Charles Hubert Itandje (born 2 November 1982) is a retired 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 ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

. Born in France, Itandje represented the Cameroon national team.

Club career

Lens

Born in

Bobigny Bobigny () is a commune, or town, in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, Île-de-France, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. Bobigny is the prefecture (capital city) of the Seine-Saint-Denis department, as well as the seat of the A ...

(a suburb of Paris) of Cameroonian descent,Charles Itandje
, liverpoolfc.tv. Retrieved 9 April 2010. Itandje began his professional career at French club

RC Lens Racing Club de Lens (, commonly referred to as RC Lens or simply Lens) is a French professional football club based in the northern city of Lens in the Pas-de-Calais department. Its nickname, ''les sang et or'' (''the blood and gold''), co ...

in 2001, for whom he made 170 league appearances and 21 appearances in European games. Lens were prepared to allow Itandje to leave for

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

after they signed two goalkeepers in the summer of 2007, saying: "The directors of Lens have concluded the definitive sale of Charles Itandje to Liverpool Football Club. The Lens goalkeeper leaves Lens after six years of good and loyal service."

Liverpool

Itandje signed for Liverpool in August 2007, as cover for

Pepe Reina José Manuel "Pepe" Reina Páez (; born 31 August 1982) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for La Liga club Villarreal. The son of famed Barcelona and Atlético Madrid goalkeeper Miguel Reina, Pepe Reina began his ...

, thus allowing

Scott Carson Scott Paul Carson (born 3 September 1985) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Premier League club Manchester City. Carson joined the Leeds United academy in 2002, making his full first-team debut for Leeds ag ...

to join Aston Villa on a season-long

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that ...

to play regularly. Itandje said of his move: "At Liverpool there is a very good keeper who has been there three years. I am clearly going to be number 2. But, there are 60 matches a season and it is planned that I will play the League Cup and FA Cup." He made his first team debut for

in a

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

match against

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...

on 25 September, which Liverpool won 4–2, and in total, made three League Cup appearances and four

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

appearances for Liverpool in the 2007–08 season. He was made available for transfer in the summer of 2008 after Liverpool signed Diego Cavalieri but turned down a move to

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other de ...

. He made no further appearances for Liverpool and by January 2009 was seeking to leave the club. On 30 June 2010, Itandje returned to Liverpool. His contract with Liverpool was due to expire in January 2011 and he was at least fifth in the goalkeeping order, behind

, Brad Jones, Péter Gulácsi and Martin Hansen. Upon his return, he was criticised by

John Aldridge John William Aldridge (born 18 September 1958) is a former football player and manager. He was a prolific, record-breaking striker best known for his time with English club Liverpool in the late 1980s. His tally of 330 Football League goals is ...

for "collecting his wages" rather than looking for a different club where he would have a chance of playing. In total for Liverpool, Itandje played 7 times.

Hillsborough memorial incident

After the memorial service for the twentieth anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster in April 2009, complaints were made by members of the congregation that Itandje had been laughing and behaving inappropriately during the service. His actions were condemned by the Liverpool hierarchy, who stated that they would be seeking to impose the maximum punishment possible. Itandje apologised to the grieving families and to Liverpool fans for his behaviour and was suspended by the club for 14 days. He did not play another game, at reserve or first team level, for the club. In an exclusive interview with ''

Le Journal du Dimanche ''Le Journal du dimanche'' (English: ''Sunday's newspaper'') is a French weekly newspaper published on Sundays in France. History and profile ''Le Journal du Dimanche'' was created by Pierre Lazareff in 1948. He was managing editor of '' Fran ...

'', Itandje spoke out about the Hillsborough incident for the first time. He said when he saw himself laughing on television, he described this as "awkward and unwelcome." As a result of this, Itandje stated the club never supported him for this and the club supporters started to threaten him saying: ''"Do not walk in the street, you'll get mugged."'' His increasing stress caused him to have eczema on his hand. Following his move to Atromitos, Itandje apologised emphatically:

Kavala and Atromitos

On 29 August 2009, Itandje moved on loan at

Kavala Kavala ( el, Καβάλα, ''Kavála'' ) is a city in northern Greece, the principal seaport of eastern Macedonia (Greece), Macedonia and the capital of Kavala (regional unit), Kavala regional unit. It is situated on the Bay of Kavala, across ...

for the whole of the season despite interests from La Liga side Málaga and

Sporting de Gijón Real Sporting de Gijón, S.A.D. (), commonly known as Real Sporting, Sporting Gijón, or simply Sporting (although in an international context this can lead to confusion with Sporting Clube de Portugal) is a Spanish football club from Gijón, ...

