Dieudonné "Dieumerci" Mbokani Bezua (born 22 November 1985) is a Congolese 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 plays as a striker. He was captain of the

DR Congo national football team The DR Congo national football team ( French: ''Équipe nationale de football de la République démocratique du Congo''), recognised by FIFA as Congo DR, represents the Democratic Republic of the Congo in men's international football and it i ...

. He has previously played for

TP Mazembe Tout Puissant Mazembe, commonly referred to as TP Mazembe, is a Congolese professional association football, football club based in Lubumbashi. History Tout Puissant Mazembe, the first sports club from the Democratic Republic of the Congo with a ...

Anderlecht Anderlecht (; ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, B ...

VfL Wolfsburg Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg (), is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of Wolfsburg. I ...

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège ( ; ; ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most successful clubs in Belgium, having won t ...

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

, Hull City,

Dynamo Kyiv The Football Club 'Dynamo Kyiv', also known as Dynamo Kyiv, or simply Dynamo, ( ) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Kyiv. Founded in 1927 as a Kyivan football team of republican branch of the bigger Soviet Dynamo Sports Society ...

, Al-Kuwait and

Beveren Beveren () is a former municipality in the Belgian province of East Flanders which comprises the towns of Beveren, Doel, Haasdonk, Kallo, Kieldrecht, Melsele, Verrebroek and Vrasene. The port of the Waasland (Dutch: ''Waaslandhaven'') ...

Club career

Mbokani began his career at local side Bel'or and was a league topscorer in the 2004 season with 16 goals. Then he moved to

. In the 2006–07 season, he made nine appearances for

and scored four goals, including 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 ...

against

on 7 May 2007. In 2007, he joined Standard de Liège and scored 35 goals in 81 league appearances. On 30 July 2010, Mbokani signed a deal with French side

AS Monaco Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club, commonly referred to as AS Monaco (), is a professional football club based in Fontvieille, Monaco. Although not in France, they are a member of the French Football Federation (FFF) and currently ...

, after spurning reported interest from

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, for a fee in the region of €7 million. After failing to impress in Ligue 1, on 9 August 2011, he signed a contract with Anderlecht for a reported fee of €3 million, stating that he looked forward to playing together again with his friend Milan Jovanović. The start of his spell at Anderlecht was dramatic, first injuring himself during one of his first training sessions, meaning he would be sidelined for at least two months. On 21 June 2013, Mbokani officially signed a contract with the Ukrainian club

FC Dynamo Kyiv The Football Club 'Dynamo Kyiv', also known as Dynamo Kyiv, or simply Dynamo, ( ) is a Ukrainian professional Association football, football club based in Kyiv. Founded in 1927 as a Kyivan football team of republican branch of the bigger Soviet ...

. On 14 July 2013, he scored his first goal in the very first game of the

Ukrainian Premier League The Ukrainian Premier League ( ) or UPL is a professional association football league in Ukraine and the highest level of the Ukrainian football league system. Originally known as the Vyshcha Liha ( , ) it was formed in 1991 during the 1992 in ...

against

Volyn Lutsk FC Volyn Lutsk ( ) was a Ukrainian association football, football club based in Lutsk. Since its establishment in 1960, the club became the only major (professional) football club within Volyn Oblast and uncontested leader of football in the reg ...

during the first half, which ended 1–1. On 31 August 2015, Mbokani was loaned out to English club

. On 31 August 2016, Mbokani was loaned out to English club Hull City. Mbokani made his debut on 17 September 2016 when he came off the bench, after 77-minutes, as a replacement for Abel Hernández in a 4–1 loss 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 ...

