 Song with Cameroon in 2008 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Rigobert Song Bahanag | ||
| Date of birth | 1 July 1976 | ||
| Place of birth | Nkenglikok, Cameroon | ||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[1] | ||
| Position(s) | Centre-back[2] | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1994–1998 | Metz | 123 | (3) |
| 1998 | Salernitana | 4 | (1) |
| 1999–2000 | Liverpool | 34 | (0) |
| 2000–2002 | West Ham United | 24 | (0) |
| 2001–2002 | → 1. FC Köln (loan) | 16 | (0) |
| 2002–2004 | Lens | 63 | (3) |
| 2004–2008 | Galatasaray | 104 | (4) |
| 2008–2010 | Trabzonspor | 46 | (0) |
| Total | 414 | (11) | |
| International career | |||
| 1993–2010 | Cameroon | 137 | (5) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2016–2018 | Cameroon A' | ||
| 2017–2018 | Cameroon (caretaker) | ||
| 2018–2022 | Cameroon U23 | ||
| 2022–2024 | Cameroon | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Rigobert Song Bahanag (born 1 July 1976) is a Cameroonian former professional footballer who was most recently the manager of the Cameroon national team.
Known for his defensive skills, Song usually played as a centre-back, but could also operate at right-back. Internationally, he played at a record eight Africa Cup of Nations tournaments and served as captain in five (the ones he was not captain for were South Africa 1996, Burkina Faso 1998 and Angola 2010), a record, and holds the record of most consecutive games played in the tournament with 35 first team games. He has won two CAF Africa Cup of Nations titles in 2000 and 2002. In 2009, Song was dropped as Cameroon skipper by new coach Paul Le Guen, who eventually appointed Samuel Eto'o as the new captain, which later caused concerns, as Song had never been on the bench in more than eleven years for Cameroon.[3] With 137 appearances, Song also holds the record of the most capped player in the history of the Cameroon national team and has played in four World Cups, in 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2010.[4]
Song started his professional career with Metz and helped the club to win the Coupe de la Ligue in 1996. After appearing at the 1998 World Cup, he joined Salernitana, newly promoted to the top-flight Italian Serie A. In January 1999, he left Italy to start successive stints with Liverpool, West Ham United and 1. FC Köln, but after failing to hold down a first-team place, he returned to France to play for Lens. He stayed there until 2004, before moving on to Turkey, where he spent four years with Galatasaray, winning two Süper Lig titles and the Turkish Cup. Song then signed a contract with Trabzonspor in 2008, where he won another Turkish Cup and stayed until 2010.
Aside from Zinedine Zidane, Song is the only player to have been sent off in two different World Cups, once against Brazil in 1994 and against Chile in 1998.[5] He also holds the record as youngest player ever to be sent off in a World Cup, aged 17.
Nicknamed "Big Chief" by Turkish fans,[6] he is the uncle of fellow Cameroon defensive midfielder Alex Song and of rugby league player Junior Nsemba[7]
- ^ "Rigobert Song: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
- ^ "Rigobert Song". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
- ^ "Cameroon hope to show claws". FIFA. 22 May 2010. Retrieved 30 June 2010.[dead link]
- ^ "Tottenham's Sébastien Bassong named in Cameroon's preliminary line-up". The Guardian. London. 11 May 2010. Retrieved 24 June 2010.
- ^ "Golden oldies and thrilling comebacks". ESPN. 20 May 2010. Archived from the original on 26 May 2010. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
- ^ Brown, Oliver (20 November 2009). "Rigobert Song: Cameroon star player at World Cup 2010". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 24 November 2009. Retrieved 22 June 2010.
- ^ Newsum, Matt (7 June 2024). "Rising star Nsemba ready for Wigan's Wembley date". BBC Sport. Retrieved 7 June 2024.