Florent Sinama Pongolle facts for kids
Sinama Pongolle playing for Rostov in 2012
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| Personal information | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Florent Stéphane Sinama Pongolle | ||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 20 October 1984 | ||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Saint-Pierre, Réunion, France | ||||||||||||
| Height | 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Forward | ||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||
| Saint-Pierroise | |||||||||||||
| 1995–2001 | Le Havre | ||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||
| 2001–2006 | Liverpool | 38 | (4) | ||||||||||
| 2001–2003 | → Le Havre (loan) | 42 | (7) | ||||||||||
| 2006 | → Blackburn Rovers (loan) | 10 | (1) | ||||||||||
| 2006–2008 | Recreativo | 68 | (22) | ||||||||||
| 2008–2010 | Atlético Madrid | 40 | (5) | ||||||||||
| 2010–2012 | Sporting CP | 5 | (1) | ||||||||||
| 2010–2011 | → Zaragoza (loan) | 24 | (4) | ||||||||||
| 2011–2012 | → Saint-Étienne (loan) | 23 | (4) | ||||||||||
| 2012–2014 | Rostov | 18 | (2) | ||||||||||
| 2014 | Chicago Fire | 7 | (1) | ||||||||||
| 2015 | Lausanne-Sport | 0 | (0) | ||||||||||
| 2015–2016 | Dundee United | 4 | (0) | ||||||||||
| 2016–2018 | Chainat Hornbill | 62 | (33) | ||||||||||
| 2019 | Saint-Pierroise | 10 | (1) | ||||||||||
| Total | 351 | (85) | |||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||
| 2001 | France U17 | 6 | (9) | ||||||||||
| 2002–2006 | France U21 | 37 | (11) | ||||||||||
| 2008 | France | 1 | (0) | ||||||||||
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Medal record
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| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||
Florent Stéphane Sinama Pongolle (born 20 October 1984) is a French former professional footballer who played as a forward. A forward's main job is to score goals.
As a teenager, he was signed by the famous English club Liverpool, but he found it hard to become a regular player on the first team. He later had a successful career in Spain, playing for clubs like Recreativo and Atlético Madrid.
After retiring from football, Pongolle became a pundit, which means he analyzes football matches on television for Canal + in France.
Contents
Club Career
A Rising Star at Liverpool
Sinama Pongolle was born on the French island of Saint-Pierre, Réunion. He started his career at his hometown club, Saint-Pierroise. When he was 11, he moved to mainland France to join the youth academy of Le Havre.
In 2001, at just 16 years old, he and his cousin Anthony Le Tallec were signed by Liverpool. This happened after they both played brilliantly in the FIFA Under-17 World Championship. France won the tournament, and Sinama Pongolle was named the best player. After signing for Liverpool, he stayed at Le Havre for two more years on loan to get more experience.
When he finally joined Liverpool, he scored his first goal against Leeds United. One of his most famous moments was during the 2004–05 Champions League. He came on as a substitute against Olympiacos and scored a crucial goal to tie the game 1–1. Liverpool went on to win 3–1 and eventually won the entire tournament.
He also scored important goals in other competitions, like the 2005–06 FA Cup against Luton Town. In January 2006, he was loaned to another English club, Blackburn Rovers, for the rest of the season.
Success in Spain
On 30 August 2006, Sinama Pongolle moved to Spain to play for Recreativo de Huelva. He signed a one-year contract at first, but he played so well that the club signed him for four more years. He was the team's top scorer for two seasons in a row in La Liga, Spain's top football league.
His great performance caught the eye of a bigger club, Atlético Madrid, who signed him on 3 July 2008. At Atlético, he played alongside famous strikers like Diego Forlán and Sergio Agüero. He scored four goals in his first five league games. He also showed his versatility by playing as a right winger when needed.
Later Career Moves
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In 2010, Sinama Pongolle moved to Portugal to play for Sporting CP. He later spent two seasons on loan, first at Real Zaragoza in Spain and then at AS Saint-Étienne in his home country of France.
On 30 August 2012, he joined FC Rostov in the Russian Premier League. He played there for two years.
