Landry Nguémo

Landry Nguémo
Nguémo playing for Celtic in 2009
Personal information
Full name Joël Landry Tsafack Nguémo
Date of birth (1985-11-28)28 November 1985
Place of birth Yaoundé, Cameroon
Date of death 27 June 2024(2024-06-27) (aged 38)
Place of death Obala, Centre Region, Cameroon
Height 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s) Defensive midfielder
Youth career
2001–2005 Nancy
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2005–2011 Nancy 127 (4)
2009–2010 → Celtic (loan) 35 (0)
2011–2014 Bordeaux 67 (2)
2015 Saint-Étienne 14 (1)
2015–2017 Akhisar Belediyespor 21 (2)
2017 Kayserispor 9 (0)
2019 Kongsvinger IL 21 (0)
Total 294 (9)
International career
2006–2014 Cameroon 42 (3)
Managerial career
2020–2021 COS Villers-les-Nancy U18 (youth)
2021–2024 Nancy (youth)
Medal record
Men's association football
Representing  Cameroon
Africa Cup of Nations
Silver medal – second place 2008 Ghana Team
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Joël Landry Tsafack Nguémo (28 November 1985 – 27 June 2024) was a Cameroonian professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder for Nancy, Bordeaux and Saint-Étienne in France and for Scottish club Celtic on loan. Nguémo played for the Cameroon national team from 2006 until 2014, including at the 2010 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,[citation needed] a town in western Cameroon, he played for various local teams in Dschang before moving to Yaounde aged 13.[citation needed]

He spent a short time in EMC.[clarification needed][citation needed]

Nancy

Nguémo was spotted by scouts of Nancy in Yaoundé[citation needed] and was promptly invited to France where he had trials before signing for the club aged 15.[citation needed] He made his debut aged 19 in August 2005 as a substitute against Lyon in a league match.[citation needed] He made his first start one month later against Troyes.[citation needed]

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, Sunderland and Everton.[1]

On 31 January 2009, Nguémo scored his first goal for Nancy, a dramatic 90th-minute winner in a match against Le Havre.[citation needed] 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 but Nancy were beaten 2–1.[citation needed]

Loan to Celtic

After days of speculation, on 16 July 2009, Nguémo completed a one-year loan move to Celtic with an option to make it permanent.[citation needed] He wore the number 6 shirt the squad number previously allotted to Bobo Baldé.[2] Nguémo's debut came in the 0–0 draw against Cardiff City where he was picked as Celtic's man of the match.[3] He made his competitive debut in the first leg of a Champions League qualifying tie against Dynamo Moscow in Glasgow, losing 1–0.[4] He was also part of the team that won 2–0 in the return leg in Moscow,[5] sending Celtic through to play Arsenal in the final qualifier for the Champions League. He made his league debut away to Aberdeen in a 3–1 win for Celtic.[6]

In total Nguémo made 35 appearances for Celtic without scoring.[7] 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.[8]

Bordeaux

On 4 July 2011, Nguémo moved from Nancy to Ligue 1 rivals Bordeaux, signing a three-year contract.[9] 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.[10] On 3 October 2013 in a Europa League tie against Maccabi Tel Aviv, 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.[11] Nguémo stated on his Twitter account afterwards that "There is nothing serious. I went back home from hospital after an electrocardiogram"[12] and he returned to first team action just over two weeks later in a Ligue 1 match against Lyon.[13]

Saint-Etienne

In January 2015, Nguémo signed a six-month contract with Saint-Étienne.[14]

Turkish football

On 29 August 2015, Nguémo signed with Turkish Süper Lig club Akhisar Belediyespor on a three-year contract after being released from Saint-Étienne at the end of the 2014–15 season.[15]

Nguémo joined another Turkish club, Kayserispor, in January 2017, signing a contract until 2019.[16]

Kongsvinger and retirement

After a spell at Norwegian side Kongsvinger in 2019, Nguémo retired from football.[17]

International career

N'Guémo battles Brazil midfielder Paulinho for the ball during the 2014 FIFA World Cup on 23 June.

