Pierre Achille Webó Kouamo (born 20 January 1982), known as Webó, is a Cameroonian football manager and former professional player who played as a striker. He is the assistant manager of Turkish club İstanbul Başakşehir. He spent eight years of his career in

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

, appearing in a combined 227 matches for Osasuna and Mallorca and scoring 47 goals (in Spain he also represented

Leganés Leganés () is a city in the Community of Madrid, Spain. Considered part of the Madrid metropolitan area, it is located about 11 km southwest of the centre of Madrid. , it has a population of 188,425, making it the region's fifth most popul ...

). He also competed professionally in Uruguay and Turkey. A

Cameroon international The Cameroon International is an international badminton tournament held in Yaoundé, Cameroon. This tournament established in 2017 and part of the Badminton Confederation of Africa The Badminton Confederation Africa (BCA) (formerly known as Badm ...

in the 2000s, Webó appeared with the country in two

World Cups A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

and as many Africa Cup of Nations.

Playing career

Club

Early years

Born in

Bafoussam Bafoussam is the capital and largest city of the West Region of Cameroon, in the Bamboutos Mountains. It is the 3rd most important (financially) city in Cameroon, after Yaoundé and Douala. The ''communauté urbaine'' (Urban Community) of Bafous ...

, West Region, Webó started his professional career in Uruguay, playing three years with

Club Nacional de Football Club Nacional de Football (, ''National Football Club'' or simply as Nacional) is a Uruguayan professional sports club based in Montevideo. The club was founded on 14 May 1899 as a result of the merger between ''Uruguay Athletic Club'' and ''Mon ...

, winning two Primera División titles – although he only was an important first-team member in his third year – and becoming top scorer of the 2002 edition of the South American Cup. He moved to Europe in January 2003, signing with

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

club CD Leganés, on the outskirts of

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

, on loan from

CA Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club in Pamplona, Navarre. Founded on 24 October 1920, the club currently plays in La Liga, holding home games at the 23,576-capacity El S ...

Osasuna

In the summer of 2003, Webó returned to Osasuna, for whom he scored six goals in his third season, being instrumental in the Navarrese side's fourth

place and

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

qualification Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...

, although they would ultimately be ousted by

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its football section. Though the current HSV was founded in June 1919 from a merger of three ...

prior to the group stage. His 2006–07 pre-season was hampered after he was forced to undergo treatment for

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

, but he went on to produce similar numbers in the league, adding two goals in nine games in the team's semi-final run in 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 ...

, including the match's only in a home tie against Rangers.

Mallorca

Webó moved to RCD Mallorca in 2007, spending most of his first season on the sidelines with an injury. He did manage five league goals. Pierre Webo 2011

After Dani Güiza's departure, Webó's importance increased, and he totalled 18 goals the following three seasons, netting six in 2009–10 as the Balearic Islands team finished fifth and qualified to the Europa League (later revoked). In the 2011 off-season, after scoring 11 goals in the campaign, with Mallorca narrowly avoiding relegation, Webó signed a three-year contract extension. In August, however, he asked to be relieved from his obligations for personal reasons, and joined

İstanbul Başakşehir F.K. İstanbul Başakşehir Futbol Kulübü () is a Turkish professional football club based in the Başakşehir district of Istanbul. The club is better known simply as İstanbul Başakşehir or, due to sponsorship, Medipol Başakşehir (). The club ...

in Turkey.

Turkey

On 11 September 2011, in the first round of the season, Webó scored on his official debut for his new club, a 2–0 home defeat of

Galatasaray SK Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other de ...

. On 31 January 2013, he signed a two-and-a-half-year deal with fellow

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

side Fenerbahçe SK for €3 million. Again he found the net in the first competitive match with his new team, but in a 1–2 home loss to

Sivasspor Sivasspor Kulübü, known as Demir Grup Sivasspor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish sports club based in Sivas. The primary department of the club is men's football. Formed in 1967, its football department competes in Süper Lig, as of 201 ...

. On 7 March 2013, Webó scored the game's only goal in a win at

FC Viktoria Plzeň Football Club Viktoria Plzeň () is a Czech professional football club based in Plzeň. They play in the Czech First League, the top division of football in the country. As runners-up in the 1970–71 Czechoslovak Cup, the club gained the righ ...

in that season's Europa League round of 16 (2–1 on aggregate). He added another the following round, through a

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) A p ...

for the first in a 2–0 home victory over S.S. Lazio. Webó played in his first

derby match A sports rivalry is intense competition between athletic teams or athletes, affecting participants, management, and supporters all to varying degrees. The intensity of the rivalry can range anywhere from a light hearted banter to serious violen ...

against Galatasaray on 12 May 2013, scoring twice to secure a 2–1 win. The game was marred by racist chants from Fenerbahçe fans, directed to opposing players Didier Drogba and

Emmanuel Eboué Emmanuel Eboué (born 4 June 1983) is an Ivorian former professional footballer who played as a right back. Formed at ASEC Mimosas, he moved to Europe to play for Belgium's Beveren in 2002. He spent most of his career, from 2005 to 2011, with A ...

