Abel Tamata (born 5 December 1990) 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 lea ...

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 ...

. Born in the Netherlands, he played international football for the

DR Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

. Tamata has previously played for PSV,

Roda JC Kerkrade Sportvereniging Roda Juliana Combinatie Kerkrade (; ), shortly as Roda JC Kerkrade () or commonly Roda JC or simply Roda, is a Dutch professional association football, football club based in Kerkrade, Netherlands. Roda JC Kerkrade plays in the ...

Groningen Groningen ( , ; ; or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of ...

and

ADO Den Haag Alles Door Oefening Den Haag (), commonly known by the abbreviated name ADO Den Haag (), is a Dutch association football club from the city of The Hague. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation ...

Early and personal life

Tamata was born in

Bergen op Zoom Bergen op Zoom (; called ''Berrege'' in the Brabantian dialect, local dialect) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in southwestern Netherlands. It is located in the Province ...

to a Dutch mother and a Congolese father. His father worked as a taxi driver. He has a half-sister on his mother's side, and two half-brothers on his father's side. His manager is rapper

Ali B Ali Bouali, known professionally as Ali B (born 16 October 1981), is a Moroccan Dutch rapper and entertainer. He is one of the most prominent rappers in the Netherlands and has collaborated with musicians such as Akon and Marco Borsato. He is se ...

, who is married to Tamata's half-sister. Tamata is a

Jehovah's Witness Jehovah's Witnesses is a Christian denomination that is an outgrowth of the Bible Student movement founded by Charles Taze Russell in the nineteenth century. The denomination is nontrinitarian, millenarian, and restorationist. Russell co- ...

Club career

PSV Eindhoven

Having previously played in the academy at SV DOSKO and

NAC Breda NAC Breda (), often simply known as NAC, is a Dutch professional football club, based in Breda, Netherlands. NAC Breda play in the Rat Verlegh Stadium, named after their most important player, Antoon 'Rat' Verlegh. They play in the Eredivisi ...

, Tamata joined PSV's youth system in 2007. After progressing through the academy, Tamata made his PSV Eindhoven debut in the UEFA Europa League, starting the whole game, in a 0–0 draw against Metalist Kharkiv on 16 December 2010. His next appearance came on 17 March 2011 in the last 16 of the UEFA Europa League, in a 1–0 win over

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

. After appearing as an unused substitute, in a 1–0 win over

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

on 20 March 2011 following his call-up to the first team for the first time, Two days after making a tackle on Eduardo Salvio that ended his season, during a UEFA Europa League match, Tamata made his league debut for the side, where he started and played for 67 minutes, in a 2–0 win over

Heracles Almelo Heracles Almelo is a Dutch professional football club based in Almelo, founded in 1903. The club has won the Dutch national title twice, in 1927 and 1941. Heracles won the Eerste Divisie title during the 2004–05 season, gaining promotion to t ...

on 17 April 2011. At the end of the 2010–11 season, in which he made six appearances, Tamata signed a contract with the club, keeping him until 2013. In the 2011–12 season, Tamata appeared in a handful of first team appearances and competed for the left-back position with Erik Pieters and

Jetro Willems Jetro Danovich Sexer Willems (born 30 March 1994) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a left wing-back or left-back. Willems represented the Netherlands national team at UEFA Euro 2012; he played in the Netherlands' opening match o ...

. Although Willems established himself in the left-back position at the start of the season, Tamata appeared on the substitute bench. However, in his second start of the season, which saw PSV Eindhoven draw 2–2 with

Twente Twente ( , Tweants dialect: ''Tweante'') is a region in the eastern Netherlands. It encompasses the most urbanised and easternmost part of the province of Overijssel. Twente is most likely named after the Tuihanti or Tvihanti, a Germanic people ...

, on 29 October 2011, he suffered a calf injury in early of the first half and was substituted as a result. Following this, Tamata had an operation and was sidelined until the end of the year. However, his recovery of returning to the first team was further delayed and never appeared in the first team for the rest of the season. Despite this, he only made a return from injury on 19 April 2012, in a 4–3 win over Jong AGOVV/Vitesse. Whilst on loan at Roda JC Kerkrade, it was announced on 18 September 2012 that Tamata extended his two-year contract with the club, keeping him until 2015. After returning from a loan at Roda JC Kerkrade, Tamata was sent to play for Jong PSV for the next two seasons. Despite this, Tamata was called up to the first team following Willems' absent. He made his first appearance of the 2013–14 season, where he played 19 minutes, in a 4–0 win over

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

on 22 September 2013. In the absence of Willems, Tamata was called up to the first team and featured in the left-back position for the rest of the year. After suffering a groin injury, Tamata returned and played the last two matches of the season for the side. In the 2014–15 season, Tamata started out in the left-back position at the start of the season following Willems' injury. However, in a 2–0 win over Shakhtyor Soligorsk in the second leg play-off round of the UEFA Europa League, Tamata suffered a fractured foot and was sidelined for two months. After recovering from a fractured foot, he returned to the reserve side for the whole year. After being injured at the beginning of 2015, Tamata played two matches following Willems' injury. After making his last home appearances against Heracles Almemo on 5 May 2015, It was announced that Tamata was leaving PSV Eindhoven at the end of the 2014–15 season. It believed it was Tamata's decision to leave the club.

