Joseph-Désiré Job (born 1 December 1977) is a 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 left-winger or

attacking 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 ...

. Born in France, Job represented the Cameroon national team. After starting his career in France, Job moved to English team

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

, where he spent six years and is most remembered for scoring one of the two goals in the 2004 League Cup Final, where Middlesbrough won their first ever trophy. He also played for clubs in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and Belgium. Whilst playing for Saudi club

Al-Ittihad Al-Ittihad (Arabic: الاتحاد "The Union"), sometimes transliterated as Al-Etihad or Al-Ettihad may refer to: Sports Football Libya *Al-Ittihad Club (Tripoli), a football club based in Bab Ben Gashier * Al Ittihad Gheryan, a football club bas ...

, he won the

2005 AFC Champions League The 2005 AFC Champions League was the 24th edition of the top-level Asian club football tournament and the 3rd edition under the current AFC Champions League title. The championship was retained by the Saudi Arabian club Al-Ittihad with a 5–3 ...

and scored in the final.

Club career

Lyon

Job was born in the French city of

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

and began training with the Olympique Lyonnais youth academy at the age of ten. He made his debut for the club in the

Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from la, Inter, 'between' + german: toto, 'betting pool'),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. often abbreviated and more known in the German-speaking world as UI Cup and originally called the International Foo ...

when he was nineteen years old in

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

, scoring a hat-trick as the club beat Polish club

Odra Wodzisław Odra may refer to: Rivers * Odra (Poland), also known as Oder, a river in Czech Republic, Poland and Germany * Odra (Kupa), a river in Croatia * Odra (Spain), a river in Spain Populated places * Odra, Silesian Voivodeship, a village in south ...

5–2.

Lens

Job joined

RC Lens Racing Club de Lens (, commonly referred to as RC Lens or simply Lens) is a French professional football club based in the northern city of Lens in the Pas-de-Calais department. Its nickname, ''les sang et or'' (''the blood and gold''), co ...

on 1 August 1999. He scored a number of goals for Lens in the

1999–2000 UEFA Cup The 1999–2000 UEFA Cup season was the 29th edition of the UEFA Cup competition. The final took place at Parken Stadium in Copenhagen and was won by Galatasaray, who defeated Arsenal in the final. The game was scoreless through the first nin ...

as they reached the semi-final stage.

Middlesbrough

's then manager

Bryan Robson Bryan Robson OBE (born 11 January 1957) is an English football manager and former player. He began his career with West Bromwich Albion in 1972, where he amassed over 200 appearances and was club captain before moving to Manchester United in ...

signed Job in 2000 for £3 million, where he scored 19 goals in 94 appearances for the club. He also scored 20 minutes into his debut against

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed t ...

. After struggling to hold down a regular place in the team, he was sent on loan to French Ligue 1 club

FC Metz Football Club de Metz, commonly referred to as FC Metz or simply Metz (), is a French association football club based in Metz, Lorraine. The club was formed in 1932 and plays in Ligue 2, the second division in the French football league sys ...

in December 2001, until the end of the season. On 30 November 2002, Job cracked his skull in a clash of heads with

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...

player

Darren Moore Darren Mark Moore (born 22 April 1974) is a professional football manager and former player who played as a centre-back. He is the current manager of Sheffield Wednesday. Born in England, he earned two international caps for Jamaica. Moore is a ...

and was knocked unconscious on the pitch. On 29 September 2003, Job twisted his knee in training and was expected to be out of action for four months, just after scoring the clubs winning goal against Everton with then Middlesbrough manager,

Steve McClaren Stephen McClaren (born 3 May 1961) is an English former professional footballer and coach who currently serves as an assistant coach for Premier League club Manchester United, in his second spell at the club. McClaren began his coaching caree ...

saying, "It's a huge blow for Joseph because he has been playing well lately and he also got our winner against Everton. We'll miss him. The highlight of his career at Middlesbrough came in the

2004 Football League Cup Final The 2004 Football League Cup Final (known as the Carling Cup final for sponsorship reasons) was a football match that took place on 29 February 2004 at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. It was the final match of the 2003–04 Football League Cu ...

on 29 February 2004 when he scored a second minute goal to help the club to win their first ever major trophy, in a 2–1 win over Bolton Wanderers at the Millennium Stadium,

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

, a result which also saw the club qualify for the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

. On 15 December 2004, Job scored Middlesbrough's second goal in a 3–0 UEFA Cup Group E win over Serbian club

FK Partizan Fudbalski klub Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Партизан, ; en, Partizan Football Club), sometimes known as Partizan Belgrade in English, is a Serbia, Serbian professional football club (association football), football ...

at the

Riverside Stadium The Riverside Stadium is a football stadium in Middlesbrough, England, which has been the home of Middlesbrough since it opened in 1995. Its current capacity is 34,742, all seated, although there is provisional planning permission in place t ...

as they qualified, as winners of the group, for the knockout stages. Middlesbrough went out of the competition in the Round of 32 to Portuguese club,

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional foot ...

