David Philippe Henri Ngog (born 1 April 1989), known as David N'Gog, is a French 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 plays as a striker for Greek

Gamma Ethniki The Gamma Ethniki ( el, Γ΄ Εθνική Ερασιτεχνική Κατηγορία, C National Amateur Division) is the third highest football league in Greece. History The Gamma Ethniki began in 1965 as an amateur championship, while in 198 ...

club

Panionios Panionios G.S.S. Football Club ( Greek: ΠΑΕ Πανιώνιος Γ.Σ.Σ.), the ''Pan-Ionian Gymnastics Club of Smyrna'' (Πανιώνιος Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Σμύρνης, ''Panionios Gymnastikos Syllogos Smyrnis'' ...

. N'Gog started his career with French

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. ...

club

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As F ...

. He made his senior debut in 2006 and in 2008 won the

Coupe de la Ligue The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a knockout cup competition in French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was established in 1993 and, unlike the Coupe de France, w ...

. English

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

signed him at the start of the 2008–09 season. After three years, he moved to fellow Premier League club

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pik ...

, but was relegated with them after just one season. Following spells in Greece, Scotland, Hungary, and Lithuania, N'Gog announced his retirement in 2020. N'Gog is a former France under-21 international. However, he was also eligible to represent

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west- central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; th ...

, by way of his father, and was approached by Cameroon in the past to make the switch.

Early life

N'Gog was born in

Gennevilliers Gennevilliers () is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, in the Hauts-de-Seine department of Île-de-France. It is located from the centre of Paris. In 2017, it had a population of 46,907. History On 9 April 1929, one-fifth of the ...

Hauts-de-Seine Hauts-de-Seine (; ) is a département in the Île-de-France region, Northern France. It covers Paris's western inner suburbs. It is bordered by Paris, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne to the east, Val-d'Oise to the north, Yvelines to the we ...

, to a Cameroonian father and a French mother. He is the cousin of former French international player

Jean-Alain Boumsong Jean-Alain Boumsong Somkong (born 14 December 1979) is a French former professional footballer who played as a defender. He began his senior career with French club Le Havre in 1997 before joining AJ Auxerre in 2000. His performances at Auxerre ...

Club career

Paris Saint-Germain

N'Gog started his career with

in 2001. He signed his first professional contract in June 2006.

Liverpool

2008–09 season

Manager

Rafael Benítez Rafael Benítez Maudes (born 16 April 1960) is a Spanish professional football manager and former player who most recently managed club Everton. Benítez joined Real Madrid's coaching staff at the age of 26, going on to work as the under- ...

hailed his scouting network after his signing, saying that "They are finding players like N'Gog, players with quality who are not a high price". N'Gog played his first game for

in a friendly game against

Villarreal Villarreal ( ca-valencia , Vila-real) is a city and municipality in the province of Castellón which is part of the Valencian Community in the east of Spain. The town is located at 42 m above sea level, 7 km to the south of the province's ...

on 30 July 2008 and scored his first goal one game later against

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

in another pre-season friendly. He then followed this up by scoring Liverpool's final goal in their next pre-season friendly, a 4–1 win over Norwegian side

Vålerenga Vålerenga () is a neighbourhood in the city of Oslo, Norway, belonging to the borough of Gamle Oslo. Vålerenga is located between the neighbourhoods of Gamlebyen, Jordal, Ensjø, Etterstad and Lodalen. Vålerenga is in particular known for its ...

. He made his

debut against

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa P ...

, coming on as a substitute for

Fernando Torres Fernando José Torres Sanz (; born 20 March 1984) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a striker. He is the current manager of Atlético Madrid Juvenil A. Due to his consistent goalscoring rate as a young player, ...

. N'Gog scored his first goal for Liverpool in their 3–1 victory over

PSV PSV may refer to: * Partial specific volume * PlayStation Vita, a handheld game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment * Petit Saint Vincent, an island south of St. Vincent in the Grenadine islands * Platform supply vessel, a specific typ ...

in the group stages of the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

. N'Gog made his first start for Liverpool on 7 February 2009 against

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is admi ...

, and scored his first league goal on 3 March 2009 against

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

in a 2–0 win at

Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 189 ...

. N'Gog scored his second league goal for the club on 11 April 2009 against

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

at Anfield in an emphatic 4–0 win.

2009–10 season

N'Gog scored his first goal of the new season with the final goal in a 4–0 home win against

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Sto ...

. This was his fourth career goal for Liverpool, three of which came in league matches. The following month, he then went on to score the winning goal in a third-round

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 ...

game, to win 1–0 away against

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

. On 25 October, in a crucial game against

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

, he came on for goalscorer Torres at Anfield, scoring a goal in the 96th minute in the 2–0 win to seal an important victory for Liverpool. After the crunch tie, N'Gog said scoring the goal was "a fantastic moment for me and the team and I would say it's my best moment in football." He scored his fourth goal of the season on 9 November against

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

before winning a controversial penalty that gave Liverpool a draw after

Steven Gerrard Steven George Gerrard (born 30 May 1980) is an English professional football manager and former player, who most recently managed club Aston Villa. Described by pundits and fellow professionals as one of his generation's greatest players, ...

converted from the spot. N'Gog then scored Liverpool's only goal in their next match away to Debrecen in the Champions League. Benítez showed his faith in N'Gog by handing him a start against Everton in the

Merseyside derby The Merseyside derby is the football matches between Everton and Liverpool, the two primary clubs in Liverpool, England. Named after the county of Merseyside, in which Liverpool is located, it is the longest running top-flight derby in England ...

; this match finished 2–0 to Liverpool. He scored his fourth league goal (six in total of the 2009–10 season) in a 2–1 victory over

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 193 ...

. N'Gog's goal nine minutes from time eventually broke the resistance of a determined

Unirea Urziceni Asociația Sportivă Fotbal Club Urziceni, commonly known as FC Urziceni (), is a Romanian professional football club based in Urziceni, Ialomița County which currently plays in fourth division, Ialomița County. Unirea became national champio ...

at Anfield in the

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. ...

2010–11 season

On 29 July, N'Gog scored twice in

Roy Hodgson Roy Hodgson (born 9 August 1947) is a former English football manager and player. He managed 22 different teams in eight countries, beginning in Sweden with Halmstads BK in the 1976 season. He later guided the Switzerland national team to ...

's first competitive match as manager in Liverpool's Europa League third qualifying round first leg 2–0 win over Macedonian side Rabotnički. In the second leg of the tie played at Anfield, N'Gog scored the opening goal via a header and also won a penalty, which Gerrard scored, as Liverpool ran out 4–0 aggregate winners. N'Gog then scored again in Liverpool's opening match of the season at home to

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

in a 1–1 draw by turning past

Thomas Vermaelen Thomas Vermaelen (born 14 November 1985) is a retired Belgian professional footballer who is currently an assistant coach for the Belgium national team. Being left-footed, he usually played as a left-sided centre-back and could play at left-bac ...

and rifling the ball into the top corner of the net past Arsenal goalkeeper

Manuel Almunia Manuel Almunia Rivero (born 19 May 1977) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He competed mainly in the Spanish lower leagues in his early years, only appearing in 26 La Liga games over the course of two seasons with Rec ...

. He was enjoying the best start to a Liverpool season before he was taken out of the squad that played

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional Association football, football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English foo ...

for Torres. After being left out of the game against Birmingham City, N'Gog shot to fire again in the Europa League, scoring two in Liverpool's 4–1 victory over

Steaua București Steaua or Steaua București may refer to: * CSA Steaua București, a Romanian multi-sports club * CSA Steaua București (football), the football team of the multi-sports club * Fotbal Club FCSB, a football team that used this name between 2003 ...

. He scored an extra-time equaliser in the League Cup defeat to

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland L ...

to take the tie to penalties, but missed his penalty in the shoot-out, and played the remaining 35 minutes in the Reds' frustrating 2–2 draw against Sunderland at Anfield. On 3 October, he replaced the injured Torres after just 10 minutes in their 2–1 home loss to

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre rivers, and ...

. On 24 October, he replaced

Joe Cole Joseph John Cole (born 8 November 1981) is an English football coach and former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or winger in the Premier League, Ligue 1, League One and United Soccer League. He is regarded as on ...

in the 80th minute in Liverpool's 2–1 Premier League win at Anfield against Blackburn Rovers. He replaced Cole for the second time, in Liverpool's 1–0 Premier League win against

at the

Reebok Stadium The University of Bolton Stadium is the home ground of Bolton Wanderers F.C. in Horwich, Greater Manchester, England. Opening in 1997, it was named the Reebok Stadium, after club sponsors Reebok. In 2014, Bolton Wanderers signed a naming righ ...

on 31 October. N'Gog was praised by

Sam Allardyce Samuel Allardyce (; born 19 October 1954), colloquially referred to as Big Sam, is an English football manager and former professional player. Allardyce made 578 league and cup appearances in a 21-year career spent mostly in the Football Lea ...

for the way in which his introduction changed the game for Liverpool, indirectly leading to their late winner. He continued to be an impact sub from the bench, following the departure of Torres, and the signings of

Luis Suárez Luis Alberto Suárez Díaz (; born 24 January 1987) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a striker for Uruguayan Primera División club Nacional and the Uruguay national team. Nicknamed ''El Pistolero'' ('The Gunman'), he is ...

and

Andy Carroll Andrew Thomas Carroll (born 6 January 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Championship side Reading. He has played in the Premier League and English Football League for Newcastle United, Preston North End, Liv ...

and often finding himself in the starting line-up.

