Eric Daniel Djemba-Djemba (born 4 May 1981) is a Cameroonian former professional footballer 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 ...

. He previously played club football in France, England, Qatar, Denmark, Israel, Serbia, Scotland, India and Indonesia. In international competition, he 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 ...

, having appeared for his country 34 times, including at the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

Nantes

Djemba-Djemba rose to prominence with Nantes in France, where he forged a successful partnership with Mathieu Berson. His performances as a feisty and uncompromising tackler for the French club earned him a move to

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

for £3.5 million in the summer of 2003, signed by Alex Ferguson as a possible eventual successor to the 31-year-old Roy Keane.

Manchester United

Arriving in England, Djemba-Djemba established his aggressive style on his debut against

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 the

FA Community Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is Football in England, English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA ...

, with a tackle on Arsenal's Sol Campbell which Arsène Wenger called "obscene". In 18 months at Old Trafford, Djemba-Djemba found it difficult to maintain a period of sustained form, and he was eventually unable to establish himself as a player capable of eventually succeeding the ageing captain Roy Keane in the centre of the United midfield. A highlight during his United career was when he scored a looping volley against Leeds United in the League Cup. With the score at 2–2 and three minutes of extra time left, Quinton Fortune swung in a corner which reached Djemba-Djemba, who hit it first time and it looped over Leeds goalkeeper Paul Robinson which secured a 3–2 win and progression to the next round. He scored only once more for United, in a 5–0

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

win over Greek side Panathinaikos.

Aston Villa

Djemba-Djemba was sold to Aston Villa in the January 2005 transfer window for a fee of £1.5 million. However, the move did little to restore the player's reputation as he found it difficult to move ahead of Gavin McCann and Steven Davis in Villa's midfield. After being played only once, as a late substitute against Arsenal in the first ever game at the

Emirates Stadium The Emirates Stadium (known as Arsenal Stadium for UEFA competitions) is a association football, football stadium in Holloway, London, England. It has been the home stadium of Arsenal F.C., Arsenal Football Club since its completion in 2006. ...

, by new Villa manager

Martin O'Neill Martin Hugh Michael O'Neill, (born 1 March 1952) is a Northern Irish professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Association football, player who played as a midfielder. After a brief early career in the Irish Leag ...

on the first day of the 2006–07 season, Djemba-Djemba was loaned out to Championship club Burnley for the remainder of the season in the January transfer window.

Loan to Burnley

Djemba-Djemba made his first appearance for Burnley on 13 January 2007 against

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

, playing the full 90 minutes. Early in his time at

Turf Moor Turf Moor is an association football stadium in Burnley, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Burnley F.C., Burnley Football Club since 1883. This unbroken service makes Turf Moor the second-longest continuously used ground in Footbal ...

, he was sent off for the

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

side after a second bookable offence at Derby County; however he impressed with his skillful and effective play during his loan spell. During July 2007, all signs pointed to Djemba-Djemba leaving

Villa Park Villa Park is a association football, football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, with a seating capacity of 42,918. It has been the home of Premier League club Aston Villa F.C., Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witt ...

after he was the only member of the first-team squad not to be included in the North American tour and his contract was subsequently terminated by Aston Villa.

Qatar SC

Following his departure from Aston Villa, Djemba-Djemba joined Qatar SC. He only played one season at the

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

-based club, but managed to get his football career back on track.

Odense BK

On 16 July 2008, Djemba-Djemba signed a three-year contract with Danish side OB, the contract was later extended with a year. He previously went on a trial with the club and made his Odense debut against former club Aston Villa in the Intertoto Cup. Odense drew the match 1–1, losing 2–1 on aggregate. In his career in Odense, Djemba-Djemba impressed the club's fans, with his good ball skills and great performances. In his first season as an Odense player, he played good football, and was described by many as the league's best player. In 2009, in the 72nd minute against

Esbjerg Esbjerg (, ) is a seaport city and seat of Esbjerg Municipality on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in southwest Denmark. By road, it is west of Kolding and southwest of Aarhus. With an urban area, urban population of 71,554 (1 January ...

