Joël Landry Tsafack Nguémo (28 November 1985 – 27 June 2024) was a Cameroonian 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

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for Nancy,

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

and

Saint-Étienne Saint-Étienne (; Franco-Provençal: ''Sant-Etiève''), also written St. Etienne, is a city and the prefecture of the Loire département, in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regi ...

in France and for Scottish club

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

on loan. Nguémo played for the Cameroon national team from 2006 until 2014, including at the

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

and 2014 World Cups. From 2020 until his death in 2024, he coached youth football teams, one of which was Nancy.

Club career

Early career

Nguémo was a native of

Dschang Dschang is a city located in the West (Ouest) Province of Cameroon, with an estimated population of 87,000 (est) in 2001, growing dramatically from 21,705 recorded in 1981. The 2006 Population is estimated to be 200,000 inhabitants. Dschang is th ...

, a town in western Cameroon, he played for various local teams in Dschang before moving to Yaounde aged 13. He spent a short time in EMC.

Nancy

Nguémo was spotted by scouts of Nancy in

Yaoundé Yaoundé (; , ) is the Capital city, capital city of Cameroon. It has a population of more than 2.8 million which makes it the second-largest city in the country after the port city Douala. It lies in the Centre Region (Cameroon), Centre Region o ...

and was promptly invited to France where he had trials before signing for the club aged 15. He made his debut aged 19 in August 2005 as a substitute against

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

in a league match. He made his first start one month later against

Troyes Troyes () is a Communes of France, commune and the capital of the Departments of France, department of Aube in the Grand Est region of north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about south-east of Paris. Troyes is situated within ...

. In January 2009, Nguémo said he would welcome a move away from the club after being linked by French and English media with moves 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 ...

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 ...

and Everton. On 31 January 2009, Nguémo scored his first goal for Nancy, a dramatic 90th-minute winner in a match against

Le Havre Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...

. His second goal for the club also came in dramatic circumstances when he again netted in the 90th minute on 23 May 2009 against

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

but Nancy were beaten 2–1.

Loan to Celtic

After days of speculation, on 16 July 2009, Nguémo completed a one-year loan move to

with an option to make it permanent. He wore the number 6 shirt the squad number previously allotted to

Bobo Baldé Dianbobo "Bobo" Baldé (born 5 October 1975) is a former professional footballer who played as a defender. He played for Mulhouse, Cannes, Toulouse, Celtic, Valenciennes and Arles-Avignon. Born in France, Baldé was a Guinean international an ...

. Nguémo's debut came in the 0–0 draw against

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...

where he was picked as Celtic's man of the match. He made his competitive debut in the first leg of a Champions League qualifying tie against

Dynamo Moscow MGO VFSO "Dynamo" (), commonly known as Dynamo Moscow (), is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. Founded by Felix Dzerzhinsky on 18 April 1923, Dynamo Moscow was the first institution created from the All-Union Dynamo Sports Club. Dynamo Mosco ...

in Glasgow, losing 1–0. He was also part of the team that won 2–0 in the return leg in Moscow, sending Celtic through to play Arsenal in the final qualifier for the Champions League. He made his league debut away to

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

in a 3–1 win for Celtic. In total Nguémo made 35 appearances for Celtic without scoring. At the end of his loan period the two clubs were unable to agree a transfer fee for Nguémo and so he returned to AS Nancy.

Bordeaux

On 4 July 2011, Nguémo moved from Nancy to

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 ...

rivals

, signing a three-year contract. He played in 33 of Bordeaux's 38 league fixtures in his first season there, helping the club to fifth place and qualification for the following season's

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 ...

. On 3 October 2013 in a Europa League tie against

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv () is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such as football, basketball, j ...

