Kossi Prince Segbefia (born 11 March 1991) is a

Togo Togo, officially the Togolese Republic, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to Ghana–Togo border, the west, Benin to Benin–Togo border, the east and Burkina Faso to Burkina Faso–Togo border, the north. It is one of the le ...

lese 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

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 ...

for French

Championnat National 3 The Championnat National 3, commonly referred to as simply National 3 and formerly known as Championnat de France Amateur 2, is a football league competition. The league serves as the fifth division of the French football league system behind ...

club FCOSK 06. He is a Togolese international, having made his debut in September 2011 against

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

. His older brother, Alikem, is also a footballer who plays for

Al-Jaish SC Damascus Al-Jaish Sports Club () is a professional football club based in Damascus, Syria that competes in the Syrian Premier League. It was founded in 1947. The club plays at the Al-Fayhaa Stadium in Damascus. The team colors are red and white. Al-Jais ...

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

Club career

Early career

Born in

Lomé Lomé ( , ) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities in Togo, largest city of Togo. It has an urban population of 837,437

, Segbefia began his football career at the ''Centre de Développement Sportif de Lomé'' (), also known as Sporting Club de Lomé. He spent nearly a decade at the club before venturing to France where he underwent trials with professional clubs

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

Reims Reims ( ; ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French Departments of France, department of Marne (department), Marne, and the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 12th most populous city in Fran ...

Niort Niort (; Poitevin: ''Niàu''; ; ) is a commune in the Deux-Sèvres department, western France. It is the prefecture of Deux-Sèvres. The population of Niort is 58,707 (2017) and more than 177,000 people live in the urban area. Geography T ...

, and

Sochaux Sochaux () is a commune in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France. Geography Sochaux lies east of Montbéliard, and southeast of Paris. Population Inhabitants are known as ''Sochaliens''. Economy ...

. Several of the clubs were interested in signing Segbefia to a youth contract, but due to his age, 16 years old at the time, he was not signed. Afterwards, Segbefia returned to Togo where he was spotted by German

Winfried Schäfer Winfried "Winnie" Schäfer (born 10 January 1950) is a German football manager and former player who is the technical director for the Ghana national football team. Playing career Winfried Schäfer played 403 Bundesliga matches and scored 46 goa ...

who was serving as manager of

Al Ain Al Ain () is a city in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and the seat of the administrative division of the Al Ain Region. The city is Oman–United Arab Emirates border, bordered to the east by the Omani town of Al-Buraimi. Al A ...

in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

. Segbefia, subsequently, signed with the club. Due to Al Ain being allowed to use only four foreigners in its squad, he spent most of his time with Al Ain playing on the reserve team.

Auxerre

In 2009, Segbefia returned to his home country and met with former Sporting Club de Lomé player

Emmanuel Adebayor Sheyi Emmanuel Adebayor (; born 26 February 1984) is a Togolese former professional footballer who played as a striker. During his career, he played for English clubs Arsenal, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Crystal Palace, as well as ...

. Adebayor recommended that he play in France and contacted Francis de Taddeo who had coached him at

Metz Metz ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle (river), Moselle and the Seille (Moselle), Seille rivers. Metz is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments ...

and was now serving as the youth academy director of

Auxerre Auxerre ( , , Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Auchoirre'') is the capital (Prefectures in France, prefecture) of the Yonne Departments of France, department and the fourth-largest city in the Burgundy historical region southeast of Par ...

. After successfully trialing with the club, Segbefia was signed to a one-year amateur contract. He spent the 2009–10 season playing on Auxerre's under-19 team before earning promotion to the club's reserve team in the

Championnat de France amateur The Championnat National 2, commonly known as National 2 and formerly known as Championnat de France Amateur (CFA), is a football league competition. The league serves as the fourth tier of French football league system behind Ligue 1, Ligue 2 ...

, the fourth level of French football, for the 2010–11 season. Segbefia spent the majority of the season with the team making 17 appearances and scoring one goal. In April 2011, he was called up to the senior team by manager Jean Fernandez and made his club debut in a 1–0 league victory over

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

appearing as a substitute. A week later, he made his first club start in a 1–1 draw with

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'') ...

. Segbefia finished the campaign with four appearances and, on 6 May 2011, signed a three-year professional contract with the club.

International career

Youth

Segbefia made his youth international debut at under-17 level playing with the Togo under-17 team. He made his debut in a 2006 friendly match against the

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 ...

. The Togo under-17 team later qualified for both the 2007 African Under-17 Championship and the

2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup The FIFA U-17 World Cup 2007, the twelfth edition of the tournament, was held in South Korea between 18 August and 9 September 2007. For this event, the number of teams had been expanded from 16 to 24, with the top two of each group and the four ...

. In the former competition, he appeared in all five matches the team contested as it finished runner-up 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, ...

. In the U-17 World Cup, he appeared in two group stage matches; as a starter in a 1–1 draw with

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

and as a substitute in a 2–1 defeat against

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. Togo finished its group in last place.

Senior

On 28 August 2011, Segbefia was called up to the senior national team for the first time for a

2012 Africa Cup of Nations The 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 28th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa organized by the Confederation of African Football (C ...

qualifying match against

on 4 September. He made his senior international debut in the match, which Togo won 1–0.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Togo's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Segbefia goal.''

References

External links

Club Profile
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Segbefia, Prince 1991 births Footballers from Lomé Living people 21st-century Togolese sportsmen Men's association football midfielders Togolese men's footballers Togo men's international footballers AJ Auxerre players FC Zorya Luhansk players Elazığspor footballers Göztepe S.K. footballers Gaziantep F.K. footballers Altay S.K. footballers Tuzlaspor players Al Ittihad SCSC (Tripoli) players S.C. Eendracht Aalst players Ligue 1 players Championnat National 2 players Championnat National 3 players Ukrainian Premier League players TFF 1. Lig players 2013 Africa Cup of Nations players 2017 Africa Cup of Nations players Togolese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in France Togolese expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate men's footballers in Ukraine Togolese expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Togolese expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Libya Togolese expatriate sportspeople in Libya Expatriate men's footballers in Northern Cyprus Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Togolese expatriate sportspeople in Belgium