David Philippe Henri Ngog (born 1 April 1989) is a French 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 lea ...

who played as a striker. Ngog started his career with French

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

club

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

. He made his senior debut in 2006 and in 2008 won the

Coupe de la Ligue The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a knockout cup competition in French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was established in 1993 and, unlike the Coupe de France ...

. English

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

signed him at the start of the 2008–09 season. After three years, he moved to fellow Premier League club

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

, but was relegated with them after just one season. Following that, Ngog had spells in Greece, Scotland, Hungary, and Lithuania. In 2020, he announced his retirement. However, he made a surprising comeback in 2022, having a one-year stint with third-tier club

Panionios Panionios G.S.S. Football Club (Greek: ΠΑΕ Πανιώνιος Γ.Σ.Σ.), the ''Pan-Ionian Gymnastics Club of Smyrna'' (Πανιώνιος Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Σμύρνης, ''Panionios Gymnastikos Syllogos Smyrnis''), ...

. Ngog is a former France under-21 international. However, he was also eligible to represent

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

, by way of his father, and was approached by Cameroon in the past to make the switch.

Early life

David Philippe Henri Ngog was born on 1 April 1989 in

Gennevilliers Gennevilliers () is a Communes of France, commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, in the Hauts-de-Seine Departments of France, department of Île-de-France. It is located from the Kilometre zero, centre of Paris. History On 9 April 1929, ...

, Hauts-de-Seine, to a Cameroonian father and a French mother. He holds both French and Cameroonian nationalities. He is the cousin of former French international player Jean-Alain Boumsong.

Club career

Paris Saint-Germain

Ngog started his career with

in 2001. He signed his first professional contract in June 2006.

Liverpool

2008–09 season

Manager

Rafael Benítez Rafael Benítez Maudes (born 16 April 1960) is a Spanish professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player. He was most recently the manager of La Liga club RC Celta de Vigo, Celta Vigo. Beníte ...

hailed his scouting network after his signing, saying that "They are finding players like Ngog, players with quality who are not a high price". Ngog played his first game for

in a friendly game against

Villarreal Villarreal (officially, in ) is a city and municipality in the province of Castellón which is part of the Valencian Community in the east of Spain. The town is located at 42 m above sea level, 7 km to the south of the province's capital ( ...

on 30 July 2008 and scored his first goal one game later against

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

in another pre-season friendly. He then followed this up by scoring Liverpool's final goal in their next pre-season friendly, a 4–1 win over Norwegian side

Vålerenga Vålerenga () is a neighbourhood in the city of Oslo, Norway, belonging to the borough of Gamle Oslo. Vålerenga is located between the neighbourhoods of Gamlebyen, Jordal, Ensjø, Etterstad and Lodalen. Vålerenga is in particular known for i ...

. He made his

debut against

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

, coming on as a substitute for

Fernando Torres Fernando José Torres Sanz (; born 20 March 1984) is a Spanish Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former Football player, player who played as a Striker (association football), striker. He is the curr ...

. Ngog scored his first goal for Liverpool in their 3–1 victory over PSV in the group stages of the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

. Ngog made his first start for Liverpool on 7 February 2009 against

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

, and scored his first league goal on 3 March 2009 against

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

in a 2–0 win at

Anfield Anfield is a Association football, football stadium in the area of Anfield (suburb), Anfield, Liverpool, England, which has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since its formation in 1892. The stadium has a seating capacity of 61,276, making it the ...

. Ngog scored his second league goal for the club on 11 April 2009 against

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

at Anfield in an emphatic 4–0 win.

2009–10 season

Ngog scored his first goal of the new season with the final goal in a 4–0 home win against

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

. This was his fourth career goal for Liverpool, three of which came in league matches. The following month, he then went on to score the winning goal in a third-round League Cup game, to win 1–0 away against

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

. On 25 October, in a crucial game against

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

, he came on for goalscorer Torres at Anfield, scoring a goal in the 96th minute in the 2–0 win to seal an important victory for Liverpool. After the crunch tie, Ngog said scoring the goal was "a fantastic moment for me and the team and I would say it's my best moment in football." He scored his fourth goal of the season on 9 November against

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

before winning a controversial penalty that gave Liverpool a draw after

Steven Gerrard Steven George Gerrard MBE (born 30 May 1980) is an English professional football manager and a former player. Widely regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time and one of Liverpool's greatest ever players,Everton in the

Merseyside derby The Merseyside derby is an association football match between Everton F.C., Everton and Liverpool F.C., Liverpool, two clubs based in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is the longest running top-flight local derby, derby in England, with its fi ...

