Florent Sinama Pongolle

Florent Stéphane Sinama Pongolle (born 20 October 1984) is a French former professional footballer who played as a forward.

Florent Sinama Pongolle
Sinama Pongolle playing for Rostov in 2012
Personal information
Full name Florent Stéphane Sinama Pongolle[1]
Date of birth (1984-10-20) 20 October 1984[2]
Place of birth Saint-Pierre, Réunion
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)[2]
Playing 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)
National team
2001 France U17 6 (9)
2002–2006 France U21 37 (11)
2008 France 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

He was signed at only 16 by Liverpool, but could never impose himself in the first team. He also spent several seasons in Spain, with Recreativo, Atlético Madrid and Zaragoza.

Club career

Liverpool

Sinama Pongolle was born in Saint-Pierre, Réunion,[2] and began his career at hometown club JS Saint-Pierroise before moving to Le Havre AC in Metropolitan France at the age of 11.[3] In 2001 he, along with his cousin Anthony Le Tallec,[4] was signed by Liverpool, after some impressive performances in both the UEFA European Under-16 Championship and the FIFA Under-17 World Championship. He was named player of the tournament as France won the latter competition,[5] and remained at Le Havre – as Le Tallec – for a further two years on loan.[4]

After his return, Sinama Pongolle appeared sporadically for the Reds, with some highlights however: in the team's victorious campaign in the UEFA Champions League, he came from the bench against Olympiacos F.C. and immediately netted Liverpool's equaliser to make it 1–1, in an eventual 3–1 win and qualification to the round of 16;[6] he was, however, left out of the squad for the final.

Sinama Pongolle also netted in the third round of the 2005–06 FA Cup against Luton Town, as he helped Liverpool come from 3–1 down to a final score of 5–3,[7] with the side finally emerging victorious in the tournament, and scoring in the 2005–06 Champions League 2–1 away defeat of Real Betis, with a chip from 20 yards.[8]

In late January 2006, Sinama Pongolle was loaned to fellow Premier League side Blackburn Rovers until the end of the season.[9] He scored once for them, a 2–3 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur.[10]

Spain

On 30 August 2006, Sinama Pongolle signed a one-year contract at Recreativo de Huelva,[11] with an option to sign on for a further two years. On 4 May 2007, the Andalusians confirmed he had agreed to a deal until 2011, for a fee of €4 million.[12] He was Recre's top goalscorer in his two La Liga seasons with the team, at 12 and ten respectively.[13]

Sinama Pongolle joined Atlético Madrid on 3 July 2008, for a fee believed to be in the region of £8 million.[14] Initially thought of as a backup to Diego Forlán and Sergio Agüero, he benefitted from an injury to the Uruguayan, scoring four goals in his first five league appearances for the Colchoneros, with braces against former club Recreativo[15] and Getafe CF;[16] later in his debut campaign, injury and match bans to Maxi Rodríguez saw him playing several games as right winger,[17] as the team once again finished fourth.

Sporting / Rostov

In the winter transfer market opening in 2010, Sinama Pongolle was transferred to Sporting CP for €6.5 million, with the fee possibly raising to €7.5.[18] On 26 March 2010 he scored his first goal for the Lions, but also conceded an own goal in a 2–3 loss at C.S. Marítimo.[19]

Sinama Pongolle spent the following two seasons on loan, with Real Zaragoza and AS Saint-Étienne, the latter in his homeland.[20] On 30 August 2012 he terminated his contract with Sporting, going on to spend two years in the Russian Premier League with FC Rostov where he featured rarely.[21]

Later years
Pongolle in January 2017

On 9 September 2014, Sinama Pongolle signed with Major League Soccer's Chicago Fire FC.[22] In November of the following year, after a short spell in Switzerland with FC Lausanne-Sport, he joined Dundee United.[23]

In July 2016, Sinama Pongolle joined Chainat Hornbill F.C. of the Thai League 1, scoring once in his debut but in a 2–7 away defeat against Chonburi FC. In early November, in spite of the team's relegation, the 32-year-old extended his contract until 2018.[24][25]

Sinama Pongolle returned to the island of his birth in January 2019, rejoining Saint-Pierroise with Uruguayan strike partner Diego Silva also making the same move from Thailand.[3] Though he retired partway through the campaign, he contributed to them becoming the first Outre-Mer club since 1989 to reach the last 32 of the Coupe de France, scoring a hat-trick in the fourth round 9–1 win over ES Étang-Salé.[26]

International career

After his under-16 and under-17 exploits, Sinama Pongolle made his France under-21 debut on 21 August 2002. He was a part of the squad that participated in the 2006 UEFA European Championship which took place in Portugal[27] and, at the end of his four-year tenure with this category, ranked first in caps (37) and goals (11).