. From 2015 to

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

, Webó continued to compete in the country, with Osmanlıspor and Gazişehir Gaziantep FK (the latter club in the

TFF First League The TFF 1. Lig, officially known as Spor Toto 1. Lig for sponsorship reasons, is the second level of the Turkish football league system. The league was founded in 2001 as the ''Turkish Second League Category A'' after the reorganization of the ...

Return to Nacional

In September 2018, the 36-year-old Webó returned to Nacional de Montevideo after 16 years. After only 59 minutes of play across two league appearances, he left before the start of the 2019 season.

International

An international since 2003, Webó's first highlight playing for the Cameroon national team was a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

in his country's 3–2 win in Ivory Coast in the

2006 FIFA 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 th ...

qualifiers, but his team would not travel to Germany, precisely at the hands of that opponent. Webó scored in a 1–3 friendly loss against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

on 1 June 2010, and started in the first two games at that year's

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

in South Africa (both ending in defeat), with the player not managing to find the net. Webó was called up for the Africa Cup of Nations in 2006 and 2010, as well as the 2014 FIFA World Cup, but did not score in any tournament; however, at the latter continental tournament he set up both goals as a substitute in a draw with

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

that saw his team into the quarter-finals. On 17 November 2013, he was among the scorers in a 4–1 playoff victory over the same opponents that took Cameroon to the World Cup in Brazil.

Coaching career

After retiring, Webó joined İstanbul Başakşehir's coaching staff under Okan Buruk. In a Champions League group stage fixture against

Paris Saint-Germain F.C. Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As ...

on 8 December 2020, he accused he was the target of racism by Romanian fourth official Sebastian Colțescu. The latter had allegedly used a term (''negru'', meaning black in Romanian), similar to a taboo racial slur in some western European countries but without the racial connotations, when describing and pointing out Webó to the main referee of the match, Ovidiu Hațegan; the incident, which occurred in the first half, ultimately led to the match being postponed, while

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

also opened an investigation on the matter.

Personal life

Webó's cousin

Geremi Geremi Sorele Njitap Fotso (born 20 December 1978), known simply as Geremi, is a Cameroonian former footballer. He was a versatile player able to play at right back, right midfield or defensive midfielder, known for his power, pace, combative ...

was a long-time international teammate for Cameroon.

Honours

Nacional *

Uruguayan Primera División The Liga Profesional de Primera División (American Spanish , en, First Division Professional League, local: , ''First Division''), named "Torneo Uruguayo Copa Coca-Cola" for sponsorship reasons, is the highest professional football league in Uru ...

: 2001, 2002 Osasuna *

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...

runner-up: 2004–05 Fenerbahçe *

: 2013–14 *

Turkish Cup The Turkish Cup ( Turkish: ''Türkiye Kupası'') is a football cup competition in Turkish football, run by the Turkish Football Federation since 1962. During a brief sponsorship period with Fortis, its sponsored name was ''Fortis Türkiye Kupas� ...

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

Turkish Super Cup The Turkish Super Cup ( Turkish: ''TFF Süper Kupa''), as it is currently known, is the annual super cup football match contested between the previous season's Süper Lig champions and the Turkish Cup winners in Turkey. It was originally known ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

Individual * Copa Sudamericana Top Scorer: 2002

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Webo, Pierre 1982 births Living people People from Bafoussam Cameroonian footballers Association football forwards Real de Banjul FC players Uruguayan Primera División players Club Nacional de Football players La Liga players Segunda División players CD Leganés players CA Osasuna players RCD Mallorca players Süper Lig players TFF First League players İstanbul Başakşehir F.K. players Fenerbahçe S.K. footballers Ankaraspor footballers Gaziantep F.K. footballers Cameroon international footballers 2006 Africa Cup of Nations players 2010 Africa Cup of Nations players 2010 FIFA World Cup players 2014 FIFA World Cup players Cameroonian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in the Gambia Expatriate footballers in Uruguay Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Turkey Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in the Gambia Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Uruguay Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey İstanbul Başakşehir F.K. non-playing staff