; this match finished 2–0 to Liverpool. He scored his fourth league goal (six in total of the 2009–10 season) in a 2–1 victory over

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

. Ngog's goal nine minutes from time eventually broke the resistance of a determined

Unirea Urziceni Fotbal Club Unirea Urziceni, commonly known as Unirea Urziceni (), was a Romanian professional Association football, football Club (organization), club based in Urziceni, Ialomița County. Unirea became Divizia A Final Tables, national champions ...

at Anfield in the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

2010–11 season

On 29 July, Ngog scored twice in

Roy Hodgson Roy Hodgson (born 9 August 1947) is an English former football manager and player. He has managed 22 different teams in eight countries, beginning in Sweden with Halmstad in the 1976 season. He later guided the Switzerland national team to t ...

's first competitive match as manager in Liverpool's Europa League third qualifying round first leg 2–0 win over Macedonian side Rabotnički. In the second leg of the tie played at Anfield, Ngog scored the opening goal via a header and also won a penalty, which Gerrard scored, as Liverpool ran out 4–0 aggregate winners. Ngog then scored again in Liverpool's opening match of the season at home to

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

in a 1–1 draw by turning past

Thomas Vermaelen Thomas Vermaelen (; born 14 November 1985) is a Belgian former professional footballer who played as a defender. Being left-footed, he usually played as a left-sided centre-back and could play at left-back as well. His key attributes included a ...

and rifling the ball into the top corner of the net past Arsenal goalkeeper Manuel Almunia. He was enjoying the best start to a Liverpool season before he was taken out of the squad that played

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

for Torres. After being left out of the game against Birmingham City, Ngog shot to fire again in the Europa League, scoring two in Liverpool's 4–1 victory over Steaua București. He scored an extra-time equaliser in the League Cup defeat to

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the c ...

to take the tie to penalties, but missed his penalty in the shoot-out, and played the remaining 35 minutes in the Reds' frustrating 2–2 draw against Sunderland at Anfield. On 3 October, he replaced the injured Torres after just 10 minutes in their 2–1 home loss to

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

. On 24 October, he replaced

Joe Cole Joseph John Cole (born 8 November 1981) is an English football coach and former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or winger. He was long touted as a child prodigy and as the hottest prospect in English football, wi ...

in the 80th minute in Liverpool's 2–1 Premier League win at Anfield against Blackburn Rovers. He replaced Cole for the second time, in Liverpool's 1–0 Premier League win against

at the

Reebok Stadium The Toughsheet Community Stadium is a Association football, football stadium in Horwich near Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. It is the home ground of Bolton Wanderers F.C., Bolton Wanderers Football Club, with an all-seated capacity of 28, ...

on 31 October. Ngog was praised by

Sam Allardyce Samuel Allardyce (born 19 October 1954) is an English football manager and former professional player. Allardyce made 578 league and cup appearances in a 21-year career spent mostly in the Football League, as well as brief spells in the North ...

for the way in which his introduction changed the game for Liverpool, indirectly leading to their late winner. He continued to be an impact sub from the bench, following the departure of Torres, and the signings of

Luis Suárez Luis Alberto Suárez Díaz (; born 24 January 1987) is a Uruguayan professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for Major League Soccer club Inter Miami CF, Inter Miami. Known for his go ...

and

Andy Carroll Andrew Thomas Carroll (born 6 January 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Championnat National 2 club Bordeaux. He has played in the Premier League and English Football League for Newcastle United, Preston No ...

and often finding himself in the starting line-up.

Bolton Wanderers

On 31 August 2011, for a £4 million transfer fee, Liverpool announced that Ngog had completed a move to Bolton Wanderers in a three-year deal. Ngog made his first appearance for Bolton as a substitute for

Kevin Davies Kevin Cyril Davies (born 26 March 1977) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker for Chesterfield, Southampton, Blackburn Rovers, Millwall, Bolton Wanderers and Preston North End. He managed Southport in the 2017� ...

in Bolton's 5–0 defeat to Manchester United at the Reebok Stadium on 10 September. His first goal for Bolton Wanderers came in Bolton's 3–1 win against Wigan Athletic at the

DW Stadium The Brick Community Stadium is a multi-use stadium in Robin Park in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. It is used by Wigan Warriors rugby league club and Wigan Athletic F.C., Wigan Athletic association football, football club. The stadium is ...

on 15 October.

