Chancel Mbemba

Chancel Mangulu Mbemba (born 8 August 1994) is a Congolese international footballer who plays as a defender for Portuguese club Porto.

Chancel Mbemba
Mbemba with Anderlecht in 2014
Personal information
Full name Chancel Mangulu Mbemba[1]
Date of birth (1994-08-08) 8 August 1994[2]
Place of birth Kinshasa, Zaire
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)[2]
Position(s) Defender
Club information
Current team
 Porto
Number 19
Youth career
2006–2007 E.S. La Grace
2007–2008 Mputu
2008–2012 FC MK Etanchéité
2012–2013 Anderlecht
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2015 Anderlecht 63 (6)
2015–2018 Newcastle United 54 (1)
2018– Porto 39 (3)
National team‡
2012– DR Congo 54 (3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19:35, 14 August 2020 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 14:47, 30 June 2020 (UTC)

In his professional career he represented Anderlecht of Belgium, Newcastle United in England and Porto from Portugal. A full international for the DR Congo since 2012, he earned over 50 caps and represented the country at four Africa Cup of Nations tournaments, coming third in 2015.

Early life

Mbemba grew up in Kinshasa in a family of nine children. His mother, Antoinette, is a former basketball player who represented DR Congo.[3][4]

A 2013 report by CNN found that documents support four different dates of birth for Mbemba from 1988 to 1994, with the player saying himself that he was born in 1990; an anonymous member of the Congolese Association Football Federation said that his date of birth was changed to 1991 so that he would be eligible for the 2012 Olympics where players must be under 23.[5] Upon signing for Newcastle, he said that he was born in 1994 and that there was forensic proof.[6]

Club career

Anderlecht

After playing youth football for several clubs including E.S. La Grace and FC MK Etanchéité in Kinshasa, Mbemba joined Belgian club Anderlecht in 2012.[3]

Mbemba mainly played with Anderlecht reserve and youth teams. At this point Mbemba requested to have a bone scan to dispel rumours that he was older than he actually was.[7] Mbemba eventually made his senior debut on 28 July 2013 in their opening match of the 2013–14 Belgian Pro League season, a 2–3 defeat to Lokeren.[8]

He made a further 28 appearances during the 2014–15 season as they finished in third spot in the league. They also finished runners-up in the 2014–15 Belgian Cup, losing 1–2 to Club Brugge in the final.[9]

Newcastle United

On 26 July 2015, Premier League side Newcastle United announced the signing of Mbemba.[10] Four days later, he signed a five-year contract with the club.[11] He made his debut on 9 August on the first day of the Premier League season, starting in a 2–2 home draw with Southampton.[12]

He scored his only goal for the club on 7 May 2017 against Barnsley in a 3–0 home win, on the same day that Newcastle clinched the EFL Championship title a year after relegation.[13]

Porto

On 23 July 2018, Primeira Liga side Porto signed Mbemba for a reported £7.14 million fee.[14] He made his debut on 31 October in a 4–2 home win over Varzim S.C. in the group stage of the Taça da Liga, with manager Sérgio Conceição sending out a completely different team to the previous league game.[15] Four days later he made his Primeira Liga bow as an 80th-minute substitute for striker Yacine Brahimi in a 2–0 victory at C.S. Marítimo;[16] he played only two more league games that season, one of which was a start in a 3–1 win over C.D. Nacional at the Estádio do Dragão on 7 January 2019.[17] He also played two matches for the reserve team in LigaPro.[18][19]

Mbemba scored his first goal for the Dragons on 24 November 2019, opening a 4–0 home win over Vitória F.C. that qualified his team to the last 16 of the Taça de Portugal.[20] The following 7 March, he was on the scoreboard for the first time in the league, in a 1–1 draw with Rio Ave F.C. at the same venue;[21] his team ended the season as champions.[22] On 1 August 2020, Mbemba scored both goals of a 2–1 win over Benfica in the Taça de Portugal Final.[23]

International career

Mbemba made his debut for the DR Congo on 17 June 2012, in a 3–0 home win over the Seychelles at the Stade des Martyrs in Kinshasa, in 2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualification.[24] He was an unused member of Claude Le Roy's squad for the finals.[25] He was part of the squad that came third at the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea, and scored a penalty in the shootout win over the hosts for the bronze medal.[26]

On 13 October 2015, Mbemba scored his first international goal, a late long-distance winner in a 2–1 friendly against Gabon in Visé, Belgium.[27] He also went to the Africa Cup of Nations in 2017 and 2019; in the latter in Egypt he scored a late header in a 2–2 draw with Madagascar in the last 16, though his team lost in a shootout.[28]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 1 August 2020[29][30]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup[lower-alpha 1] League Cup[lower-alpha 2] Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Anderlecht 2013–14 Belgian Pro League 35500—5[lower-alpha 3]100406
2014–15 Belgian Pro League 28120—6[lower-alpha 3]21[lower-alpha 4]0373
Total 636200011310779
Newcastle United 2015–16 Premier League 3301010——350
2016–17 Championship 1210010——131
2017–18 Premier League 901010——110
Total 54120300000591
Porto 2018–19 Primeira Liga 302010000060
2019–20 Primeira Liga 26253505000415
Total 29273605000475
Career total 1388101901631017412
  1. Appearances in Belgian Cup, FA Cup and Taça de Portugal
  2. Appearances in EFL Cup and Taça da Liga
  3. Appearances in Champions League
  4. Appearance in Belgian Super Cup

