Timothée Atouba Essama (born 17 February 1982) is a Cameroonian former professional footballer who played as a

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

Club career

Early years

Born in

Douala Douala is the largest city in Cameroon and its economic capital. It is also the capital of Cameroon's Littoral Region (Cameroon), Littoral Region. It was home to Central Africa's largest port, now being replaced by Kribi port. It has the country ...

, Cameroon, Atouba grew up in a family with 13 children. He started playing football in Yaoundé in a small club called Minéduc (Ministère de l'éducation national). He was soon being courted by other academies. But he remained with his club, which has since been renamed from to Ouragan FC. He advanced to their first team for the 1999 season, in the second tier. The left footed midfielder played immediately in the starting eleven and was regular goal scorer. From that moment on things went in quick succession and he transferred to Union Douala, in the Elite One. Then, Atouba received a call-up for Cameroon's national team from national coach Pierre Lechantre. He didn't have to play any youth internationals.

Neuchâtel Xamax

Atouba was spotted as a talent by scouts in friendlies and during Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers. Sooner or later he also became the focus of Swiss clubs. Neuchâtel Xamax was the first club interested. In summer 2000 he signed for them, and played for them in the 2001–02 Nationalliga A under head coach Alain Geiger. Atouba played his league debut for the club in the home game in the Stade de la Maladière (1924) on 19 July 2000 as Xamax won 2–0 against

FC Basel Fussball Club Basel 1893, widely known as FC Basel, FCB, or just Basel, is a Swiss professional Association football, football club based in Basel, in the Basel-Stadt, Canton of Basel-Stadt. Formed in 1893, the club has been List of Swiss footba ...

. From this moment FCB also became aware of him.

Basel

In summer 2001, Basel's first offer was turned down, but six months later, the second offer was accepted. Atouba joined Basel's first team as a left-back during their 2001–02 season under head coach Christian Gross for the transfer fee of CHF 400,000. After playing in two test games, Atouba played his domestic league debut for his new club in the away game in the Stadio Cornaredo on 24 February 2002 as Basel won 5–2 against

Lugano Lugano ( , , ; ) is a city and municipality within the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland. It is the largest city in both Ticino and the Italian-speaking region of southern Switzerland. Lugano has a population () of , and an u ...

. He scored his first goal for his new team on 1 April in the away game in the Charmilles Stadium as Basel won 2–1 against Servette. Basel won the last game of the season, on 8 May 2002, and became champions ten points clear at the top of the table. Just four days later they played in the cup final against Grasshopper Club winning 2–1 in extra time they won the double. Basel's

2002–03 UEFA Champions League The 2002–03 UEFA Champions League was the 11th season of UEFA's premier European club association football, football tournament, the UEFA Champions League, since its rebranding in 1992, and the 48th European Cup tournament overall. The competi ...

season started in the second qualifying round. After beating

Žilina Žilina (; ; ; ; Names of European cities in different languages: U-Z#Z, names in other languages) is a city in north-western Slovakia, around from the capital Bratislava, close to both the Czech and Polish borders. It is the List of cities ...

4–1 on aggregate and Celtic on the away goals rule after a 3–3 aggregate, Basel advanced to the

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

. They ended this in second position behind

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

, but ahead of

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 ...

and Spartak Moscow to advance to the next round. Matchday six was decisive. Basel were in second place in the group table, but their place in the last 16 was all but secured - all they had to do was to make sure they did not lose to Liverpool in the last game of the first group stage. The game began for Liverpool in the worst possible manner. In the second minute Julio Hernán Rossi and in the 22nd Christian Giménez put Basel two up. Atouba himself put them three up in the 29th minute with his first Champions League goal. Atouba has fond memories of this third goal. Hakan Yakin fired a free kick from the right towards

Jerzy Dudek Jerzy Henryk Dudek (born 23 March 1973) is a Polish former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. After beginning his career in his home country, he went on to have successful ...

's goal.''The ball bounced off the goalie, it came to me, and somehow, I steered it over the line from the corner of the five-yard-line. Then I ran, ran towards the Basler bench, where I slipped and fell on my back, and everyone, everyone came and congratulated me.'' Liverpool fought back, during the second half they managed to draw level, but the score remained at 3–3 right up until the final whistle. Basel thus qualified for the next round. Basel ended the second group stage in third position behind

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 ...

and

Juventus 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 ...

, but ahead of

Deportivo La Coruña ''Deportivo'' (Spanish, 'sporting') may refer to: * Deportivo de La Coruña, commonly known as simply Deportivo, a Spanish football club * Déportivo, a French rock band * Deportivo (Mexicable) Mexicable is an aerial lift line in Ecatepec de ...