, with Job again scoring in the home leg on 10 March 2005. During his time at Middlesbrough he was the subject of one of the more memorable fan chants, being serenaded by the words "there's only one Job on Teesside!", due to a lot of unemployment in the area at the time. In the 2005–06 season, he was again sent on loan, this time to Saudi Arabia on 31 August 2005, where he played for

on a season-long loan. He helped the club win the AFC Champions League in 2005, scoring in the second leg of the final against United Arab Emirates club,

Al Ain FC Al Ain Football Club ( ar, نادي العين لكرة القدم; transliterated: Nady al-'Ayn) or Al Ain FC or simply Al Ain is a professional football club, based in the city of Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It is one of many ...

on 5 November 2005 in Jeddah. Job's struggle to win a first-team place became even more difficult, following the signings of established Premiership strikers

Mark Viduka Mark Antony Viduka ( ; born 9 October 1975) is an Australian retired football player who played as a centre forward. He captained the Australia national team to the Round of 16 at the 2006 FIFA World Cup which remains their best ever performance ...

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink Jerrel Floyd "Jimmy" Hasselbaink ( ; born 27 March 1972) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of League One club Burton Albion. Born in Suriname, he and his family would later move to t ...

and Yakubu. His contract with Middlesbrough expired after his loan spell with Al-Ittihad. He spent part of the 2006–07 pre-season training with

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

, but was not offered a contract.

Sedan

Job joined Ligue 1 club

CS Sedan Club Sportif Sedan Ardennes, commonly referred to as CS Sedan or simply Sedan (), is a French association football club based in Sedan. The club was formed in 1919 and plays its home matches at the Stade Louis Dugauguez located within the ci ...

on 19 September 2006 on a one-year contract. He capped 28 times and scored 10 goals.

Nice

Job moved to Ligue 1 club OGC Nice in summer 2007, signing a two-year contract. In summer 2008, he was linked with a move to English Football League Championship club Blackpool.

Lierse

On 15 March 2010, Lierse SK signed the Cameroonian 32-year-old forward as free agent. At the start of the 2009–10 Season, Lierse SK were the major favorites to win the championship in the Belgian second division ( EXQI League) but when Job arrived, they were struggling in the deciding moments. Job played his first game against KV Turnhout. He entered the game in the second half, when Lierse was behind 0–1 at home and playing badly. He scored 2 goals and gave 1 assist to help Lierse win the match 3–1 and ultimately helped them win the championship, as he also scored the second goal in the deciding match at home against Red Star Waasland (2–0 win). Job signed a new contract for Lierse for two seasons on 21 June 2010.

International career

Job was tipped early on to be a future French International player, however he instead accepted a call-up to the Cameroon national team, and made his debut in a 2–0 defeat to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...

in November 1997. Job has played at two FIFA World Cup finals, in

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. He also played for Cameroon at the victorious

2000 African Cup of Nations The 2000 African Cup of Nations was the 22nd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the association football championship of Africa (Confederation of African Football, CAF). It was co-hosted by Ghana and Nigeria, who jointly replaced Zimbabwe as ho ...

and in the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2001 and 2003. However, his next call up to the Cameroon squad came five years later, in March 2007, when he was called up to the squad for a 2008 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Liberia. In January 2008 he scored three goals in two games, scoring once as Cameroon beat Sudan 2–0 in a friendly match and twice as Cameroon beat

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...

5–1 in a 2008 AFrican Cup of Nations qualifying match. He was also in the Cameroon squad for the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations.

Personal life

Job is the cousin of

FC Ingolstadt 04 Fußball-Club Ingolstadt 2004 e.V., commonly known as FC Ingolstadt 04 or FC Ingolstadt, is a German football club based in Ingolstadt, Bavaria. The club was founded in 2004 out of the merger of the football sides of two other clubs: ESV Ingols ...

midfielder Marvin Matip and

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

defender

Joël Matip Job Joël André Matip (born 8 August 1991) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Liverpool. Matip began his professional career with Schalke 04 in 2009, and was part of their teams that won the DFB-Pokal and DFL-S ...

Career statistics

International

Honours

Middlesbrough * Football League Cup: 2004 Al-Ittihad * AFC Champions League: 2005 Cameroon * Africa Cup of Nations:

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 ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Job, Joseph-Desire 1977 births Living people French sportspeople of Cameroonian descent Citizens of Cameroon through descent People from Vénissieux Cameroonian Muslims Cameroonian footballers French footballers Association football midfielders Cameroon international footballers Ligue 1 players Premier League players Süper Lig players Belgian Pro League players Challenger Pro League players Saudi Professional League players Qatar Stars League players Olympique Lyonnais players RC Lens players Al Kharaitiyat SC players Middlesbrough F.C. players FC Metz players Ittihad FC players CS Sedan Ardennes players OGC Nice players Lierse S.K. players 1998 FIFA World Cup players 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2002 FIFA World Cup players 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup players 1998 African Cup of Nations players 2000 African Cup of Nations players 2002 African Cup of Nations players 2008 Africa Cup of Nations players Cameroonian expatriate footballers Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate footballers in France Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate footballers in England Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate footballers in Turkey Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate footballers in Belgium Sportspeople from Lyon Metropolis Footballers from Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes