Japhet N'Doram (; born 27 February 1966) is a

Chad Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North Africa, North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to Chad–Libya border, the north, Sudan to Chad–Sudan border, the east, the Central Afric ...

ian 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. His 14-year senior career was mainly spent with

Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

, which he represented in several capacities. He was

nickname A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...

d ''The Wizard''.

Club career

Born in

N'Djamena N'Djamena ( ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Chad, largest city of Chad. It is also a Provinces of Chad, special statute region, divided into 10 districts or ''arrondissements'', similar to the city of Paris. Originally calle ...

, N'Doram begun his career with local

Tourbillon FC Tourbillon FC is a football (soccer) club from Chad based in N'Djamena. The club has won Chad Premier League title 6 times, they play their home matches at Stade Omnisports Idriss Mahamat Ouya. The club is owned by Iranian entrepreneur Mohammad ...

, then spent three seasons in

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 ...

with

Tonnerre Yaoundé Tonnerre Kalara Club of Yaoundé is a professional football club based in Yaoundé, Cameroon. The club was most prominent during the 1980s, winning all of their 5 national championships. They have also won the national cup 5 times. Among the clu ...

, one of the biggest clubs in

Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lie south of the Sahara. These include Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, and West Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the list of sovereign states and ...

. In 1990 the 24-year-old signed for

FC Nantes Football Club de Nantes, commonly referred to as FC Nantes or simply Nantes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Naunnt''), is a French professional association football, football club based in Nantes in Pays de la Loire. The club was founded on 21 Ap ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, scoring two goals in 19 games in his first season in

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 ...

; his first professional contract arrived as Argentine

Jorge Burruchaga Jorge Luis Burruchaga (; born 9 October 1962), nicknamed ''Burru'', is an Argentine association football coach and former professional football player. He played both as an attacking midfielder and forward and scored the winning goal in the fi ...

was recovering from injury and accepted to be given an amateur licence on behalf of his teammate.Japhet N'Doram, le buteur sensible (Japhet N'Doram, the sensible scorer)
at Foot Nostalgie (in French) N'Doram became something of a cult hero at

Stade de la Beaujoire The Stade de la Beaujoire – Louis Fonteneau, mostly known as Stade de la Beaujoire (), is a stadium in Nantes, France. It is the home of French football club FC Nantes, known as the Domestic canary, canaries. The stadium was built in a hexagon ...

, scoring important goals as the club's 2000th in the top division, through a

penalty Penalty, The Penalty, Penalization, Penalisation, Penalize or Penalise may refer to: Sports * Foul (sports) ** Penalty (golf) ** Penalty (gridiron football) ** Penalty (ice hockey) ** Penalty (rugby) ** Penalty (rugby union) ** Penalty kick (assoc ...

against

Lille OSC Lille Olympique Sporting Club (), commonly referred to as LOSC, LOSC Lille or simply Lille, is a French professional association football, football club based in Lille, Northern France competing in Ligue 1, the top division of Football in Franc ...

(1–0 win) or the second in a 3–2 home triumph against

Juventus FC Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

in the

1995–96 UEFA Champions League The 1995–96 UEFA Champions League was the 41st season of UEFA's premier European club football tournament, and the fourth since its rebranding as the UEFA Champions League. The tournament was won by Juventus, who beat defending champions Ajax on ...

semi-finals (3–4 aggregate loss).Japhet N’Doram: le sorcier de La Beaujoire (Japhet N’Doram: the wizard of La Beaujoire)
; at Tchachadi (in French) In 1994–95, he netted 12 goals as ''Les Canaris'' won their seventh national championship – the first in 12 years – bettering to a career-best 21 in the 1996–97 campaign (second-best in the competition). Aged 31, N'Doram left Nantes and signed for fellow league side

AS Monaco FC Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club, commonly referred to as AS Monaco (), is a professional association football, football club based in Fontvieille, Monaco, Fontvieille, Monaco. Although not in France, they are a member of the Frenc ...

, winning the 1997 Trophée des Champions, but retired at the end of the season following a persistent injury sustained during a match against his former team. He then joined his last club's technical staff, working as a

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

. N'Doram returned to Nantes on 28 June 2005, replacing Robert Budzynski as

director of football A sporting director, or director of sport, is an senior management, executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many typ ...

. In February 2007 he was appointed team manager, leaving his post in July as the season ended in relegation.

Personal life

N'Doram holds Chadian and French nationalities. His son, Kévin, is also a footballer. He played for Monaco.

Career statistics

Honours

Nantes Atlantique *

French Division 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 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 Football Professio ...

: 1994–95 AS Monaco *

Trophée des Champions The Trophée des Champions (, ) is a French association football trophy contested in an annual match between the champions of Ligue 1 and the winners of the Coupe de France. It is equivalent to the Super cup, super cups found in many other count ...

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

Individual *French Division 1 Foreign Player of the Year: 1994 *

1995 Ballon d'Or The 1995 Ballon d'Or, given to the best football player in Europe as judged by a panel of sports journalists from UEFA member countries, was awarded to George Weah on 24 December 1995. It was the first edition of this award where players born outs ...

:nominated

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:N'doram, Japhet 1966 births Living people Footballers from N'Djamena Chadian men's footballers Naturalized citizens of France French men's footballers Men's association football forwards Tonnerre Yaoundé players Ligue 1 players FC Nantes players AS Monaco FC players Chad men's international footballers Chadian football managers Ligue 1 managers FC Nantes managers Chadian expatriate men's footballers Chadian expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate men's footballers in Cameroon Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Monaco Expatriate football managers in France 20th-century French sportsmen