Loan Spell at Roda JC Kerkrade

It was announced on 7 July 2012 that Tamata joined

on a season-long deal for the 2012–13 season, a move he believed it can take a new step to development. Tamata made his Roda JC debut, starting the whole game in the left-back position, in a 1–1 draw against

PEC Zwolle Prins Hendrik Ende Desespereert Nimmer Combinatie Zwolle, commonly known as PEC Zwolle, is a Dutch professional football club based in Zwolle, Netherlands. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football. They have played in the Ered ...

in the opening game of the season. He then set up a goal for

Amin Affane Amin Tareq Affane (, ; ; born 21 January 1994) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Club career Lärje-Angereds IF Affane, who was playing for the Division 3 team Lärje-Angereds IF, agreed to join Chelsea ...

to score an equaliser, but lost 3–2 to FC Groningen on 30 September 2012. However, he suffered a knee injury during a 0–0 draw against

NEC Nijmegen NEC Nijmegen (''Nijmegen Eendracht Combinatie''), commonly known as NEC (), is a professional Dutch association football club based in Nijmegen. The club currently competes in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, following promotion ...

and was out for the whole year. After returning to training, he returned to the first team on 20 January 2013, in a 2–0 win over NEC Nijmegen. However, in a 4–0 loss against Utrecht on 24 February 2013, Tamata was sent-off in the 18th minute, for a foul on Édouard Duplan. After the match, Tamata was initially about to serve a one-match suspension but Manager Ruud Brood disagreed, claiming that there was no contact between the pair and had his suspension rescinded. Despite being sidelined with injuries as the season progressed,

FC Groningen

After being released by PSV Eindhoven, it was announced on 30 June 2015 that Tamata joined

, signing a two-year contract, keeping him until 2017. Tamata was previously linked with a move to Twente and

Empoli Empoli () is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Florence, Tuscany, Italy, about southwest of Florence, to the south of the Arno River, Arno in a plain formed by the river. The plain has been usable for agriculture since Ancient Ro ...

before joining FC Groningen. Tamata made his FC Groningen debut, starting the whole game, in a 3–0 loss against his former club, PSV Eindhoven, in the Johan Cruyff Shield. He made his league debut for the club, in the opening game of the season, in a 1–1 draw against Twente. However, Tamata suffered an injury in the final minutes of the match and was sidelined for six weeks. After returning to the first team from injury, Tamata found himself struggling to regain his first team place following the arrival of Manager

Ernest Faber Ernest Anthonius Jacobus Faber (born 27 August 1971) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player. He is currently consulting as the technical director at A-League Men side Adelaide United, subject to his visa. Faber grew up in ...

and his own injury concerns. With his first team opportunities limited in the 2017–18 season, Tamata, along with Hedwiges Maduro, were told by the club that they both can leave the club. Shortly after, it was announced that Tamata left Groningen by mutual consent.

ADO Den Haag

After leaving Groningen, Tamata was offered a move to join

VVV-Venlo VVV-Venlo (, ''VVV'' stands for ''Venlose Voetbal Vereniging'' meaning "Venlo Football Club") is a Dutch association football, football club from Venlo, a city on the border with Germany. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutc ...

in January 2017 but rejected the offer. Shortly after, Tamata instead join

on a deal that last until the end of the season. However, Tamata struggled to make an impression at ADO Den Haag after suffering an injury; and following his recovery, he spent the rest of the season on the substitute bench. At the end of the 2016–17 season, Tamata was released by the club, without making an appearance for the side.

International career

Tamata is eligible to play for

and

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

but is favour of playing for Congo. In March 2015, Tamata received his first call-up for the DR Congo national team for a training camp in Dubai. He made his international debut later that year.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tamata, Abel 1990 births Living people Dutch men's footballers PSV Eindhoven players Jong PSV players Roda JC Kerkrade players FC Groningen players ADO Den Haag players Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players Men's association football fullbacks Dutch Jehovah's Witnesses Footballers from Bergen op Zoom Dutch people of Democratic Republic of the Congo descent Democratic Republic of the Congo men's footballers Democratic Republic of the Congo men's international footballers DOSKO players NAC Breda players 21st-century Dutch sportsmen 21st-century Democratic Republic of the Congo sportsmen