Nguémo made 42 appearances for the Cameroon national team, scoring three goals.[18]

Coaching career

In May 2020, Nguémo was named U18 manager of French club COS Villers-les-Nancy.[17] In June 2021, Nguémo was hired as a youth coach at his former club, AS Nancy.[19]

Personal life and death

Nguémo was a keen falconer and kept a modest collection of bird of prey, with his favourite, a white-tailed eagle named Mr George after George Weah.[20]

He obtained French citizenship by naturalization in December 2007.[21]

Nguémo died in a traffic collision near the town of Obala in the night between 26 and 27 June 2024. He was 38.[18][22]

Honours

Nancy

Cameroon

References

  1. ^ Goodchild, Alex (20 January 2009). "Arsenal chase Landry N'Guemo". Eyefootball. Retrieved 20 January 2009.
  2. ^ "Mowbray welcomes Nguémo signing". BBC Sport. 17 July 2009. Retrieved 18 July 2009.
  3. ^ "Celts continue to make progress". Celtic FC. 22 July 2009. Archived from the original on 25 July 2009. Retrieved 22 July 2009.
  4. ^ "Celtic suffer Dynamo defeat at Parkhead - Scottish Professional Football League". Archived from the original on 28 December 2014. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
  5. ^ "BBC SPORT - Football - Europe - D'mo Moscow 0-2 Celtic (agg 1-2)". 5 August 2009.
  6. ^ "BBC SPORT - Football - Scottish Premier - Aberdeen 1-3 Celtic". 15 August 2009.
  7. ^ Coyle, Andy (27 June 2024). "Celtic 'shocked and saddened' by death of former midfielder, aged 38". STV News.
  8. ^ No go N’Guemo: Celtic switch attention to N’Diaye after move for Nancy Bhoy stalls Archived 9 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine STV Sport, 19 June 2010
  9. ^ "N'Guemo signs deal with Bordeaux". BBC News. 2 July 2011.
  10. ^ McHugh, Joe (25 May 2012). "Whatever happened to loan Celt Landry N'Guemo". Video Celts. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
  11. ^ Bamba, Malick (4 October 2013). "Bordeaux : alerte cardiaque pour Landry Nguemo". Afrik Foot. Archived from the original on 5 April 2014. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
  12. ^ Mulnago, Valentine (6 October 2013). "Cameroon Landry Nguemo confirms he is free from heart attack". Cameroon Info. Archived from the original on 20 July 2014. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
  13. ^ "La saison 2013/14 de Landry Nguemo, Girondins de Bordeaux". Archived from the original on 22 June 2013. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
  14. ^ "Landry Nguemo en renfort". asse.fr. 16 January 2014. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
  15. ^ "N'Guemo Akhisar Belediyespor'da". Akhisar Haber (in Turkish). 29 August 2015. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
  16. ^ "Landry N'Guemo à Kayserispor". L'Equipe (in French). Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  17. ^ a b L’ancien professionnel de Nancy Landry Nguémo entraîneur de jeunes à Villers-lès-Nancy !, vosgesmatin.fr, 9 May 2020
  18. ^ a b "L'ancien international camerounais Landry N'Guemo est mort à 38 ans dans un accident de la route". L'Équipe (in French). 27 June 2024. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  19. ^ AS Nancy: Cameroonian Landry N'Guemo appointed U16 coach, sportnewsafrica.com, 19 June 2021
  20. ^ "World Cup 2014: Cameroon – the secrets behind the players".
  21. ^ "Le Foot Lorraine n°17 avr à sep 2008 - Page 24 - 25 - le Foot Lorraine n°17 avr à sep 2008 - le Foot Lorraine - football - collectifs - Sports - 1001mags - Magazines en PDF à 1 € et GRATUITS !".
  22. ^ Schirru, Francesco (27 June 2024). "N'Guèmo è morto a 38 anni: tragico incidente per l'ex giocatore di Bordeaux e Celtic". Goal.com (in Italian). Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  23. ^ "African Nations Cup 2008 - Match Details".