. Atouba played in 12 of these 16 games. Basel ended their league season as runners-up, but in the cup they advanced to the final and here they beat Xamax 6–0 to defend the title. Basel ended their league season as runners-up, but in the cup they advanced to the final and here they beat Xamax 6–0 to defend the title that they had won a season earlier. As cup winners Basel were qualified for the UEFA Cup first round and here they beat Malatyaspor 3-2 on aggregate due to the silver goal rule. However, in the second round they lost both games against Newcastle United. Atouba played in three of the games. In their 2003–04 league season the team started well, winning their first 13 matches straight out. The first defeat came on matchday 24. Basel won the championship with 26 victories and seven draws, the team had suffered just three away defeats, and obtained 85 points. Atouba played in 30 matches, netting twice. However, in the cup they were eliminated early, in round three. Atouba commenced the 2004–05 season with Basel, but after just three league games he left the club. During his time with them, he played a total of 113 games for Basel scoring a total of six goals. 73 of these games were in the

Swiss Super League The Super League (also known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a professional association football league in Switzerland and the highest level of the Swiss football league system. It has been played in its current fo ...

, nine in the

Swiss Cup The Swiss Cup (; ; ; ) is a football cup competition that has been organised annually since 1925–26 season by the Swiss Football Association. The Swiss Cup final is usually the most important game of the year with a high attendance. The co ...

, 14 in the UEFA competitions (Champions League and UEFA Cup) and 17 were friendly games. He scored three goals in the domestic league, one in the cup, one in the European games and the other was scored during the test games.

Tottenham Hotspur

Atouba signed for Tottenham Hotspur in August 2004. Although he played promising games in his first few months at the club, scoring the only goal in a win at Newcastle United, he finished the season as an occasional left-back. After only one year in London he was deemed surplus to requirements.

Hamburger SV

Atouba was transferred to

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), or HSV (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its Association football, football department. Though the current HSV was founde ...

in July 2005. In 2006, Atouba caused a stir after several rash challenges led to goals against his German club in the Champions League. After receiving some jeering from a disgruntled crowd he reacted by raising his middle finger to them, and asking to be substituted. Having been substituted he repeated his actions and then received a red card. In the summer of 2009, Atouba's contract in Hamburg ended.

Ajax

In July 2009, he moved to Amsterdam, where he was reunited with ex-HSV-coach

Martin Jol Maarten Cornelis "Martin" Jol (born 16 January 1956) is a Dutch football manager and former midfielder. He played over 400 games during his career which included spells in the Netherlands, Germany and England, as well as earning three caps wi ...

. He joined

AFC Ajax Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or commonly Ajax, is a Dutch professional Association football, football Football team, club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. ...

on a two-year deal. After injury problems during 2009, Atouba lost his place in the first eleven to Ajax-youngster Vurnon Anita.

Las Palmas

In May 2012, Atouba was invited to a trial by the MLS expansion team, the Montreal Impact. In November 2012, the Spanish team

UD Las Palmas Unión Deportiva Las Palmas S.A.D. is a professional association football, football club based in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain. The club will compete in Segunda División, the 2nd division in the Spanish football league syst ...

confirmed the signing of Atouba until the end of season 2012–13.

International career

He was part of the Cameroonian 2004 African Nations Cup team, who finished top of their group in the first round of competition, before failing to secure qualification for the semi-finals.

Honours

FC Basel *

: 2001–02, 2003–04, 2004–05 *

: 2001–02, 2002–03, * Uhren Cup: 2003 Hamburger SV *

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was dis ...

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

* Dubai Challenge Cup:

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 ...

Emirates Cup The Emirates Cup is a pre-season association football invitational competition hosted by English club Arsenal F.C., Arsenal at their home ground, Emirates Stadium, in Holloway, London. The two-day competition was inaugurated in 2007 and is na ...

* T-Home Cup: 2009 Ajax *

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

: 2010–11 *

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; ), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organised by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Outside the N ...

: 2009–10 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 ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

References

Sources

* Rotblau: Jahrbuch Saison 2017/2018. Publisher: FC Basel Marketing AG. * Die ersten 125 Jahre. Publisher: Josef Zindel im Friedrich Reinhardt Verlag, Basel.
Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv" Homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Atouba, Timothee 1982 births Living people Footballers from Douala Men's association football fullbacks Cameroonian men's footballers 21st-century Cameroonian sportsmen Neuchâtel Xamax FCS players FC Basel players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Hamburger SV players AFC Ajax players UD Las Palmas players Swiss Super League players Premier League players Bundesliga players Eredivisie players Segunda División players Cameroon men's international footballers 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2000 African Cup of Nations players 2004 African Cup of Nations players 2006 Africa Cup of Nations players 2008 Africa Cup of Nations players Cameroonian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Expatriate men's footballers in England Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Spain