Mamadou "Bebeto" Zongo (born 8 October 1980) is a Burkinabé

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 ...

coach and former player who played as a striker.

Club career

Early career

Zongo was born in

Bobo-Dioulasso Bobo-Dioulasso ( , ) is a city in Burkina Faso with a population of 1,129,000 (); it is the second-largest city in the country, after Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso's capital. The name means "home of the Bobo- Dioula". The local Bobo-speaking pop ...

, Upper Volta (today

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...

). He started to play football in 1996 at RC Bobo, winning the

Burkinabé Premier League The Fasofoot D1 is the top division of the Burkinabé Football Federation. It was created in 1961. Burkinabé Premier League clubs (2021–22) * AS Koupéla ( Koupéla) * AS Douanes (Ouagadougou) * ASEC Koudougou ( Koudougou) * ASFA Yennenga (Ou ...

championship at the end of his first season, netting a personal record of 22 goals in 25 matches. In the next season he went to play for

ASEC Mimosas ASEC Mimosas (short for Association Sportive des Employés de Commerce Mimosas; ) is an Ivorian professional football club based in Abidjan. The club is also known as ''ASEC Abidjan'', especially in international club competitions. Founded in 194 ...

for which he scored 18 goals in 22

Côte d'Ivoire Premier Division The Ivory Coast Ligue 1 LONACI is the top division of the Ivorian Football Federation. It was created in 1960. 2024−25 Ligue 1 clubs * AF Amadou Diallo * ASEC Mimosas * Bouaké FC * CO Korhogo * Denguélé * Mouna * FC San Pédro * LYS F ...

games, as the team won The Double.

Career in Netherlands

Afterwards he went to play for Dutch side Vitesse, making his

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 ...

debut on 31 October 1998 when coach

Herbert Neumann Herbert Neumann (born 14 November 1953) is a German former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Club career Neumann was born in Cologne. He played for 1. FC Köln, Udinese Calcio, Bologna, Olympiacos Piraeus, and FC Chiasso. ...

sent him on the field in the 62nd to replace Marko Perović in a 2–1 away loss to

Heerenveen Heerenveen (, ) is a town and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Friesland (Fryslân), in the Northern Netherlands. In 2021, the town had a population of 29,790 (1 January) while the m ...

. On 3 December, he netted his first goals when he managed a double in a 5–3 away win over Willem II, then in the following round he scored another brace in a 2–0 victory against

NAC Breda NAC Breda (), often simply known as NAC, is a Dutch professional football club, based in Breda, Netherlands. NAC Breda play in the Rat Verlegh Stadium, named after their most important player, Antoon 'Rat' Verlegh. They play in the Eredivisi ...

. In the same season he made his debut in European competitions, helping his side get past

AEK Athens A.E.K. (; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople'') is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadelfeia, Attica. The club is more commonly known in European competitions as A.E.K. Athens. Establishe ...

in the first round of the

1998–99 UEFA Cup The 1998–99 UEFA Cup was won by Parma in the final against Marseille. It was their second title in the competition. It was the last edition of the old format UEFA Cup, before the Cup Winners' Cup was merged into it to include domestic cup win ...

, being eliminated in the second round by

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

. In the following season he netted a brace in a 2–1 win over

RKC Waalwijk RKC Waalwijk () is a Dutch professional association football, football club based in Waalwijk. They currently play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football league system, Dutch football, following relegation from the Eredivisie i ...

in the league and helped his side once again get past the first round of the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

by eliminating

Beira-Mar Sport Clube Beira-Mar (), commonly known as Beira-Mar, is a Portuguese sports club based in Aveiro, Portugal. Its Association football, football team currently plays in the Campeonato de Portugal (league), Campeonato de Portugal, the fourth natio ...

but they got defeated in the following one by

Lens A lens is a transmissive optical device that focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements'') ...

. In the second round of the

2000–01 UEFA Cup The 2000–01 UEFA Cup was the 30th edition of the UEFA Cup competition. Liverpool won the final with a golden goal in extra-time against Alavés for their third title in the competition. It completed a cup treble for the club, as they also won ...

, Zongo made his last two appearances from the total of seven in the competition as he played in both legs of the loss to

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...

on the

away goal rule Away may refer to: Film and television * ''Away'' (2016 film), a British film directed by David Blair * ''Away'' (2019 film), a Latvian animated silent film by Gints Zilbalodis * Away (2025 film), a drama film by Gerard Oms * ''Away'' (TV series ...

after 1–1 on aggregate. From 2001 until 2003 he missed two seasons, being unable to play because he suffered a ligament injury on his right knee, being operated five times. In 2004 he went to play for

De Graafschap Vereniging Betaald Voetbal De Graafschap, simply known as De Graafschap () is a professional association football club based in Doetinchem, Netherlands. The team competes in the , the second level of the Dutch football league system. Founded o ...

, making his league debut under coach

Gert Kruys Gert Kruys (born 8 May 1961) is a Dutch football manager and former player. He is currently the manager of Montfoort SV '19. Career Kruys played his entire career for FC Utrecht (1978–1988), except for one short spell at RKC Waalwijk (1987). ...

on 22 August in a 1–1 draw against

Den Bosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 160,783. It is the capital of ...