. Upon joining Kavala, Itandje says joining the club describes the experience as "exotic in a fairly ambitious club" and "unlike anything I have experienced" club. There is no fitness center, no training center. After being a second choice goalkeeper, Itandje managed to beat off competitions from veteran goalkeeper

Željko Kalac Zeljko Kalac (born 16 December 1972) is an Australian former soccer goalkeeper, who is currently the manager of NK Urania Baška Voda, who play in the Croatian third division. Nicknamed "Spider" due to his tall, gangly figure, standing at 2.02& ...

to become a first choice goalkeeper. Itandje went on to make 19 appearances for Kavala and Itandje also made 9 clean sheets for the club. On 8 December 2010, it was announced that Itandje would be leaving Liverpool, being released from his contract. He joined Greek club Atromitos on a free transfer on 1 January 2011. Upon his departure from Liverpool, Newspaper

Liverpool Echo The ''Liverpool Echo'' is a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror North West & North Wales – a subsidiary company of Reach plc and is based in St Paul's Square, Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is published Monday to Sunday, and is Liver ...

were relieved of finally getting rid of Itandje. Since joining Greece permanently, Itandje have become the first choice goalkeeper throughout his Atromitos career. He started the

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup ( el, Κύπελλο Ελλάδος Ποδοσφαίρου), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Kypello Elladas is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second most ...

final for Atromitos who lost 3–0 to AEK at the OAKA stadium in Athens and also started in another Greek Cup final for Atromitos, which they lost 2–1 to

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...

at the OAKA stadium in Athens for the second time, which Atromitos played in. Despite losing the Greek Cup, Itandje, nevertheless, helped the club reach fifth place, which resulted in a qualification in the Europa League. In the Europa League Qualification Round against Newcastle United, Itandje played in both legs, as Newcastle United win 2–1 on aggregate, thus putting Atromitos out of the Europa League. During his time at Atromitos, Itandje credited

Giorgos Donis Georgios Donis ( el, Γεώργιος Δώνης; born 22 October 1969) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a midfielder and currently a manager. He is the current manager of Saudi Arabian club Al-Fateh. He was the first ev ...

on helping him, quoting: ''"I am very proud that my coach says very good things about me. For this I came to the group. O Donis brought me much because he believed in me and told me to come in Atromitos."''

PAOK

On 29 January 2013, Itandje signed a two-year contract with PAOK, where he will be wearing number 27 shirt, as well as, rejoining Donis. On 10 July 2013, he signed a one-year contract on loan with Turkish side

Konyaspor Konyaspor Kulübü (, Konya Sports Club) is a Turkish professional football club based in Konya. They are better known as Konyaspor. In 1922 Konyaspor were founded with the name Konya Gençlerbirliği and have played at their current home stadium ...

from PAOK. He made his debut, in the opening game of the season, in a 3–2 win over Fenerbahçe. He became the first choice goalkeeper throughout the season at Konyaspor and kept nine clean sheets in 39 appearances. He returned to PAOK after his loan to Konyaspor and during the second half of the 2014–15 season became the first choice goalkeeper helping the club to improve its performance, especially after the advent of the new coach, Georgios Charalambous Georgiadis.

Versailles

On 17 August 2018, it was reported that Itandje had signed for National 3 side

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, ...

International career

Itandje has represented France on several occasions, making his debut against Yugoslavia in November 2002. In 2006, he was called up for pre-selection for the French squad after a fine season at RC Lens. He was selected for the '' équipe de France espoirs'' (the under-21 team), and became known for his dance to destabilize opponents during the

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

. In October 2010 he was cleared by FIFA to represent Cameroon after expressing his desire to play for the Cameroon national team. Itandje made his international debut in the World Cup Qualifier against

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...

and soon made himself the number 1 choice. He then went on to play in Cameroon's opening game in the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

against

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. He then continued in their following two games against Croatia and Brazil. Cameroon lost all of these games, resulting in them being knocked out of the World Cup at the group stage.

Career statistics

:A. Includes appearances in the

and

. :B. Includes appearances in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

. :C. Includes appearances in the

and Superleague Greece play-offs.

Honours

* UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2005

References

External links

foreign.peacefmonline.comgoal.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Itandje, Charles 1982 births Living people People from Bobigny Footballers from Seine-Saint-Denis Cameroonian footballers Cameroon international footballers French footballers French sportspeople of Cameroonian descent Citizens of Cameroon through descent France under-21 international footballers Association football goalkeepers Red Star F.C. players RC Lens players Liverpool F.C. players Kavala F.C. players Atromitos F.C. players PAOK FC players Konyaspor footballers Çaykur Rizespor footballers Gaziantepspor footballers Adanaspor footballers FC Versailles 78 players Ligue 1 players Super League Greece players Süper Lig players Championnat National 3 players 2014 FIFA World Cup players Cameroonian expatriate footballers French expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Greece Expatriate footballers in Turkey Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in England Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey French expatriate sportspeople in England French expatriate sportspeople in Greece French expatriate sportspeople in Turkey