On 9 September 2014, Sinama Pongolle signed with Chicago Fire in Major League Soccer in the United States. After that, he had short spells with Lausanne-Sport in Switzerland and Dundee United in Scotland.
In July 2016, he moved to Thailand to play for Chainat Hornbill. He scored many goals for the team and helped them win promotion.
In 2019, he returned to where it all began, rejoining his first club, Saint-Pierroise, on the island of Réunion. He helped the team do something amazing in the Coupe de France, a major French tournament. They became the first team from a French overseas territory to reach the last 32 teams since 1989.
International Career
Sinama Pongolle was a star for France's youth teams. After winning the Under-17 World Championship, he played for the France under-21 team from 2002 to 2006. He played 37 games and scored 11 goals, which were records for the team at the time.
He played his one and only game for the main French national team on 14 October 2008, in a friendly match against Tunisia.
Career statistics
Club
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Continental | Other | Total | Ref. | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Le Havre (loan) | 2001–02 | Division 2 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | – | – | 13 | 3 | |||
| 2002–03 | Ligue 1 | 31 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 33 | 6 | ||||
| Total | 42 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 46 | 9 | – | ||
| Liverpool | 2003–04 | Premier League | 15 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | – | 23 | 2 | ||
| 2004–05 | Premier League | 16 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 1 | – | 26 | 4 | |||
| 2005–06 | Premier League | 7 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 15 | 3 | ||
| 2006–07 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Total | 38 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 65 | 9 | – | ||
| Blackburn Rovers (loan) | 2005–06 | Premier League | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 10 | 1 | ||
| Recreativo | 2006–07 | La Liga | 34 | 12 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | 35 | 12 | ||||
| 2007–08 | La Liga | 34 | 10 | 3 | 0 | – | – | – | 37 | 10 | |||||
| Total | 68 | 22 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 72 | 22 | – | ||
| Atlético Madrid | 2008–09 | La Liga | 30 | 5 | 4 | 1 | – | 9 | 0 | – | 43 | 6 | |||
| 2009–10 | La Liga | 10 | 0 | 2 | 1 | – | 3 | 0 | – | 15 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 40 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 58 | 7 | – | ||
| Sporting CP | 2009–10 | Primeira Liga | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 7 | 1 | ||
| Zaragoza (loan) | 2010–11 | La Liga | 24 | 4 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | 24 | 4 | ||||
| Saint-Étienne (loan) | 2011–12 | Ligue 1 | 23 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 25 | 4 | |||
| Rostov | 2012–13 | Russian Premier League | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | 11 | 1 | ||||
| 2013–14 | Russian Premier League | 8 | 1 | 3 | 0 | – | – | – | 11 | 1 | |||||
| Total | 18 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 2 | – | ||
| Chicago Fire | 2014 | Major League Soccer | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 7 | 1 | |||
| Dundee United | 2015–16 | Scottish Premier League | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 4 | 0 | |||
| Chainat Hornbill | 2016 | Thai League 1 | 10 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 10 | 13 | |||
| 2017 | Thai League 2 | 26 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 26 | 14 | ||||
| 2018 | Thai League 1 | 26 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 26 | 6 | ||||
| Total | 62 | 33 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 62 | 33 | – | ||
| Career total | 341 | 84 | 23 | 5 | 11 | 2 | 23 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 402 | 93 | – | ||
International
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| France | 2008 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 1 | 0 | |
Honours
Liverpool
- UEFA Champions League: 2004–05
- UEFA Super Cup: 2005
- FIFA Club World Championship runner-up: 2005
- FA Community Shield: 2006
Rostov
- Russian Cup: 2013–14
Chainat Hornbill
- Thai League 2: 2017
Saint-Pierroise
- Réunion Premier League: 2019
France U17
- FIFA U-17 World Championship: 2001
Individual
- FIFA U-17 World Championship Golden Ball: 2001 (Award for the best player)
- FIFA U-17 World Championship Golden Shoe: 2001 (Award for the top goalscorer)
See also
In Spanish: Florent Sinama-Pongolle para niños
