Christian Bassila

Christian Armel Bassila (born 5 October 1977) is a former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder or centre-back. He is currently the director of INF Clairefontaine's youth sector.

Christian Bassila
Personal information
Full name Christian Armel Bassila[1][2]
Date of birth (1977-10-05) 5 October 1977[3]
Place of birth Paris, France
Height 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)[3]
Playing position(s) Defensive midfielder
Club information
Current team
 INF Clairefontaine (head of youth)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1996–1999 Lyon 44 (2)
1999–2002 Rennes 24 (1)
2000–2001 → West Ham United (loan) 3 (0)
2001–2002 → Strasbourg (loan) 32 (3)
2002–2005 Strasbourg 89 (7)
2005–2006 Sunderland 13 (0)
2006–2007 AEL 27 (2)
2007–2008 Energie Cottbus 23 (3)
2008–2011 Guingamp 62 (2)
Total 317 (20)
National team
France U21
Teams managed
2018–2019 Lyon B
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Club career

Born in Paris,[3] Basilla started his career with the reigning Ligue 1 champions Lyon in the 1996–97 season, before joining Rennes. Bassila rarely featured in the Rennes first team and was sent on a season-long loan to West Ham United in August 2000. However, he failed to cement a first-team place at the East London side either and the following season he joined Strasbourg on another season-long loan. After enjoying regular first-team action there he signed permanently and spent the next three seasons there.

Bassila signed a two-year contract with newly promoted Premiership side Sunderland in the last week of the 2005 summer transfer window. After injuries caused him to fail to establish himself in a struggling Sunderland team that was eventually relegated, at the start of the 2006 season he activated a clause in his contract which allowed him to move to another club without a transfer fee being paid to Sunderland, and transferred to Greek side Athlitiki Enosi Larissa F.C.. There he enjoyed more first-team football in a dynamic defensive role in the midfield.

Bassila later transferred to Energie Cottbus and French Ligue 2 club Guingamp. Whilst at Guingamp, then in Ligue 2, Bassila captained his team in the 2009 Coupe de France Final in which they beat Rennes.[4]

International career

In 2006, Bassila was called up to represent the Congo national football team by coach Noel Tosi. Since Bassila had represented France at under-21 level, however, FIFA ruled against this as he should have applied for the change in his national status before 31 December 2005.[5]

In 2009, after a change in the FIFA rules concerning an age of limit to switch the national allegiance, Bassila was called again to the national squad together with Lucien Aubey, Albin Ebondo and Matt Moussilou, all newly eligible for the Congo national team.[6]

Coaching career

In 2015, Bassila was hired as responsible for the development of the U12, U13 and U14 teams of Olympique Lyonnais, where he also functioned as a coach for several of the teams.[7] In the summer 2018, he took charge of Lyon's B-team.[8]

In the summer 2019, Bassila joined INF Clairefontaine as director of the youth sector.[9]

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References
  1. "Entreprise CB Media Et Communication" [Company CB Media Et Communication] (in French). Manageo. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  2. "Christian Bassila". BFM Business (in French). Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  3. "Christian Bassila". L'Équipe (in French). Paris. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  4. "Stade Rennes vs Guingamp". espn.co.uk. 9 May 2009. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
  5. Reuters (1 September 2006). "FIFA tell Congo they cannot play French-born pair". ESPN. Retrieved 6 December 2006.
  6. "Aubey, Bassila, Ebondo et Moussilou appelés par le Congo-Brazzaville". Le blog d'Ismaël Bouchafra-Hennequin (in French). 3 August 2009. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
  7. "U12-U13 : Les Lyonnais remportent le tournoi LAM'S Sport". ol.fr (in French). 31 August 2016. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
  8. "Lyon: Bassila pour remplacer Cris". lequipe.fr (in French). 27 June 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
  9. "OL : Bassila sera le nouveau directeur du pôle espoir de l'INF Clairefontaine". olympique-et-lyonnais.com (in French). 22 May 2019. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
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