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

made an unsuccessful £3 million bid for him in August 2012.

Swansea City

On 27 January 2014, Ngog joined Premier League club

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club ( ; ) is a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales. It competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Swansea have played their home matches at ...

until the end of the season, signing for an undisclosed fee. He made his debut on 1 February as a substitute for

Nathan Dyer Nathan Antony Jonah Dyer (born 29 November 1987) is an English former professional footballer who played as a winger, spending most of his career at Swansea City, where he made over 300 appearances. He started playing as a teenager at Southampto ...

in a 2–0 away defeat to

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

Reims

On 1 September 2014, Ngog ended his six-year spell in the English leagues after signing a two-year contract with Ligue 1 outfit

Reims Reims ( ; ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French Departments of France, department of Marne (department), Marne, and the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 12th most populous city in Fran ...

Panionios

On 12 August 2016,

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...

club

announced that they had signed Ngog for an undisclosed fee.

Ross County

On 23 January 2018, Ngog joined Ross County of the

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

on a deal until the end of the 2017–18 season. The Frenchman reunited with

Owen Coyle Owen Columba Coyle (born 14 July 1966) is a professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of Indian Super League club Chennaiyin. He played as a striker for several clubs in England and Scotland, and made one appearanc ...

, who had managed him at Bolton Wanderers. He scored his first goal for the club in a 2–1 loss to Rangers on 28 January 2018.

Budapest Honvéd

In August 2018, Ngog joined Hungarian club

Budapest Honvéd Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

. On 25 August, he scored seven minutes into his debut against

Debrecen Debrecen ( ; ; ; ) is Hungary's cities of Hungary, second-largest city, after Budapest, the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain Regions of Hungary, region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar County. A city with county rights, it was the large ...

Žalgiris and early retirement

In February 2020, Ngog became a member of Lithuanian A League side

FK Žalgiris Futbolo klubas Žalgiris, commonly known as FK Žalgiris, Žalgiris Vilnius or simply Žalgiris, is a Lithuanian professional association football, football club based in Vilnius. The club competes in the A Lyga, the top flight of Football in L ...

. On 21 June 2020, Žalgiris announced that Ngog had retired from professional football at the age of 31.

Return to Panionios

In October 2022, Ngog returned to action, signing for Greek third tier club

, returning to Greece after five years.

International career

In November 2009, Ngog was approached to play for Cameroon, despite having already represented France at youth levels. The then Liverpool striker said: "I have had contact with the Cameroonian federation. Now I need some time to think about things. I'm very flattered." In February 2010, with Cameroon preparing for the

2010 World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

, Cameroon's Minister of Sports, Michel Zoah, met with Ngog's father on two occasions to try and convince the player to switch allegiances. A few months later, in May, Ngog was not included in Cameroon's preliminary squad for the World Cup. When asked why, Cameroon coach

Paul Le Guen Paul Joseph Marie Le Guen (, ; born 1 March 1964) is a French professional football manager and former player. He was most recently the manager of French club Le Havre. During his playing career, Le Guen played as a midfielder, and enjoyed a suc ...

said that Ngog had insisted on a starting spot with the Indomitable Lions. However, Ngog refuted the claims.

Career statistics

Honours

Paris Saint-Germain *

: 2007–08 Žalgiris *

Lithuanian Supercup The Lithuanian Supercup () or LFF Supercup is an annual football match contested between the champions of the previous A Lyga season and the holders of the Lithuanian Football Cup. It is organised by and named after Lithuanian Football Federation a ...

: 2020

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ngog, David 1989 births Living people People from Gennevilliers Footballers from Hauts-de-Seine French men's footballers Men's association football forwards Paris Saint-Germain FC players Liverpool F.C. players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Swansea City A.F.C. players Stade de Reims players Panionios F.C. players Ross County F.C. players Budapest Honvéd FC players FK Žalgiris players Ligue 1 players Premier League players English Football League players Super League Greece players Scottish Professional Football League players Nemzeti Bajnokság I players A Lyga players France men's under-21 international footballers French expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Hungary Expatriate men's footballers in Lithuania Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Expatriate men's footballers in Wales French expatriate sportspeople in England French expatriate sportspeople in Hungary French expatriate sportspeople in Lithuania French expatriate sportspeople in Scotland French expatriate sportspeople in Wales French sportspeople of Cameroonian descent 21st-century French sportsmen