 Bank * Banco Nacional, a ...

in Uruguay, and

FC Paços de Ferreira FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Pakis ...

in Portugal. N'Kong signed with

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

club

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 1995, as part of the Anschutz Corporation, lat ...

prior to the 2005 season. Despite having a successful season, he was released in November 2005. He returned to Colorado in August 2006 but was again waived at the end of the season, subsequently joining

Atlante F.C. Atlante Fútbol Club, is a professional football club based in Mexico City, Mexico. Founded in 1916, Atlante were original members of the Mexican Primera División when it began in 1943. Atlante has won three national league championships, t ...

On 11 August 2007, he scored the first goal in the newly renovated

Estadio Quintana Roo A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

Cancún Cancún ( ), often Cancun in English (without the accent; or ) is a city in southeast Mexico on the northeast coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. It is a significant tourist destination in Mexico and the seat ...

as well as his first goal for Atlante, against Pumas. He became the first African player to win a league title in Mexico, in Apertura 2007 with Atlante. After Atlante won its championship, N'Kong was released from the team becoming a free agent. In the Apertura 2008 he returned to Mexico where he played with

Club Leon Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a '' Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

in the Primera "A". He signed with French side

US Boulogne Union Sportive de Boulogne-sur-Mer Côte d'Opale (commonly referred to as US Boulogne or frequently, simply Boulogne) is a French association football club based in the commune of Boulogne-sur-Mer. The club was founded in 1898 and currently pl ...

in November 2008 on a one-season deal. N'Kong went on to play for Indios de Ciudad Juarez for the Apertura 2009, he signed a one-year contract. On 5 April 2012, he joined Arema Indonesia (ISL). N'Kong moved to Persepam Madura Utama in 2012.

International career

N'Kong represented

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

at various youth levels and appeared with the full national team in qualifiers for the

2002 FIFA 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 ...

. On 7 February 2008, he scored the winning goal with a finish from a

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 ...

through pass which sent Cameroon into the final of the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations knocking out hosts

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

. Cameroon lost the final 0–1 against defending champions

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 ...

Career statistics

:''Scores and results list Cameroon's goal tally first.''

Honours

Canon Yaoundé * Cameroonian Cup: 1999 Villa Española *

Uruguayan Segunda División Segunda División Profesional is the second division of professional football in Uruguay, established in 1942. The league is sometimes referred to as ''Primera B''. Segunda División was first held in 1942 to replace amateur Divisional Intermed ...

: 2001 Atlante * Mexican Primera División: Apertura 2007 León *

Primera División A Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air, a former airline * Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues * Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas * Alí Primera, Venezuelan musician, compos ...

: Clausura 2008 Cameroon * Africa Cup of Nations runner-up:

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

References

External links

*
Profile at FrenchLeague.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:N'Kong, Alain 1979 births Living people Cameroonian men's footballers Footballers from Yaoundé Men's association football midfielders Cameroon men's international footballers 2008 Africa Cup of Nations players La Liga players Major League Soccer players Liga MX players Ligue 2 players Liga 1 (Indonesia) players Canon Yaoundé players S.C. Freamunde players C.S.D. Villa Española players UD Las Palmas players F.C. Paços de Ferreira players Club Nacional de Football players Colorado Rapids players Atlante F.C. footballers Club León footballers US Boulogne players Indios de Ciudad Juárez footballers Aceh United F.C. players Arema F.C. players Persebaya Surabaya players Persepam Madura Utama players Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Uruguay Expatriate men's footballers in Uruguay Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate men's footballers in France Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Indonesia Expatriate men's footballers in Indonesia