International
As of match played on 18 November 2019.[31]
DR Congo
YearAppsGoals
201220
201320
201440
2015141
201670
2017112
201840
2019101
Total544

International goals
Scores and results list DR Congo's goal tally first.[31]
NoDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.12 October 2015Stade de la Cité de l'Oie, Visé, Belgium Gabon2–12–1Friendly
2.10 June 2017Stade des Martyrs, Kinshasa, DR Congo Congo3–11–12019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
3.5 September 2017Stade des Martyrs, Kinshasa, DR Congo Tunisia1–02–22018 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Club

Anderlecht

Newcastle United

FC Porto

International

DR Congo[32]

References
  1. "Squads for 2017/18 Premier League confirmed". Premier League. 1 September 2017. Retrieved 9 September 2017.
  2. "Player Profile Chancel Mbemba". premierleague.com. Barclays Premier League. 2016. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  3. Thirion, Xavier (9 November 2013). "Mbemba: "Je veux marquer l'histoire d'Anderlecht"". L'Avenir (in French). Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  4. Douglas, Mark (23 July 2015). "Newcastle United new boy Chancel Mbemba's remarkable back story marks him out as a future star". ChronicleLive. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  5. Sinnott, John; Molina, Romain (4 February 2013). "Football's age fraud: FIFA probes player with 'four birthdays'". CNN. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  6. "Mbemba clarifies date of birth". FourFourTwo. 13 August 2015. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  7. Sinnot, John (1 February 2013). "Football's age fraud: FIFA probes player with 'four birthdays'". CNN. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
  8. "Congo DR – C. Mbemba – Profile with news, career statistics and history – Soccerway". Soccerway. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  9. "Club Brugge 2–1 Anderlecht". Soccerway. 22 March 2015. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  10. "Chancel Mbemba Deal Moves Closer" (Press release). Newcastle United. 26 July 2015. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  11. "Mbemba Joins United" (Press release). Newcastle United. 30 July 2015. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  12. Sheen, Tom (10 August 2015). "Chancel Mbemba makes memorable entrance on Newcastle debut - arriving in a tuxedo". The Independent. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  13. "Newcastle 3–0 Barnsley". BBC. 7 May 2017. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
  14. "Chancel Mbemba: Porto sign defender from Newcastle". BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  15. Esteves Teixeira, Sofia (31 October 2018). "Mbemba titular no F. C. Porto frente ao Varzim" [Mbemba starter for FC Porto against Varzim]. Jornal de Notícias (in Portuguese). Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  16. "Portugal : Porto et Brahimi assurent face à Maritimo" (in French). Le Buteur. 4 November 2018. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  17. Esteves Teixeira, Sofia (7 January 2019). "Mbemba titular no F. C. Porto frente ao Nacional" [Mbemba starter for FC Porto against Nacional]. Jornal de Notícias (in Portuguese). Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  18. "FC Porto B-Académica, 3-0: Dragões vencem e deixam último lugar" [FC Porto B 3–0 Académica: Dragons win and leave last place]. Record (in Portuguese). 8 December 2018. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  19. "Mbemba, João Pedro, Marius, Bruno Costa e André Pereira titulares no FC Porto B" [Mbemba, João Pedro, Marius, Bruno Costa and André Pereira starters for FC Porto B]. Record (in Portuguese). 3 March 2019. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  20. "Dragões apuram-se para os oitavos da Taça de Portugal" [Dragons qualify for the last 16 of the Taça de Portugal]. Correio da Manhã (in Portuguese). 24 January 2019. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  21. "Nervy times at the top". The Portugal News. 13 March 2020. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  22. "Juventus held by Sassuolo in thriller, Porto win Primeira Liga title". The Guardian. Reuters. 16 July 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  23. "Porto defeat Benfica to win 17th Portuguese Cup". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  24. "Eliminatoires-Can 2013: la RDC élimine les Seychelles, 3-0" [2013 ACN qualifiers: DR Congo eliminates the Seychelles, 3–0] (in French). Radio Okapi. 17 June 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  25. Kobo, Kingsley (9 January 2013). "DR Congo publish Afcon 2013 squad". Goal. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  26. "I knew DR Congo would win Nations Cup shootout: Chancel Mbemba". Zee News. 8 February 2015. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  27. Waugh, Chris (13 October 2015). "Watch Newcastle United defender Chancel Mbemba score 30-yard stunner for DR Congo". Chronicle Live. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  28. "Africa Cup of Nations: Madagascar beat DR Congo in shootout as dream goes on". The Guardian. 7 July 2019. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  29. "C. Mbemba". Soccerway. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
  30. "Chancel Mbemba". Soccerbase. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
  31. "Mbemba, Chancel". National Football Teams. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
  32. "2015 Nations Cup: Yannick Bolasie in DR Congo squad". BBC Sport. 9 January 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.