Rigobert Song Bahanag ( bear 1 July 1976 ) is a cameroonian former football player and current football coach. He was a extremity of the Cameroon home team between 1993 and 2010. He is the bus of the Cameroon U-23 home team. Known for his defensive skills, Song normally played as a center back but could besides operate at justly back. internationally, he played at a record eight Africa Cup of Nations tournaments and served as captain in five ( the ones he was not captain for were South Africa 1996, Burkina Faso 1998 and Angola 2010 ), a record, and holds the record of most back-to-back games played in the tournament with 35 first team games. He has won two CAF Africa Cup of Nations titles in 2000 and 2002. In 2009, Song was dropped as Cameroon master by new coach Paul Le Guen, who finally appointed Samuel Eto’o as the new captain but late caused concerns as Song had never been on the bench in more than 11 years for Cameroon. [ 2 ] With 137 appearances, Song besides holds the criminal record of the most cap actor in the history of the Cameroon national team and has played in four World Cups, in 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2010. [ 3 ]
Reading: Rigobert Song
song started his professional career with Metz and helped the club to win the Coupe de la Ligue in 1996. After appearing at the 1998 World Cup, he joined Salernitana, newly promoted to the top-flight italian Serie A. In January 1999, he left Italy to start consecutive stints with Liverpool, West Ham United and 1. FC Köln, but after failing to hold down a first-team place, he returned to France to play for Lens. He stayed there until 2004 and moved on to Turkey, where he spent four years with Galatasaray, winning two Süper Lig titles and the turkish Cup. Song then signed a contract with Trabzonspor in 2008, where he won another turkish Cup and stayed until 2010. aside from Zinedine Zidane, Song is the only actor to have been sent off in two unlike World Cups, once against Brazil in 1994 and against Chile in 1998. [ 4 ] He besides holds the record as youngest player ever to be sent off in a World Cup, aged 17. Nicknamed “ Big Chief “ by the turkish fans, [ 5 ] he is the uncle of fellow Cameroon defensive midfielder Alex Song .
Club career [edit ]
early years ( 1993–1998 ) [edit ]
song started his professional career at Metz. He made several solid appearances that earned him a selection to The Indomitable Lions for the World Cup in 1994 .
Liverpool ( 1998–2000 ) [edit ]
Following his italian experience with Serie A side Salernitana, Song transferred to Anfield with Liverpool in January 1999 for £2.7 million. [ 6 ] Having been frozen out by the Italians, the cameroonian defender made a good impression during a trial spell at Anfield. Before he arrived, Song already had the differentiation of playing in two World Cups for his area. The first gear Cameroonian actor to play for the Reds, Song made his League debut against Coventry City at Highfield Road. early on he earned the support of Liverpool fans, who appreciated his intensity, all-action style and campaign. His natural stead was center half but during his time at Anfield, Song operated at right bet on and became a figure for Liverpool ‘s fans, who used to dearly sing “ We ‘ve only got one sung ! ” He had a blend 1999–2000 campaign, missing three months of the season due to external matches with the Indomitable Lions, captaining them to victory in the 2000 African Nations Cup and scoring the decisive punishment in the final bet on against Nigeria. [ citation needed ] song was not able to find a spot in the starting eleven during the 2000–01 season and played just four games. One of the games was a 2000–01 UEFA Cup first base round off game against FC Rapid București. [ 7 ] Liverpool finally won the tournament, making Song an UEFA Cup achiever. His last appearance for Liverpool was a 1–1 draw with Sunderland at Anfield on 23 September 2000. He made a total of 38 appearances for the Reds. He left Anfield to sign for West Ham United on 28 November 2000 in a deal that besides saw Liverpool get unseasoned finnish striker Daniel Sjölund .
West Ham, Köln and Lens ( 2000–2004 ) [edit ]
song signed for West Ham United for £2.5 million. The clubhouse identified the 24-year-old defender as a possible replacement for Rio Ferdinand, who was transferred to Leeds United. [ 8 ] He made his West Ham debut on 29 November 2000 in the League Cup. In a 4th-round game at The Boleyn Ground, West Ham lost 1–2 to Sheffield Wednesday. Song ‘s introduction was described by the BBC as “ unhappy ”. [ 9 ] In his first gear days, Song insisted that he did not want to be compared to Ferdinand, as he believed it was derogative to his own talent. [ citation needed ] Over two seasons he made 27 appearances for West Ham in all competitions without scoring, his final game coming on 29 September 2001 ; a 5–0 away frustration to Everton in the Premier League. [ 10 ] In November 2001 he joined 1. FC Köln on loan, for the remainder of the 2001–02 season. He left West Ham on 26 June 2002, joining RC Lens. [ 11 ]
Galatasaray ( 2004–2008 ) [edit ]
song then signed for Galatasaray in 2004. He became an moment fan favored after his transmit to Galatasaray and formed a strong defensive partnership with Stjepan Tomas at the heart of defensive structure. [ citation needed ] During the 2006–07 season, he struggled to find a target in the team after an controversy with then-Galatasaray coach Eric Gerets during a league game. Although Song apologized for the incident both publicly and privately, Gerets did not take a spinal column step and the musician remained punished. With the arrival of newfangled coach Karl-Heinz Feldkamp in the 2007–08 season, Song once again become a vital extremity of the police squad and the club ‘s new captain. Upon his return from the african Cup of Nations with Cameroon, however, he found himself on the bench due to injury with the egress of Emre Güngör who partnered Servet Çetin at the heart of the defense in Galatasaray ‘s run for their 16th league title. With a better volunteer to play elsewhere, Song decided to leave at the end of the 2007–08 temper to sign for mate Süper Lig club Trabzonspor .
Trabzonspor ( 2008–2010 ) [edit ]
He joined the club on a free transmit. After a successful begin to 2008–09 season, Song became fan-favorite in Trabzon, playing 28 games in the league without accumulating any yellow or bolshevik cards, nor scoring any goals. After Ersun Yanal resigned as director, however, Song lost his place in the starting lineup. [ 12 ] Nonetheless, during the future season, he became Trabzonspor ‘s new master on 1 December 2009 after Şenol Güneş took over as the club ‘s new director. [ 13 ] Trabzonspor became his last clubhouse of his professional career .
International career [edit ]
Considered a key musician for Cameroon for over a ten, Song played in the 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2010 FIFA World Cups. [ 14 ] He made his external debut on 22 September 1993 in a game against Mexico. At lone 17 years honest-to-god, Song was given a surprise call-up to Henri Michel ‘s Cameroon team for the 1994 World Cup, playing two group matches in the finals against Sweden and Brazil. He received a bolshevik calling card in the match against Brazil, becoming the youngest player always to be sent off in a World Cup, aged 17. Led by ageless striker Roger Milla, the Indomitable Lions were knocked out in the group stage. The 24 years and 42 days age gap between Milla ( 42 years and 35 days ) and 17-year-old future master Song ( 17 years and 358 days ) became ( and remains ) the largest between two teammates in World Cup history. [ 15 ] Song then participated at the 1998 World Cup. Led by Song, Patrick Mboma and 17-year erstwhile young striker Samuel Eto’o, Cameroon were eliminated in the group stage following a hook with Austria ( 1–1 ), a loss to Italy ( 3–0 ) and another draw with Chile. After receiving a red batting order in the last game against La Roja, [ 16 ] Song broke another record—he became the first player ever to be sent off at two unlike World Cups. Zinedine Zidane, who was besides sent off at this World Cup, has since achieved this feat ampere well, receiving his second gear crimson calling card in the final of the 2006 tournament. song was a part of the Cameroon squads that won the 2000 and 2002 Africa Cup of Nations. After winning the 23rd edition of the football championship of Africa, The Indomitable Lions featured in the 2002 World Cup, but were again eliminated in the group stage following a 1–1 puff with the Republic of Ireland, a 1–0 acquire over Saudi Arabia and a 2–0 get the better of to Germany .
Song play for Cameroon in 2006. Song ‘s next tournament was the 2003 Confederations Cup. The Indomitable Lions qualified for the semi-finals after wins against Brazil ( 0–1 ) and Turkey ( 1–0 ) and a absorb with the United States. The defender then led his team against Colombia in the knockout stage. In the 72nd minute of the game, Song ‘s long-time friend Marc-Vivien Foé collapsed in the center r-2, with no early players near him. Foé died the same day due to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a ancestral condition known to increase the risk of sudden end during physical exercise. Cameroon finally won the crippled 1–0, but lost to France in the finals after extra prison term. Although Cameroon did not manage to qualify for the 2006 World Cup finals, the team participated in the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations. In the tournament, Song became the most cap player in Cameroon history. After three wins over Angola ( 3–1 ), Togo ( 2–0 ) and Congo DR ( 2–0 ) in the group stage, the Indomitable Lions were eliminated in the quarter-finals by Ivory Coast, following a 24-shot shoot-out in which Cameroon was defeated 12–11. song was besides partially of the Cameroon police squad for the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations. After a 4–2 loss to Egypt in the Group C opening match, the veteran defender led his team to wins against Zambia ( 5–1 ) and Sudan ( 3–0 ). In the beginning game against The Pharaohs, Song ‘s nephew Alex made his external debut for Cameroon, joining Rigobert on the pitch at half-time. The captain then carried the Indomitable Lions to the knockout stage, in which they defeated Tunisia ( 2–3 ) and Ghana ( 0–1 ) before losing the final examination to Egypt 1–0. The merely finish, made by Mohamed Aboutrika, came after a mistake by Song, who covered his boldness with his shirt during the adversary ‘s celebration. [ 17 ] On 31 May 2008, Song scored the first finish for Cameroon after nine minutes in a 2–0 home win against Cape Verde. With the win, the Indomitable Lions took an early contribute in Group 1 of the 2010 World Cup and Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers. [ 18 ] In 2009, Song was dropped as captain of the Cameroonian national team, from the World Cup/African Nations Cup qualifiers by fresh bus Paul Le Guen, but hush remained the actor that defined the visualize of the national team. Le Guen finally appointed Samuel Eto’o as his modern captain. On 12 August 2009, Cameroon ‘s most-capped actor was left out of the starting football team for the first base time in ten years in a friendly bet on against Austria. [ 19 ] In 16 years with the national team, he has been to the african Nations cup a record eight times, serving adenine captain in five competitions except in South Africa 1996, Burkina Faso in 1998 and Angola 2010 ). [ 20 ] Song holds the record of most consecutive games played in the african Nations Cup with 35 first-team games. He won the Nations Cup twice in Nigeria 2000 and Mali 2002, losing to Egypt in the finals in Ghana 2008.
In 2010, Cameroon was featured in the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations but failed to win the tournament. On 13 January 2010, the Lions lost in a 1–0 group-stage broken against Gabon but won a peer against Zambia four days subsequently, 3–2. Despite being considered as an have player, some of Song ‘s mistakes in the tournament were called “ self-destructive ” : in the inaugural game against Gabon, a defensive error by the veteran defender allowed Daniel Cousin ‘s goal, and against Zambia in the moment, he headed a crabbed towards his own finish. [ 21 ] [ 22 ] The team still qualified for the quarter-finals with four points after a draw with Tunisia on 21 January, in which Song came in as a substitute. Two days late, Cameroon was eliminated from the Africa Cup of Nations following a 3–1 loss after extra time to Egypt. In the match, Aurélien Chedjou was preferred to Song, ending the former master ‘s run of 36 consecutive Africa Cup of Nations matches, a total of 3,201 minutes. [ 23 ] After such events, Song was relegated to a role as stand-in for a string of games, as Le Guen frequently preferred to field younger players such as Sébastien Bassong and Benoît Assou-Ekotto. [ 24 ] Although he had handed the master ‘s armband over to Samuel Eto’o, Song was distillery selected for the 2010 World Cup squad in South Africa, [ 25 ] making him the only player to play in the 1994 and 2010 World Cup finals. He was besides the most have player to be featured in South Africa 2010 with 136 caps for his state. [ 26 ] The veteran defender did not play in Cameroon ‘s opening game of the World Cup against Japan. [ 27 ] The Samurai Blue won the game 1–0 with a goal from Keisuke Honda. [ 28 ] After the match, Song and some elder players claimed that Cameroon ‘s youngsters were not astir to standard and asked Le Guen to reconsider his batting order for the future group match against Denmark. [ 27 ] [ 29 ] Song, however, was again omitted in the game with Denmark, which Cameroon lost 2–1. With the passing, they became the beginning team to be mathematically eliminated in the 2010 World Cup. The former master finally featured in the last game against the Netherlands, his fourthly World Cup participation ; he entered the match as a stand-in for Nicolas N’Koulou in the 73rd minute of the second-half. [ 30 ] The Indomitable Lions went out of the tournament with a 1–2 loss and soon after, on 1 August, Song retired from international duty after 137 total appearances. [ 31 ]
Managerial career [edit ]
In belated 2015, Song was reportedly close to becoming the director of the Chad national team but an agreement was never finalised. [ 32 ] In February 2016, Song was appointed as director of the Cameroon A ‘ team, which is composed of players based in Cameroon. [ 33 ] Following his hospitalization for a brain aneurysm and subsequent recovery, Song resumed coaching duties in 2017, ahead of the qualification stagecoach of the 2018 african Nations Championship. [ 34 ] He led the team into the tournament, which saw Cameroon finish buttocks of their group after two losses and a drawing card. [ 35 ] [ 36 ] In April 2018, Song was one of 77 applicants for the vacant Cameroon national team job. [ 37 ] He assumed the role on a caretaker basis by and by in the year. [ 38 ] On 17 October 2018, FECAFOOT announced that Song would take control of the Cameroon U-23 national football team for the 2019 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations campaign. [ 39 ]
personal life [edit ]
song ‘s founder, Paul Song, died when he was young. As such, he never very knew his father but however dedicates all his success to him, as his absence was a solid motivational coerce for him. song is married to Esther Song, and has four children ( two sons and two daughters ) : Ronny, Bryan, Yohanna Bernadette and Hillary Veronique Liliane. They presently live in Liverpool. Rigobert is besides a home ambassador for Cameroon. [ 40 ] His nephew Alex Song has played as a defensive midfielder for clubs in France, England, Spain and Russia. About the relationship with Rigobert, Alex said, “ I speak to him all the clock and constantly call on him for advice. He ‘s a good person to talk to because of his experience in England and I can ask him anything, depending on situations. ” [ 41 ]
illness [edit ]
On 3 October 2016, Song suffered a cerebral approach and was hospitalised in Cameroon. He was in a coma for two days after having had a stroke with doctors planning to transfer him to a french hospital for far discussion. [ 42 ] [ 43 ] He returned to Cameroon in April 2017 and resumed coaching duties with Cameroon A ‘ later that year. [ 34 ]
career statistics [edit ]
baseball club [edit ]
- As of 18 May 2010[44]
Club
Season
League
Cup
League Cup
Europe
Total
Apps
Goals
Apps
Goals
Apps
Goals
Apps
Goals
Apps
Goals
Metz
1994–95
24
2
–
–
–
–
–
–
24
2
1995–96
37
0
–
–
–
–
–
–
37
0
1996–97
34
0
–
–
–
–
–
–
34
0
1997–98
28
1
–
–
–
–
–
–
28
1
Total
123
3
0
0
0
0
0
0
123
3
Salernitana
1998–99
4
1
–
–
–
–
–
–
4
1
Total
4
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
4
1
Liverpool
1998–99
13
0
–
–
–
–
–
–
13
0
1999–2000
18
0
–
–
–
–
–
–
18
0
2000–01
3
0
–
–
–
–
1
0
4
0
Total
34
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
35
0
West Ham United
2000–01
19
0
1
0
2
0
–
–
22
0
2001–02
5
0
–
–
1
0
–
–
6
0
Total
24
0
1
0
3
0
0
0
28
0
Köln
2001–02
16
0
3
1
–
–
–
–
19
1
Total
16
0
3
1
0
0
0
0
19
1
Lens
2002–03
35
3
–
–
–
–
8
1
43
4
2003–04
28
0
–
–
–
–
4
0
32
0
Total
63
3
0
0
0
0
12
1
75
4
Galatasaray
2004–05
28
2
–
–
–
–
–
–
32
2
2005–06
29
1
2
0
–
–
2
0
33
1
2006–07
25
1
–
–
1
0
7
0
33
1
2007–08
22
0
2
1
–
–
8
1
32
2
Total
104
4
4
2
1
0
17
1
126
6
Trabzonspor
2008–09
28
0
3
0
–
–
–
–
31
0
2009–10
18
0
5
1
–
–
2
1
23
2
Total
46
0
8
1
0
0
2
1
56
2
Career total
417
11
1
0
3
0
23
2
444
17
International goals [edit ]
- As of 2 September 2012[45]
Honours [edit ]
club [edit ]
Metz
Liverpool
Galatasaray [ 46 ]
Trabzonspor [ 46 ]
International [edit ]
Cameroon [ 46 ]
individual [edit ]
- IFFHS All-time Africa Men’s Dream Team: 2021[47]
See besides [edit ]
References [edit ]
Read more: Gabriella Wilde