Alain N'Kong (born 6 April 1979) is a Cameroonian former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

Club career

N'Kong was born in

Yaoundé Yaoundé (; , ) is the Capital city, capital city of Cameroon. It has a population of more than 2.8 million which makes it the second-largest city in the country after the port city Douala. It lies in the Centre Region (Cameroon), Centre Region o ...

, Cameroon. Early in his career, he played all over the world, including

Las Palmas Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital city of the Canary Islands (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife) and the m ...

in Spain, Nacional in Uruguay, and

FC Paços de Ferreira FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Pak ...

in Portugal. N'Kong signed with

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanctioned by the United ...

club

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Founded in ...

prior to the 2005 season. Despite having a successful season, he was released in November 2005. He returned to Colorado in August 2006 but was again waived at the end of the season, subsequently joining Atlante F.C. On 11 August 2007, he scored the first goal in the newly renovated Estadio Quintana Roo in

Cancún Cancún is the most populous city in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, located in southeast Mexico on the northeast coast of the Yucatán Peninsula. It is a significant tourist destination in Mexico and the seat of the municipality of Benito J ...

as well as his first goal for Atlante, against Pumas. He became the first African player to win a league title in Mexico, in Apertura 2007 with Atlante. After Atlante won its championship, N'Kong was released from the team becoming a free agent. In the Apertura 2008 he returned to Mexico where he played with Club Leon in the Primera "A". He signed with French side

US Boulogne Union Sportive de Boulogne-sur-Mer Côte d'Opale (commonly referred to as US Boulogne, USBCO or frequently, simply Boulogne) is a French association football club based in the commune of Boulogne-sur-Mer. The club was founded in 1898 and cur ...

in November 2008 on a one-season deal. N'Kong went on to play for Indios de Ciudad Juarez for the Apertura 2009, he signed a one-year contract. On 5 April 2012, he joined Arema Indonesia (ISL). N'Kong moved to Persepam Madura Utama in 2012.

International career

N'Kong represented

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

at various youth levels and appeared with the full national team in qualifiers for the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

. On 7 February 2008, he scored the winning goal with a finish from a

Samuel Eto'o Samuel Eto'o Fils (; born 10 March 1981) is a Cameroonian Association football, football administrator and former Football player, player who is the current president of the Cameroonian Football Federation. He is often regarded as one of the ...

through pass which sent Cameroon into the final of the

2008 Africa Cup of Nations The 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the MTN Africa Cup of Nations due to the competition's sponsorship by MTN, was the 26th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial football tournament for nations affiliated with the Confede ...

knocking out hosts

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

. Cameroon lost the final 0–1 against defending champions

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Career statistics

:''Scores and results list Cameroon's goal tally first.''

Honours

Canon Yaoundé * Cameroonian Cup: 1999 Villa Española *

Uruguayan Segunda División The Segunda División Profesional is the second division of professional football in Uruguay, established in 1942. The league is sometimes referred to as ''Primera B''. In 1942, the Segunda División was established to replace the amateur Uruguaya ...

: 2001 Atlante *

Mexican Primera División Liga MX, also known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the highest level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and also as Primera Divi ...

: Apertura 2007 León * Primera División A: Clausura 2008 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 ...

runner-up:

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 ...

References

External links

*
Profile at FrenchLeague.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:N'Kong, Alain 1979 births Living people Cameroonian men's footballers Footballers from Yaoundé Men's association football midfielders Cameroon men's international footballers 2008 Africa Cup of Nations players La Liga players Major League Soccer players Liga MX players Ligue 2 players Liga 1 (Indonesia) players Canon Yaoundé players S.C. Freamunde players C.S.D. Villa Española players UD Las Palmas players F.C. Paços de Ferreira players Club Nacional de Football players Colorado Rapids players Atlante F.C. footballers Club León footballers US Boulogne players Indios de Ciudad Juárez footballers Aceh United F.C. players Arema F.C. players Persebaya Surabaya players Persepam Madura Utama players Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Uruguay Expatriate men's footballers in Uruguay Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate men's footballers in France Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Indonesia Expatriate men's footballers in Indonesia