Mboma, Patrick

At the age of two, he moved with his parents from Cameroon to France ^[2] . The pupil of the team "Stade de L'Est" ^[3] .

In 1990, Mbomba became a player in the Paris Saint-Germain club. Initially, he played for the second team, where he was a player of the main team and one of the team's top scorers. In the summer of 1992, it was leased to Chateauroux . According to the results of the first season, Chateauroux left Division 2 , but already in the next season the team returned back, having won first place in League 3 . After a two-year stay at Chateauroux, the Cameroonian returned to PSG. He made his debut in the French championship on September 23, 1994 in a match against Auxerre (1: 1) ^[4] . Mboma as a result did not become the main player after spending only 8 matches (scoring 1 goal), while simultaneously playing for the second team.

In the summer of 1995, he went on lease to the Mets . Together with the team he took fourth place in the championship and won the French League Cup , where Metz defeated Lyon in the final . After returning to Paris Saint-Germain, where within six months he played in 8 games (scoring 1 goal) of the championship.

In 1997, the striker became a player in the Japanese team, Osaka Gamba . At the end of the season, Cameroonian scored 25 goals, won the title of top scorer in the Japanese championship and entered the symbolic team of the tournament ^[5] . According to the results of 1997, Mboma entered the top ten best football players in Africa ^[6] . In May 1998, did not play due to groin injury ^[7] . Speaking for Gamba, he scored one of the fastest goals and the first hat-trick in the history of the Japanese championship ^[8] . A year later, for 4.5 million euros, his contract was bought by the Italian Cagliari ^[3] . The debut in the Italian championship took place on September 13, 1998 in a game against the Internationale (2: 2) ^[9] . In the 1999/00 season , Cagliari took the last but one place and flew to Serie B.

After the departure of Cagliari, Parma bought the Cameroonian contract for 6 million euros ^[3] . According to the results of 2000, in which Mboma won gold at the African Cup of Nations and the Olympic Games , Cameroonian was recognized as the best African player according to the BBC and the African Football Federation ^{[10] [11]} . He also claimed to receive the Golden Ball ^[12] . Parma was able to take fourth place in the championship and reach the final of the Italian Cup , where it lost to Fiorentina . Mbomba during the tournament scored 6 goals, as well as three other players - he became the top scorer of the Italian Cup ^[13] .

In February 2002, he switched to English Sunderland for 4.5 million euros ^[3] . In the new team, Patrick wanted to take 70 number (in honor of the year of birth - 1970), but the leadership of the Premier League refused and Cameroon played under number 7 ^[14] . As part of the team, he scored only one goal (against Tottenham Hotspur ) in eight games ^[15] . At the end of the season, the team managed to maintain a place in the Premier League, but in the summer of 2003, Mbomba moved to Tripoli Al-Ittihad .

In early 2003, he returned to Japan, signing a contract with the Tokyo Verdi club, where he was to replace the departed Brazilian Edmundo ^[16] . In the summer of 2004 he moved to Vissel Kobe , where he did not become a main player due to injuries. In May 2005, Mboma announced the completion of a football career ^[17] .

The debut in the national team of Cameroon took place on December 24, 1995 in the match against Liberia (1: 0) ^[18] . In February 1998, Patrick was called to participate in the African Cup of Nations , where Cameroon reached the quarter finals. The head coach of the “Lions” Claude Le Roi also challenged him to the World Cup in France. Mboma played in all three games of the group stage and scored a goal in the match against Chile .

In 2000, Patrick, together with the team, became the winner of the African Cup of Nations . In the final, he scored a goal in regular time and in a penalty shootout against Nigeria . Mbomba scored 4 goals during the tournament, as did the other striker Samuel Eto'o .

In the summer of 2000, the attacker went to the Sydney Olympics, where he got due to a quota for players over 23 years old. At the time of the competition he was 29 years old ^[19] . Cameroon became a triumph of the tournament, beating Spain in the final game in a series of eleven-meter hits. Mboma became the author of four goals at the Olympic Games.

The following year, he took part in the Confederations Cup , where Africans took third place in the group. In 2002, he won the African Cup of Nations for the second time. During the tournament, he scored three goals and, together with the Nigerian Agahova and compatriot Salomon Olembe, became the top scorer of the competition. He also entered the symbolic team of the tournament ^[20] . Due to the injury, he was able to take part in the final game ^[21] .

Mboma performed at the 2002 World Cup . Thirty-four-year-old Mboma went to the 2004 African Cup of Nations thanks to the intervention of Cameroon’s President Paul Biya ^[22] . At the group stage, he scored a goal against Algeria (1: 1) and a hat-trick against Zimbabwe (5: 3), which allowed him to become the top scorer of the tournament, along with three other players ^[23] . In the quarter finals match, Cameroon lost to Nigeria and flew out of the tournament. This meeting was the last in a T-shirt of “indomitable lions” ^[18] .

In total, Cameroon Mbomba played 55 matches and scored 33 goals, playing for the team for nine years ^[18] .

In 2007, he took part in a charity match in honor of the 89th anniversary of Nelson Mandela ^[24] .

In 2010, Mbomba submitted an application for Japan to receive the 2022 World Cup ^[25] .

Team

Chateauroux

• League Winner 3 (1): 1993/94

Paris Saint-Germain

• Silver medalist at the French Championship (1): 1996/97
• Bronze medalist of the French Championship (1): 1994/95

Metz

• French League Cup Winner (1): 1995/96

Parma

• Finalist of the Italian Cup (1): 2000/01

Cameroon

• African Nations Cup Winner (2): 2000 , 2002
• Winner of the Summer Olympics (1): 2000

Personal

• African Cup of Nations top scorer (2): 2002, 2004
• Japanese Championship Top Scorer (1): 1997
• African Footballer of the Year (1): 2000
• BBC African Athlete of the Year (1): 2000