Jacques Aurelien Elong Elong (20 February 1985 – 31 March 2025) was a Cameroonian 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 ...

player who played as a

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

Club career

Elong Elong was a versatile player, able to serve in defence but also assist in goal scoring. His brilliant passing abilities made him a regular in Persepolis, playing in the defensive midfield position. He also shot well, especially from outside the penalty spot, though he never scored for

Persepolis Persepolis (; ; ) was the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire (). It is situated in the plains of Marvdasht, encircled by the southern Zagros mountains, Fars province of Iran. It is one of the key Iranian cultural heritage sites and ...

. In 2006 Elong received an offer from Qatari club

Al-Sadd Al Sadd Sports Club () is a Qatari sports club based in the Al Sadd district of the capital city Doha. It is best known for its association football team, which competes in the top level of Qatari football, the Qatar Stars League. Locally, it i ...

, but he rejected it since he had just got a permanent place on the Persepolis team and was enjoying his life in Iran.

Afshin Ghotbi Afshin Ghotbi (, born 8 February 1964) is an Iranian football coach who works as head coach of Vancouver FC in the Canadian Premier League. Early life Afshin Ghotbi was born in Tehran. He is the son of a teacher in Iran with whom he left Iran ...

, then manager of the club, also confirmed that none of his players were for sale. Despite rumours of Elong leaving for either

Spartak Moscow Spartak Moscow may refer to the following teams based or formerly based in Moscow, Russia: * FC Spartak Moscow, an association football club * HC Spartak Moscow, a professional ice hockey team * Spartak GM Moscow, a semi-professional rugby club * ...

or Esteghlal in the summer of 2007 Elong remained at Persepolis for the 2007–08 season and emerged as a crucial player for the team and told

IRIB The Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB; ) or Seda va Sima () for short, formerly called National Iranian Radio and Television until the Iranian revolution of 1979, is an Iranian state-controlled media corporation that holds a monopo ...

television that he has no willingness to play abroad. His speech saying "I am loving Tehran, and I can not see myself anywhere else within the next six years at least." Elong Elong joined Esteghlal in 2012.

International career

Elong Elong debuted for the Cameroon national team in an

African Nations Cup 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 ...

qualifier against

Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. It has an area of . Formerly the colony of Spanish Guinea, its post-independence name refers to its location both near the Equ ...

on 7 October 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 ...

, he appeared as a substitute replacing

AS Nancy Association Sportive Nancy Lorraine (), known as AS Nancy Lorraine, and more commonly as Nancy, is a French football club founded in 1967 and based in Nancy, Grand Est. The club plays its home matches at the Stade Marcel Picot located in Tomb ...

Landry N'Guémo Landry may refer to: People * Landry (surname) Landry is a surname of French origin. Notable persons with the surname include: *Adolphe Landry (1874–1956), French demographer and politician *Ali Landry (born 1973), American actress and model * ...

in the 90th minute in the 3–0 victory.

Arie Haan Arend "Arie" Haan (; born 16 November 1948) is a Dutch Association football, football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He scored 6 goals in 35 matches for the Netherlands national football team, Netherlands national team of ...

, his former coach at

Persepolis F.C. Persepolis Football Club () is an Iranian professional football club based in Tehran that competes in the Persian Gulf Pro League. Persepolis F.C. is the football club of the multisport Persepolis Athletic and Cultural Club. The club was ...

, gave him a spot in the national team. He was capped once for

Cameroon national football team The Cameroon national football team (French language, French: ''Équipe du Cameroun de football''), also known as the Indomitable Lions (French: ''les lions indomptables''), represents Cameroon in men's international Association football, footb ...

Personal life and death

Elong Elong was born on 20 February 1985. He died as the result of a traffic collision on 31 March 2025, at the age of 40.الونگ الونگ، ستاره خارجی استقلال و پرسپولیس در تصادف رانندگی درگذشت

Career statistics

Honours

Persepolis *

Iran's Premier Football League The Persian Gulf Pro League (, ''Lig-e Bartar-e Xalij-e Fârs''), formerly known as the Iran Premier League (, ''Lig-e bartar-e Irân''), is a professional association football league in Iran and the highest level of the Iranian football league s ...

: 2007–08 Esteghlal *

Hazfi Cup Hazfi Cup (, ) formerly known as Pahlavi Cup () is an Iranian knockout football competition held annually by the Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran. The Iranian Football League, Iranian football league was not held during the 1980s, h ...

: 2011–12

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elong Elong, Jacques 1985 births 2025 deaths Footballers from Douala Road incident deaths Cameroonian men's footballers Cameroon men's international footballers Persepolis F.C. players Sepahan S.C. footballers Esteghlal F.C. players Paykan F.C. players Mount Cameroon FC players Slovak First Football League players FC DAC 1904 Dunajská Streda players Cameroonian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Iran Expatriate men's footballers in Slovakia Expatriate men's footballers in Iraq Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Iran Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Slovakia Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Iraq Men's association football midfielders