. In the following round he opened the score in a 2–1 loss to

Roda JC Sportvereniging Roda Juliana Combinatie Kerkrade (; ), shortly as Roda JC Kerkrade () or commonly Roda JC or simply Roda, is a Dutch professional football club based in Kerkrade, Netherlands. Roda JC Kerkrade plays in the Eerste Divisie. The c ...

. On 22 May 2005, he made his last Eredivisie appearance, playing in a 2–1 home loss to his former team, Vitesse, having a total of 101 matches with 16 goals scored in the competition. De Graafschap relegated at the end of the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

. Zongo stayed with the club for one more season in which he did not play. In 2005 he moved to

VVV-Venlo VVV-Venlo (, ''VVV'' stands for ''Venlose Voetbal Vereniging'' meaning "Venlo Football Club") is a Dutch association football, football club from Venlo, a city on the border with Germany. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutc ...

, also in the second league but again did not play.

Late career

In 2006, Zongo went to play for Ethnikos in the Greek second league. Afterwards he signed on a free transfer for Romanian club,

Universitatea Cluj Asociația Sportivă Fotbal Club Universitatea Cluj (), commonly known as Universitatea Cluj or simply U Cluj, is a Romanian professional association football, football club based in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, that competes in the L ...

in November 2007 and had a salary of $9,000 per month. He made his

Liga I Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1 and officially known as SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Romania and the highest level of the Romanian football league system. Contested by 1 ...

debut on 24 November, being used by coach

Gheorghe Mulțescu Gheorghe Mulțescu (; 13 November 1951 – 15 September 2024) was a Romanian professional football manager and player. Club career Gheorghe Mulțescu was born on 13 November 1951 in Botoroaga, Romania, starting to play junior level football in ...

as a starter in a 1–1 draw against Politehnica Iași. After only two matches, he was released by the club board in December 2007, on account of his recurring knee injury. In October 2010, he signed a contract for

ASFA Yennega Association Sportive du Faso-Yennenga is a Burkinabé football club based in Ouagadougou. The club's home games are played at Stade du 4-Août. The club was founded in 1947 and won its first title in 1973 as ''Jeanne d'Arc''. History The club ...

of Burkina Faso and spent the last two years of his playing career with the club.

International career

Zongo played 24 games in which he scored 14 goals at international level for

, making his debut on 9 November 1996 under coach Ivan Vutov in a 2–0 away loss to

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

at the 1998 World Cup qualifiers. His following four games were also at the World Cup qualifiers, Zongo scoring in all of them, starting with a brace against

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

and one goal against each of

Guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...

, Nigeria and Kenya again, however all the matches ended up with losses. Afterwards he played in three games at the successful 2000 African Cup of Nations qualifiers, scoring two goals in two wins over

Burundi Burundi, officially the Republic of Burundi, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is located in the Great Rift Valley at the junction between the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa, with a population of over 14 million peop ...

. Then coach

René Taelman René Taelman (5 May 1945 – 13 August 2019) was a Belgians, Belgian Manager (football), football manager. Career Taelman managed Burkina Faso national football team, Burkina Faso (2000 African Cup of Nations), Benin national football team, B ...

used him in all three group stage matches from the

final tournament Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

which were losses to

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

and

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

and a draw against

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

. In the following years, Zongo made two appearances in which he netted three goals at the 2002 World Cup qualifiers and played four games and scored once in a 1–0 win over

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

at the 2002 African Cup of Nations qualifiers. His last four games for ''The Stallions'' were at the 2006 World Cup qualifiers, netting one goal in a 1–0 victory against

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

, his last match being a 2–1 home loss to

Cape Verde Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country and archipelagic state of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about . These islands ...

, played on 26 March 2005.

Coaching career

In April 2013, Zongo became a head coach of the Burkinabé side

Santos Santos may refer to: People *Santos (surname) * Santos Balmori Picazo (1899–1992), Spanish-Mexican painter * Santos Benavides (1823–1891), Confederate general in the American Civil War Places *Santos, São Paulo, a municipality in São Paulo ...

. He was appointed head coach of ASFB in 2015.Championnat national de football: l’ASFB contraint Bankuy-Sport au partage des points
L'Express du Faso 8 December 2015.

Career Statistics

International

:''Scores and results list Burkina Faso's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Zongo goal.''

Honours

RC Bobo *

: 1996 ASEC Mimosas *

: 1997 *

Côte d'Ivoire Cup Côte Restaurants Group Limited, trading as Côte (formerly Côte Brasserie), stylised as CÔTE is a French-style British restaurant chain founded by Richard Caring, Andy Bassadone, Chris Benians and Nick Fiddler in Wimbledon, London Wimbl ...

: 1997

References

External links

* *
Voetbal International
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zongo, Mamadou 1980 births Living people Footballers from Bobo-Dioulasso Burkinabe men's footballers Men's association football forwards Burkina Faso men's international footballers 2000 African Cup of Nations players Eredivisie players Liga I players De Graafschap players SBV Vitesse players VVV-Venlo players Ethnikos Piraeus F.C. players FC Universitatea Cluj players ASEC Mimosas players RC Bobo Dioulasso players ASFA Yennenga players Burkinabe football managers ASF Bobo Dioulasso managers Burkinabe expatriate men's footballers Burkinabe expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Burkinabe expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Burkinabe expatriate sportspeople in Romania Expatriate men's footballers in Romania Burkinabe expatriate sportspeople in Ivory Coast Expatriate men's footballers in Ivory Coast 21st-century Burkinabe sportsmen