Roudolphe Douala M'bela (born 25 September 1978), known as Douala, is a Cameroonian former professional footballer. Mainly a winger he could also operate as a forward, and played professionally in five countries, mainly in Portugal. He amassed

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

totals of 213 games and 34 goals over the course of nine seasons, notably representing in the competition Sporting (three years), Boavista and União de Leiria (two apiece). Douala appeared for the Cameroon national team at the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations.

Club career

Douala 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 ...

. He holds Cameroonian and French nationalities. He started his professional career at AS Saint-Étienne but did not make any

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsorship reasons, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Prof ...

appearances for the French club, moving to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

when he was 20 and signing with Boavista FC. After two loans, at Gil Vicente F.C. and U.D. Leiria (where he first made an impact in the

championship), Douala moved to

Sporting Clube de Portugal Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

, scoring five league goals in his debut season while also helping the ''Lions'' to the campaign's

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 ...

final, notably scoring against

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

in a 3–2 away win. Never an undisputed starter, however, he would be loaned for 2006–07 to England's

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

on the very last day of the summer

transfer window In association football, a transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club, club can add players to their squad who were previously under contract with another club. Such a Transfer (association football), transfer is comp ...

, with a view to a permanent signing. Speculation during the 2007 winter window had linked Douala with a move away from the club, with the player reportedly frustrated at his lack of first team opportunities at Fratton Park. A transfer never materialized, however, and he revealed that "On the last day of the transfer window two clubs were calling me all day, but I said 'I want to stay'". Douala returned to Sporting when his loan ended and, on 14 July 2007, rejoined old club Saint-Étienne for an undisclosed fee. After only one season where he appeared sparingly, he left for Asteras Tripoli F.C. in Greece. A fruitless spell soon followed and, after agreeing a release from his contract, he signed with English club Plymouth Argyle on 22 March 2009, for the remainder of the 2008–09 campaign, making his debut as a substitute in their 4–0 home win against Coventry City on 11 April; however, he was unsuccessful in securing a long-term deal, and was released. On 15 March 2010, 31-year-old Douala moved teams and countries again, signing with

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

's Lierse SK,Twee nieuwe spelers en gesprekken over contractverlengingen (Two new players in contract negotiations)
Lierse SK, 15 March 2010 (in Dutch) and the club returned to the Pro League at the season's end, with the player contributing with one goal.

International career

Douala earned 17 caps for

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 ...

, during five years. He participated at the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations, helping the national team reach the quarter-final stage.

International goals

Honours

Club

Sporting *

: Runner-up 2004–05

Individual

: Player of the Month March 2004

References

External links

* * * * *
Biography at Anciens Verts
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Douala, Roudolphe 1978 births Living people Footballers from Douala Cameroonian men's footballers Naturalized citizens of France French men's footballers Men's association football wingers Ligue 1 players AS Saint-Étienne players Primeira Liga players Boavista F.C. players C.D. Aves players Gil Vicente F.C. players U.D. Leiria players Sporting CP footballers Premier League players English Football League players Portsmouth F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Super League Greece players Asteras Tripolis F.C. players Belgian Pro League players Challenger Pro League players Lierse S.K. players Cameroon men's international footballers Cameroonian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in France Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in England Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium