Olivier Kapo

Obou Narcisse Olivier Kapo (born 27 September 1980), known as Olivier Kapo, is a French former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or left winger.

Olivier Kapo
Kapo in 2005
Personal information
Full name Obou Narcisse Olivier Kapo[1]
Date of birth (1980-09-27) 27 September 1980
Place of birth Marcory, Ivory Coast[2]
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Attacking midfielder, left winger[3][4]
Youth career
1996–1999 Auxerre
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1999–2004 Auxerre 120 (19)
2004–2007 Juventus 14 (0)
2005–2006 → Monaco (loan) 25 (5)
2006–2007 → Levante (loan) 30 (5)
2007–2008 Birmingham City 26 (5)
2008–2010 Wigan Athletic 20 (1)
2010 → Boulogne (loan) 16 (2)
2010–2011 Celtic 2 (0)
2011 Al-Ahly 6 (2)
2012–2013 Auxerre 39 (12)
2013–2014 Levadiakos 19 (2)
2014–2015 Korona Kielce 27 (7)
Total 344 (60)
National team
2002–2004 France 9 (3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Club career

Early career

Born in Marcory, Ivory Coast, Kapo began his professional career with Auxerre in 1999. He joined Juventus on a free transfer in the summer of 2004, but he struggled to adapt to life in Turin and did not play much as he was behind Pavel Nedvěd in the left midfield role. As a result, he was loaned to Monaco for the 2005–06 season.

When Juventus were forcibly relegated to Serie B, Kapo returned to Turin, but went back on loan due to the abundance of midfielders. He signed for Spanish La Liga club Levante, scoring five goals in 32 appearances.

Birmingham City
Kapo playing for Birmingham City in 2007

Kapo signed for Birmingham City on 29 June 2007 for a fee of £3 million.[5] He claimed to have rejected other offers to sign for the club, suggesting his style of play was better suited to English football.[6] He scored on his Premier League debut, against Chelsea in a 3–2 defeat on 12 August 2007.[7]

Wigan Athletic

Kapo signed for Wigan Athletic on 16 July 2008, signing a three-year deal for a fee reported as £3.5 million, a move which reunited him with former manager Steve Bruce.[8] He scored his first goal for Wigan in a 4–1 League Cup win over Ipswich Town on 24 September 2008, and his first league goal in a 2–1 defeat to Chelsea on 28 February 2009.[9] On 8 January 2010, Kapo moved to Boulogne on a six-month loan deal,[10] and left Wigan by mutual consent in August 2010.[11]

Celtic

On 4 November 2010, Kapo signed for Celtic on an 18-month deal.[12] He was allocated the number 77 jersey.[13] He stated he turned down better money from other clubs to sign for the Glasgow side,[14] including an offer from Bundesliga club SC Freiburg.[15] He was encouraged to join the club after consulting with his friend, ex-Celtic player Jean-Joël Perrier-Doumbé.[13] Kapo made his debut against St Johnstone at home in the Scottish Premier League as a second-half substitute, hitting the bar and then assisting the second goal in a 2–0 victory.[16] He was released from his Celtic contract in January 2011, although the player claimed he walked out on the club because they had unilaterally changed the terms of his contract.[17]

Al Ahli SC

In February 2011, Kapo signed for Qatar club Al Ahli SC on a five-month contract.[18] He scored twice to help Al Ahli to only their second win of the season, beating Qatar SC 3–1.[19] After only five appearances and two league goals, he terminated his contract with the club of the Persian Gulf during the following summer.

Return to Auxerre

He signed an 18-month contract with former club Auxerre in January 2012, after a few weeks spent training with the club.[20][21]

Levadiakos FC

When his contract expired, Kapo signed a two-year deal with Superleague Greece club Levadiakos.[22] In September 2014, he stated in the French media that "everything is corrupted in Greek football, mafia-controlled, while FIFA and UEFA simply don't care".[23]

Korona Kielce

On 15 August 2014, Kapo signed a one-year contract with the Polish Ekstraklasa side Korona Kielce.[24] He scored his first goal for Korona in the matchday 12, as his team drew 2–2 with Lech Poznań. In total, he scored seven goals. After the 2014–15 Ekstraklasa season, his contact was not extended.[25]

International career

Kapo won nine caps for France.[26] He represented his country in the 2003 Confederations Cup, scoring against New Zealand,[13] and was a substitute in the final as France beat Cameroon.[27] He has also scored in friendlies against Egypt and Serbia and Montenegro.[13] Kapo's last cap came in 2004.

Personal life

Kapo has a daughter, Farel-Andrea, who was born in 2004.[28] His nephew, Maxen, is also a professional footballer; he plays for Paris Saint-Germain.[29]

Honours

Auxerre

France

References
  1. "Acta del Partido celebrado el 08 de abril de 2007, en Valencia" [Minutes of the Match held on 8 April 2007, in Valencia] (in Spanish). Royal Spanish Football Federation. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
  2. "Kapo's actual place of birth".
  3. Olivier Kapo at National-Football-Teams.com
  4. Olivier Kapo at WorldFootball.net
  5. "Birmingham sign midfielder Kapo". BBC Sport. 29 June 2007. Retrieved 29 June 2007.
  6. Acedo, Francisco (30 June 2007). "Kapo excited by Blues switch". Sky Sports. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
  7. Fletcher, Paul (12 August 2007). "Chelsea 3–2 Birmingham". BBC Sport. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  8. "Bruce snaps up Kapo a second time". BBC Sport. 16 July 2008. Retrieved 16 July 2008.
  9. "Games played by Olivier Kapo in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  10. "Kapo granted loan wish". Sky Sports. 8 January 2010. Retrieved 8 January 2010.
  11. "Kapo makes Wigan exit". Sky Sports. 6 August 2010. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  12. "Celtic sign Olivier Kapo for rest of the season". BBC Sport. 4 November 2010. Retrieved 4 November 2010.
  13. "Ex-Celtic defender sold Kapo on move". STV Sport. 4 November 2010. Archived from the original on 9 March 2012. Retrieved 4 November 2010.
  14. "Olivier Kapo insists football, not finance, was behind decision to join Celtic". The Scotsman. 5 November 2010. Archived from the original on 16 July 2012. Retrieved 5 November 2010.
  15. "Kapo: Why I chose the SPL over the Bundesliga". STV Sport. 7 November 2010. Archived from the original on 9 November 2010. Retrieved 18 November 2010.
  16. "Celtic 2–0 St Johnstone". BBC Sport. 26 December 2010. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  17. Grahame, Ewing (19 January 2011). "French winger Olivier Kapo accuses Celtic of 'deep injustice' over contract as he walks out on club". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 19 January 2011.
  18. "Olivier Kapo Relaunches Career in Qatar". Inside Futbol. 3 February 2011. Retrieved 26 May 2012.
  19. "Kapo puts Al Ahli on top of Qatar SC". FIFA.com. 11 March 2011. Retrieved 26 May 2012.
  20. "Kapo in shock return to Auxerre". Eurosport. 23 January 2012. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
  21. "O. Kapo un an et demi à Auxerre" [O. Kapo a year and a half at Auxerre]. L'Équipe (in French). 23 January 2012. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
  22. "Transfert. Grèce: Olivier Kapo signe pour deux ans à Levadiakos" [Transfer. Greece: Olivier Kapo signs for two years at Levadiakos]. Ouest-France (in French). 28 August 2013. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  23. En Grèce, c'est la mafia totale!
  24. http://www.90minut.pl/news/237/news2376363-Olivier-Kapo-w-Koronie.html
  25. http://www.90minut.pl/news/253/news2534237-Korona-zglosila-Zbigniewa-Malkowskiego-i-Pawla-Sobolewskiego.html
  26. "Olivier Kapo". L'Équipe (in French). Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  27. "FIFA Confederations Cup France 2003: Cameroon–France". FIFA. Archived from the original on 16 October 2013. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  28. "O - Celebrities babies names". celebritiesbabiesnames.wikifoundry.com. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  29. "PSG : le neveu d'Olivier Kapo, Maxen, signe pro" [PSG: Olivier Kapo's nephew, Maxen, signs professional contract] (in French). Le Parisien. 14 March 2019. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
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