away, Djemba-Djemba became the first player in the Danish league to assist with his sock, as the sole of his right boot had come off, forcing him to finish the game with one boot. Later that year, Djemba-Djemba was among three other players to be nominated for the SAS Liga player of the year. In the summer of 2010, Djemba-Djemba was linked with a move back to England to join West Bromwich Albion and Italian side Lecce. After travelling to England for talks, the move broke down, and this led to accusations against West Brom by the club and Djemba-Djemba himself. At the end of the 2011–12 season, Djemba-Djemba's future at OB was uncertain after his contract expired. Despite expected negotiations, Djemba-Djemba instead left the club. The year before, he, along with Peter Utaka, had been told by the club's officials that their contracts would not be renewed. As a result of their contracts not being renewed, the club decided to release players sooner rather than later.

Hapoel Tel Aviv

On 14 August 2012, Djemba-Djemba signed a two-year contract with Israeli club Hapoel Tel Aviv. Djemba-Djemba played a total of 28 league games with the

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

-based team.

Partizan

On 24 July 2013, Djemba-Djemba signed a two-year contract with Serbian side Partizan. He made his debut in a Champions League qualifying match away to Ludogorets Razgrad on 31 July 2013, coming on as a substitute in the 64th minute. However, Djemba-Djemba hardly played for Partizan during the first half of the season. The club's signing of Nikola Drinčić on 20 December meant that Djemba-Djemba became surplus to requirements and his contract was terminated on 23 December 2013. Djemba-Djemba once went on three month unpaid at the club.

St Mirren

On 5 February 2014, Djemba-Djemba signed a short-term deal with

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

club St Mirren. He said he hoped his move to St Mirren can help him gain a place in the

squad for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Upon joining the club, manager Danny Lennon described Djemba-Djemba as the club's biggest signing. Djemba-Djemba made his debut for the club, in the fifth round of the Scottish Cup, as St Mirren lost 2–1 against Dundee United. After making just three appearances in all competitions, he was released by the club at the end of the season and also failed to secure a place on the Cameroon squad for the world cup.

Chennaiyin FC

In October 2014, Djemba-Djemba signed a short-term deal with

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is a professional association football league in India and the highest level of the Indian football league system. Administered by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its commercial partner Football Sport ...

club Chennaiyin.

Later career

In February 2015, Djemba-Djemba signed for Indonesian Super League club then legally known as Bhayangkara FC. Before he could make a debut, the league was cancelled following FIFA's sanction on Indonesia for governmental intervention. In 2016 Djemba-Djemba joined French fifth-tier club Châteaubriant. In September 2021, he announced his retirement from playing professional football.

International career

Djemba-Djemba was a member of the Cameroon national team that won the 2002 African Nations Cup and finished as runners-up to France at the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup. While in the Confederations Cup, Djemba-Djemba stated that he was the last person to have a conversation with Marc-Vivien Foé before Foé collapsed on the pitch and later died in the hospital. He also appeared at the 2002 FIFA World Cup. However, Djemba-Djemba was not included for the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

, due to managerial differences. Despite his attempt to make the Cameroon squad for the 2014 World Cup, Djemba-Djemba was not included in the 28-man provisional World Cup squad and thus missing out on the World Cup under the management of Volker Finke.

Personal life

Djemba-Djemba was born in

Douala Douala is the largest city in Cameroon and its economic capital. It is also the capital of Cameroon's Littoral Region (Cameroon), Littoral Region. It was home to Central Africa's largest port, now being replaced by Kribi port. It has the country ...

, Cameroon. He holds Cameroonian and French nationalities. He acquired French nationality by naturalization on 17 October 2001. He was declared bankrupt following his move from Manchester United to Aston Villa in 2007. Djemba-Djemba was married and fathered four children before being divorced. He is a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

Honours

Manchester United *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

: 2003–04 *

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

Cameroon * Africa Cup of Nations: 2002

References

External links