Bolton Wanderers

On 31 August 2011, for £4 million transfer fee, Liverpool announced that N'Gog had completed a move to Bolton Wanderers in a three-year deal. N'Gog made his first appearance for Bolton as a substitute for

Kevin Davies Kevin Cyril Davies (born 26 March 1977) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker for Chesterfield, Southampton, Blackburn Rovers, Millwall, Bolton Wanderers and Preston North End. He managed Southport in the 2017� ...

in Bolton's 5–0 defeat to Manchester United at the Reebok Stadium on 10 September. His first goal for Bolton Wanderers came in Bolton's 3–1 win against Wigan Athletic at the

DW Stadium The DW Stadium is a stadium in Robin Park, in Wigan, within the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The ground is owned and managed by Wigan Football Company Limited, which is 85% owned by Wigan Athletic and 15% owne ...

on 15 October.

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandswo ...

made an unsuccessful £3 million bid for him in August 2012.

Swansea City

On 27 January 2014, N'Gog joined Premier League side

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ...

until the end of the season, signing for an undisclosed fee. He made his debut for the club on 1 February 2014 as a substitute for

Nathan Dyer Nathan Antony Jonah Dyer (born 29 November 1987) is an English former professional footballer who played as a winger, spending most of his career at Swansea City, where he made over 300 appearances. He started playing as a teenager at Southampt ...

in a 2–0 away defeat to

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium ...

Reims

On 1 September 2014, N'Gog ended his six-year spell in the English leagues after signing a two-year contract with Ligue 1 outfit

Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded ...

Panionios

On 12 August 2016,

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 ( el, Ελληνική Σούπερ Λιγκ 1), or Super League 1, is the highest professional association football league in Greece. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and replaced ''Alpha Ethniki'' at the top of ...

club

announced that they had signed N'Gog for an undisclosed fee.

Ross County

On 23 January 2018, N'Gog joined Ross County of the

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottis ...

on a deal until the end of the 2017–18 season. The Frenchman reunited with

Owen Coyle Owen Columba Coyle (born 14 July 1966) is a professional football manager and former player who is currently the manager of Scottish Championship club Queen's Park. He played as a striker for several clubs in England and Scotland, and made on ...

, who had managed him at Bolton Wanderers. He scored his first goal for the club in a 2–1 loss to Rangers on 28 January 2018.

Budapest Honvéd

In August 2018, N'Gog joined Hungarian club

Budapest Honvéd Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population of ...

. On 25 August, he scored seven minutes into his debut against

Debrecen Debrecen ( , is Hungary's second-largest city, after Budapest, the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar County. A city with county rights, it was the largest Hungarian city in the 18th century and i ...

Žalgiris and early retirement

In February 2020 N'Gog became a member of Lithuanian A League side

FK Žalgiris Futbolo klubas Žalgiris, commonly known as FK Žalgiris, Žalgiris Vilnius or simply Žalgiris, is a Lithuanian professional football club based in Vilnius. The club competes in the A Lyga, the top flight of Lithuanian football. The club wa ...

. On 21 June 2020, Žalgiris announced that N'Gog had officially retired from professional football at the age of 31.

Return to Panionios

In October 2022, N'Gog returned to action, signing for Greek third tier club

, returning to Greece after 5 years.

International career

In November 2009, N'Gog was approached to play for Cameroon, despite having already represented France at youth levels. The then Liverpool striker said: "I have had contact with the Cameroonian federation. Now I need some time to think about things. I'm very flattered." In February 2010, with Cameroon preparing for the

2010 World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

, Cameroon's Minister of Sports, Michel Zoah, met with N'Gog's father on two occasions to try and convince the player to switch allegiances. A few months later, in May, N'Gog was not included in Cameroon's preliminary squad for the World Cup. When asked why, Cameroon coach

Paul Le Guen Paul Joseph Marie Le Guen (, ; born 1 March 1964) is a French professional football manager and former player. He was most recently the manager of Ligue 2 club Le Havre. During his playing career, Le Guen played as a midfielder, and enjoyed a s ...

said that N'Gog had insisted on a starting spot with the Indomitable Lions. However, N'Gog refuted the claims.

Career statistics

Honours

Paris Saint-Germain *

: 2007–08 Žalgiris *

Lithuanian Supercup The Lithuanian Supercup () or LFF Supercup is an annual football match contested between the champions of the previous A Lyga season and the holders of the Lithuanian Football Cup. It is organised by and named after Lithuanian Football Federation ...

: 2020

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ngog, David 1989 births Living people People from Gennevilliers Footballers from Hauts-de-Seine French footballers France under-21 international footballers Association football forwards Paris Saint-Germain F.C. players Liverpool F.C. players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Swansea City A.F.C. players Stade de Reims players Panionios F.C. players Ross County F.C. players Budapest Honvéd FC players FK Žalgiris players Ligue 1 players Premier League players English Football League players Super League Greece players Scottish Professional Football League players Nemzeti Bajnokság I players A Lyga players French expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Hungary Expatriate footballers in Lithuania Expatriate footballers in Scotland Expatriate footballers in Wales French expatriate sportspeople in England French expatriate sportspeople in Hungary French expatriate sportspeople in Lithuania French expatriate sportspeople in Scotland French expatriate sportspeople in Wales French sportspeople of Cameroonian descent