Trésor Mputu Mabi (born 10 December 1985) is a Congolese former 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 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 ...

Club career

Mputu joined

TP Mazembe Tout Puissant Mazembe, commonly referred to as TP Mazembe, is a Congolese professional association football, football club based in Lubumbashi. History Tout Puissant Mazembe, the first sports club from the Democratic Republic of the Congo with a ...

in 2002, and has been a pivotal figure in the club's success ever since. In 2007, he helped his club reach the African Champions League by becoming the top goalscorer of the competition with nine strikes, and the Confederation Cup. In 2009 and 2010 he captained Mazembe to back to back

CAF Champions League The CAF Champions League, known for sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League and formerly the African Cup of Champions Clubs, is an annual football club (association football), club football competition organized by the Conf ...

titles. Through the years Mputu has been linked with several European clubs and trialled with

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 2007. In 2014 he signed with Angolan side Kabuscorp. In July 2016, Mputu rejoined his old club TP Mazembe.

Suspension and return

In August 2010, Mputu received a 12-month global ban following his aggressive actions toward a referee during a match between TP Mazembe and

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

n army side

APR FC Armée Patriotique Rwandaise Football Club (APR FC or APR) is a professional football club from Kigali in Rwanda. The club plays their home games at Kigali Pelé Stadium. The club was founded in June 1993 as the team of the Rwandese Patriotic ...

. Upon his return to action after a year on the sidelines, it took him just 46 seconds to find the net for his club against rivals TS Malkesa.

International career

Mputu made his international debut in 2004 and has been a regular in the squad since. He represented his country at the

2006 African Cup of Nations The 2006 Africa Cup of Nations was the 25th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the association football championship of Africa. It was hosted by Egypt, from 20 January to 10 February. Just like in 2004, the field of sixteen teams was split in ...

tournament, and was captain of the Congolese national team, leading the side in the

2013 African Cup of Nations The 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations South Africa 2013 for sponsorship reasons, held from 19 January to 10 February 2013, was the 29th Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa organized ...

tournament in South Africa. In their first game of the tournament, Mputu scored for the Congolese in the 2–2 draw against pre-tournament favourites

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 ...

. He was recalled to the national team in November 2018, following a five-year absence.

Style of play

In 2012 former

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 ...

and DR Congo coach

Claude Le Roy Claude Le Roy (; born 6 February 1948) is a French football manager and former player, who gained prominence at international level as coach to the Cameroon, Senegal and Ghana national teams. Managerial career Le Roy has had a varied manageria ...

described Mputu as being "the next

Samuel Eto'o Samuel Eto'o Fils (; born 10 March 1981) is a Cameroonian Association football, football administrator and former Football player, player who is the current president of the Cameroonian Football Federation. He is often regarded as one of the ...

", whom he picked for the 1998 World Cup in France as a 17-year-old.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list DR Congo's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Mputu goal''.

Honours

Individual * CAF Team of the Year:

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

*Glo-CAF's Best African Player on the continent: 2009 * IFFHS World's Top Goal Scorer: 2007 *

African Nations Championship The African Nations Championship, known for sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies African Nations Championship and commonly abbreviated as CHAN, is a biennial African association football tournament organized by the Confederation of Afri ...

player of the tournament: 2009 * BBC African Footballer of the Year: 2009 (nominated)

References

External links

* *
Mputu glittering again for Mazembe
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mputu, Tresor 1985 births Living people Footballers from Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo men's footballers Men's association football forwards Men's association football midfielders Democratic Republic of the Congo men's international footballers 2006 Africa Cup of Nations players 2013 Africa Cup of Nations players 2019 Africa Cup of Nations players Linafoot players Kabuscorp S.C.P. players TP Mazembe players Democratic Republic of the Congo expatriate men's footballers Democratic Republic of the Congo expatriate sportspeople in Angola Expatriate men's footballers in Angola 2009 African Nations Championship players Democratic Republic of the Congo men's A' international footballers 21st-century Democratic Republic of the Congo sportsmen