Komi Massamasso Tchangai (8 August 1978 – 8 August 2010) was a

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...

lese 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 le ...

who played as a defender.

Club career

Tchangai signed to the Italian club

Udinese Calcio Udinese Calcio, commonly referred to as Udinese, is a professional Football in Italy, Italian association football, football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, that currently plays in Serie A. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a ...

in 1998 after appearing for

at the

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 ...

African Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internati ...

finals in Burkina Faso. Tchangai was loaned to

ND Gorica Nogometno društvo Gorica, commonly referred to as ND Gorica or simply Gorica, is a Slovenian football club based in the town of Nova Gorica. They are one of the most successful Slovenian clubs with four Slovenian PrvaLiga and three Slovenian Cu ...

in Slovenia and later to the Dutch club

De Graafschap VBV De Graafschap () is a professional football club from Doetinchem, Netherlands, playing in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football. It was formed on 1 February 1954 and they play their home games at the De Vijverberg stadium. ...

before moving to Viterbese and

Benevento Benevento (, , ; la, Beneventum) is a city and ''comune'' of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill above sea level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino (or Beneventano) and the ...

in the Italian lower leagues. He signed for Saudi club

Al-Nasr Al Nassr Football Club ( ar, نادي النصر السعودي; '' Naṣr'' meaning ''Victory'') is a Saudi Arabian football club based in Riyadh. Formed in 1955, the club plays its home games at the Mrsool Park. Their home colours are yellow ...

on 17 November 2009, making him one of the club's biggest signings in recent history.

International career

Tchangai was a member of the Togo national team and was called up to the

2006 World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

. He represented his country at four

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internati ...

(

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 ...

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

). He earned his first national cap for Togo against

Congo Congo or The Congo may refer to either of two countries that border the Congo River in central Africa: * Democratic Republic of the Congo, the larger country to the southeast, capital Kinshasa, formerly known as Zaire, sometimes referred to a ...

in August 1996. He won 37 caps and scored five goals for Togo.

Death

Tchangai died on the evening of his 32nd birthday, on 8 August 2010, after a brief illness.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tchangai, Massamasso 1978 births 2010 deaths Togolese footballers Togo international footballers 2006 FIFA World Cup players 1998 African Cup of Nations players 2000 African Cup of Nations players 2002 African Cup of Nations players 2006 Africa Cup of Nations players Association football defenders Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 players Slovenian PrvaLiga players Eredivisie players Serie C players Chinese Super League players Saudi Professional League players ASKO Kara players CA Bizertin players ND Gorica players Udinese Calcio players U.S. Viterbese 1908 players Benevento Calcio players De Graafschap players Al Nassr FC players Shenzhen F.C. players Togolese expatriate footballers Togolese expatriate sportspeople in Tunisia Expatriate footballers in Tunisia Togolese expatriate sportspeople in Slovenia Expatriate footballers in Slovenia Togolese expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate footballers in Italy Togolese expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Togolese expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Expatriate footballers in Saudi Arabia Expatriate footballers in China 21st-century Togolese people