. On 20 June 2017, Mbokani was close to completing a transfer to Greek powerhouse

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós (, Olympic Association of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number of different competitive departments which participate in football, ...

but the deal did not ultimately go ahead as the player failed his medical. In August 2018 he signed a one-year contract with Belgian club Royal Antwerp. He extended his contract with the club in June 2019. On 14 August 2023,

Armenian Premier League The Armenian Premier League (, known as the Armenian Fastex Premier League for sponsorship reasons) is the top association football, football competition in Armenia. From 1936 to 1991, the competition was held as a regional tournament within th ...

Noah Noah (; , also Noach) appears as the last of the Antediluvian Patriarchs (Bible), patriarchs in the traditions of Abrahamic religions. His story appears in the Hebrew Bible (Book of Genesis, chapters 5–9), the Quran and Baháʼí literature, ...

announced the signing of Mbokani.

International career

Mbokani represented the DR Congo at the

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 ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

and

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, helping them to third place at the latter tournament. Mbokani was caught up in the

2016 Brussels bombings On 22 March 2016, two coordinated terrorist attacks in and close to Brussels, Belgium, were carried out by the Islamic State (IS). Two suicide bombers detonated bombs at Brussels Airport in Zaventem just outside Brussels, and one detonated a b ...

, alongside his international teammate

Cédric Bakambu Cédric Bakambu (born 11 April 1991) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward or a winger for La Liga club Real Betis and the DR Congo national team. Bakambu made his professional debut for Sochaux in 2010, and played 107 offi ...

. Though both escaped unscathed, Mbokani was reportedly left "shaken". In the aftermath of this, after being sanctioned for missing a game as a result, he retired from international football with 31 caps. However, he returned to DR Congo's squad for the 2017 Cup of Nations in Gabon, and he was recalled to the national team in March 2019, although he withdrew due to injury.

Personal life

Mbokani was 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 ...

in the

Democratic Republic of the 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 ...

, then called

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 ...

. The name "Dieumerci" means "Thank God" in French. In August 2011, his five-month-old son, David Mbokani, died of a

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest (also known as sudden cardiac arrest CA is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. When the heart stops beating, blood cannot properly Circulatory system, circulate around the body and the blood flow to the ...

in his sleep.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list DR Congo's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Mbokani goal.''

Honours

Anderlecht *

Belgian First Division The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023– ...

: 2006–07, 2011–12, 2012–13 *

Belgian Super Cup The Belgian Super Cup ( ; ; ), ''Pro League Supercup'', is a Belgian club competition played as a single match between the Belgian Pro League champions (also received the Super Cup host) and the Belgian Cup winners. If both teams are the same, ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

Standard Liège *Belgian First Division: 2007–08, 2008–09 *Belgian Super Cup:

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

Dynamo Kiev *

: 2014–15 *

Ukrainian Cup The Ukrainian Cup ( ) is an association football national knockout cup competition run by the Ukrainian Association of Football. The competition is conducted almost exclusively among professional clubs. Since the 2003–04 season, the Cup winner qu ...

: 2013–14, 2014–15 Royal Antwerp *

Belgian Cup The Belgian Cup (; ; ) is the main knockout football competition in Belgium, run by the Royal Belgian FA. The competition started in 1908 with provincial selections as the "Belgian Provinces Cup". Starting from 1912 only actual clubs were allowed ...

: 2019–20 Kuwait SC *

Kuwaiti Premier League The Kuwait Premier League (), known as Zain Premier League due to sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Kuwait football pyramid system. Formed in 1961, Kuwait SC holds the best record in the competition, having won 20 times. History Th ...

: 2021–22 DR Congo *

bronze:

Individual * Belgian Golden Shoe: 2012 *

Ebony Shoe The Ebony Shoe award (Dutch: ''Ebbenhouten schoen'', French: ''Soulier d'ébène'') is a association football, football award in Belgium given annually to the best African or African origin player in the Belgian Pro League. The jury is composed ...

: 2012, 2020 * Africa Cup of Nations top scorer:

* Belgian First Division A Top Scorer: 2019–20 * DH The Best Standard Liège Team Ever: 2020

References

Notes

External links