, Nguémo suffered what was initially suspected to be a minor heart attack. He was substituted and taken to hospital where he underwent extensive tests, with nothing untoward found. Nguémo stated on his Twitter account afterwards that "There is nothing serious. I went back home from hospital after an electrocardiogram" and he returned to first team action just over two weeks later in a Ligue 1 match against

Saint-Etienne

In January 2015, Nguémo signed a six-month contract with

Turkish football

On 29 August 2015, Nguémo signed with Turkish

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

club

Akhisar Belediyespor Akhisarspor Kulübü (), commonly known as Akhisarspor, is a Turkish professional football club located in the city of Akhisar.

on a three-year contract after being released from Saint-Étienne at the end of the 2014–15 season. Nguémo joined another Turkish club,

Kayserispor Kayseri Spor Kulübü, commonly known as Kayserispor, and also called Bellona Kayserispor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional football club based in Kayseri. They play their home matches at the RHG Enertürk Enerji Stadium ...

, in January 2017, signing a contract until 2019.

Kongsvinger and retirement

After a spell at Norwegian side

Kongsvinger Kongsvinger () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Glåmdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Kongsvinger. Other settlements in the municipality include Aust ...

in 2019, Nguémo retired from football.L’ancien professionnel de Nancy Landry Nguémo entraîneur de jeunes à Villers-lès-Nancy !
vosgesmatin.fr, 9 May 2020

International career

Nguémo made 42 appearances for the Cameroon national team, scoring three goals.

Coaching career

In May 2020, Nguémo was named U18 manager of French club COS Villers-les-Nancy. In June 2021, Nguémo was hired as a youth coach at his former club,

AS Nancy Association Sportive Nancy Lorraine (), known as AS Nancy Lorraine, and more commonly as Nancy, is a French football club founded in 1967 and based in Nancy, Grand Est. The club plays its home matches at the Stade Marcel Picot located in Tomb ...

Personal life and death

Nguémo was a keen falconer and kept a modest collection of

bird of prey Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as (although not the same as) raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively predation, hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and smaller birds). In addition to speed ...

, with his favourite, a

white-tailed eagle The white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), sometimes known as the 'sea eagle', is a large bird of prey, widely distributed across temperate Eurasia. Like all eagles, it is a member of the family Accipitridae (or accipitrids) which also ...

named Mr George after

George Weah George Manneh Oppong Weah (born 1 October 1966) is a Liberian politician and former professional Association football, footballer who served as the 25th president of Liberia from 2018 to 2024. Before his election for the presidency, Weah served ...

. He obtained

French citizenship French nationality law is historically based on the principles of ''jus soli'' (Latin for "right of soil") and ''jus sanguinis'', (Latin for "right of blood") according to Ernest Renan's definition, in opposition to the German definition of nat ...

naturalization Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

in December 2007. Nguémo died in a traffic collision near the town of

Obala Obala is a town in Cameroon's Centre Province, Cameroon, Centre Province, ca 45 km north of Yaoundé, the capital of Cameroon. Overview The town is the seat of a Roman Catholic diocese and hosts a military academy. Tourists in Obala may vi ...

in the night between 26 and 27 June 2024. He was 38.

Honours

Nancy * French League Cup: 2006 Cameroon *

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...

runner-up:

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

References

External links

FIFA Profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nguémo, Landry 1985 births 2024 deaths Footballers from Yaoundé Men's association football midfielders Cameroonian men's footballers 21st-century Cameroonian sportsmen Cameroon men's international footballers Naturalized citizens of France French men's footballers 2008 Africa Cup of Nations players 2010 Africa Cup of Nations players 2010 FIFA World Cup players 2014 FIFA World Cup players AS Nancy Lorraine players Celtic F.C. players FC Girondins de Bordeaux players AS Saint-Étienne players Akhisarspor footballers Kayserispor footballers Kongsvinger IL Toppfotball players Ligue 1 players Scottish Premier League players Süper Lig players Norwegian First Division players Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Norway Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Cameroonian expatriate men's footballers Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in France Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Norway Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Road incident deaths in Cameroon 21st-century French sportsmen