Isetsima Blaise Nkufo (born 25 May 1975) is a Swiss former international

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 striker and current coach of Rino's Tigers in the Vancouver Metro Soccer League. He was born in Zaire and raised in Switzerland from the age of seven. Nkufo played professionally in Switzerland, Qatar, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United States, scoring 209 goals in 442 career league appearances. Nkufo was also a member of the Switzerland national team, having won 34 caps and scored seven goals. He played for them at the 2010 World Cup.

Club career

Nkufo played for Lausanne Sport, FC Echallens, Al-Arabi, Yverdon-Sport FC,

Grasshopper Club Zürich Grasshopper Club Zurich (GCZ), commonly referred to as Grasshopper Club or simply just GC, is a professional sports club, multisports club based in Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland. They are nicknamed the ''Grasshoppers'' or sometimes just ''Hopper ...

, AC Lugano, FC Lucerne, Mainz 05,

Hannover 96 Hannoverscher Sportverein von 1896, commonly referred to as Hannover 96 (), is a German professional association football, football club based in the city of Hanover, Lower Saxony. They played in the Bundesliga for a total of 30 years between 19 ...

FC Twente Football Club Twente (), sometimes known internationally as FC Twente Enschede, is a Dutch professional Association football, football club from the city of Enschede. The club was formed in 1965 by the merger of 1926 Dutch champions Sportclub E ...

and

Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders FC is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The club was established on ...

In early 2010, Nkufo left Twente and was linked to sign with the

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, 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 sanc ...

team

. On 4 March 2010, the Sounders confirmed that they had signed Nkufo and that he would be joining the Sounders' squad on 13 July 2010 when his contract with Twente expired. In his final season with Twente, Nkufo scored 12

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 ...

goals helping the club to their first league title in their 45-year history. Nkufo made 223

appearances for Twente, and scored 114 goals - a club record. Twente erected a statue in his honour outside of the stadium following his departure. His first appearance for the Sounders was on 18 July 2010 during a friendly vs.

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

. Nkufo was the first Sounders player to record a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

in league play, doing so against the

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew are an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team began play in 1996 as one of the 10 cha ...

on 18 September 2010. It ended a scoreless drought of 415 minutes for him after joining the club. On 5 October 2010, Nkufo featured in the final of the U.S. Open Cup as the Sounders defeated the Columbus Crew by a score of 2–1. On 15 March 2011, Seattle and Nkufo agreed mutually to the termination of his deal. Nkufo announced his retirement thirteen days later.

International career

Nkufo made his international debut for

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

in 2000. He was a squad member at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. At the tournament, Nkufo played an influential role in helping the Swiss upset eventual world champions

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

in the group stage.

International goals

:''Scores and results list Switzerland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Nkufo goal.''

Coaching career

Nkufo owned the Nkufo Academy Sports in the Greater Vancouver area, is managing director of the Blaise Soccer Elite Training INC, and works as Head coach of Rino's Tigers in the Vancouver Metro Soccer League Premier Division.

Personal life

Born in

Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ), formerly named Léopoldville from 1881–1966 (), is the Capital city, capital and Cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kinshasa is one of the world's fastest-grow ...

Zaire Zaire, officially the Republic of Zaire, was the name of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1971 to 18 May 1997. Located in Central Africa, it was, by area, the third-largest country in Africa after Sudan and Algeria, and the 11th-la ...

, Nkufo emigrated to Switzerland with his family when he was seven and became naturalised as a Swiss citizen. Nkufo is married to a woman from

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

Name confusion

Nkufo has himself said in interviews that his surname is ''Nkufo''. The incorrect version ''N'Kufo'' is often found in media. The surname is pronounced ''Kufo'', without the ''N''.

Honours

Twente *

: 2009–10 Seattle Sounders FC * U.S. Open Cup:

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nkufo, Blaise 1975 births Living people Swiss men's footballers Men's association football forwards FC Lausanne-Sport players Grasshopper Club Zurich players Yverdon-Sport FC players FC Lugano players FC Luzern players 1. FSV Mainz 05 players Hannover 96 players FC Twente players Qatar Stars League players Swiss Super League players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Eredivisie players Switzerland men's international footballers 2010 FIFA World Cup players Swiss expatriate men's footballers Al-Arabi SC (Qatar) players Democratic Republic of the Congo expatriate men's footballers Democratic Republic of the Congo men's footballers Swiss expatriate sportspeople in Germany Democratic Republic of the Congo expatriate sportspeople in Germany Swiss expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Democratic Republic of the Congo expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Democratic Republic of the Congo emigrants to Switzerland Swiss people of Democratic Republic of the Congo descent Naturalised citizens of Switzerland Footballers from Kinshasa Seattle Sounders FC players Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Major League Soccer players Designated Players (MLS) 21st-century Democratic Republic of the Congo sportsmen