Sinama Pongolle played his only game with the senior side on 14 October 2008, during a 3–1 friendly win against Tunisia.[28]

Career statistics

Club
Club Season League Cup League Cup Continental Other Total Ref.
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Le Havre (loan)2001–02 Ligue 2 1121011––133
2002–03 Ligue 1 3152100––336
Total 42731110000469 –
Liverpool 2003–04 Premier League 152302030–232 [29]
2004–05 162105141–264 [30]
2005–06 7012103130153 [31]
2005–06 000000001010 [32]
Total 384528110240659 –
Blackburn Rovers (loan) 2005–06 Premier League101000000–101 [31]
Recreativo 2006–07 La Liga 341210–––3512 [33][34]
2007–08 341030–––3710 [33][34]
Total 6822400000007222 –
Atlético Madrid 2008–09 La Liga 30541–90–436 [33][34]
2009–10 10021–30–151 [33][34]
Total 405620012000587 –
Sporting 2009–10 Primeira Liga 51001010–71 [33]
Zaragoza (loan)2010–11[34] La Liga 24400–––244 [33][34]
Saint-Étienne (loan) 2011–12 Ligue 1 2341010––254 [33]
Rostov 2012–13 Russian Premier League 10110–––111 [33]
2013–14 8130–––111 [33]
Total 18240000000222 –
Chicago Fire 2014 MLS 710000––71 [33]
Dundee United 2014 Scottish Premier League 400000––40 [35]
Chainat Hornbill 2016 Thai League 1 10130000––1013 [33]
2017 26140000––2614 [33]
2018 2660000––266 [33]
Total 6233000000006233 –
Career total 341842351122324040293 –

International
Source:[36]
France
YearAppsGoals
200810
Total10

Honours

Club

Liverpool

Rostov

Chainat Hornbill

International
  • FIFA U-17 World Championship: 2001

Individual
  • FIFA U-17 World Championship Golden Ball: 2001
  • FIFA U-17 World Championship Golden Shoe: 2001
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gollark: I don't see why endianness is a problem. GTech™ solved this ages ago with our per-value permutation system.
gollark: This probably does imply regular determinism.
gollark: Another is superdeterminism, which is sort of kind of where the particles "know" what properties of them will be measured in advance.
gollark: One resolution is nonlocal hidden variables, i.e. the particles have some faster-than-light-speed backchannel to communicate things.

References
  1. "Acta del partido celebrado el 11 de mayo de 2011, en San Sebastián" [Minutes of the match held on 11 May 2011, in San Sebastián] (in Spanish). Royal Spanish Football Federation. 11 May 2011. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  2. "Florent Sinama-Pongolle". L'Équipe (in French). Paris. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  3. Robinson, Anthony (31 January 2019). "Sinama-Pongolle à la JSSP: c'est fait" [Sinama-Pongolle to JSSP: done deal] (in French). Clicanoo. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  4. Yau Tan, Choon (24 April 2009). "Bright future ahead for rising French cousins". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 6 March 2011.
  5. Florent Sinama Pongolle – FIFA competition record
  6. "Liverpool through after thriller". UEFA. 8 December 2004. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
  7. McCarra, Kevin (9 January 2006). "Echoes of another epic as Liverpool forced to treat Luton like Milan". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
  8. "Liverpool savour flying start". UEFA. 13 September 2005. Retrieved 17 March 2009.
  9. "Sinama seals Rovers loan move". UEFA. 31 January 2006. Retrieved 14 July 2010.
  10. "Tottenham 3–2 Blackburn". BBC Sport. 5 March 2006. Retrieved 25 August 2009.
  11. "Spain calls for Sinama Pongolle". UEFA. 30 August 2006. Retrieved 14 July 2010.
  12. "Sinama Pongolle signs for Recreativo". UEFA. 4 May 2007. Retrieved 14 July 2010.
  13. Carrasco, Antonio (23 December 2008). "Tras los pasos de la historia" [Chasing history] (in Spanish). Huelva Información. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
  14. "Sinama Pongolle alights at Atlético". UEFA. 4 July 2008. Retrieved 14 July 2010.
  15. "Atlético Madrid 4–0 Recreativo Huelva". ESPN Soccernet. 20 September 2008. Retrieved 4 July 2011.
  16. "Getafe 1–2 Atlético Madrid". ESPN Soccernet. 24 September 2008. Retrieved 4 July 2011.
  17. "Maniche: "No estilo do Caicedo mas muito melhor"" [Maniche: "Like Caicedo but much better"]. Record (in Portuguese). 28 December 2009. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
  18. "Comunicado" [Announcement] (PDF) (in Portuguese). Portuguese Securities Market Commission. 28 December 2009. Retrieved 4 October 2010.
  19. "Penálti foi brinde para Pongolle" [Penalty was a gift to Pongolle]. Correio da Manhã (in Portuguese). 28 March 2010. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
  20. "Pongolle emprestado ao Saint-Étienne" [Pongolle loaned to Saint-Étienne] (in Portuguese). Rádio e Televisão de Portugal. 25 June 2011. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
  21. "Sinama-Pongolle heads to Russia". FIFA. 5 September 2012. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  22. "NEWS: Chicago Fire announce the signing of French forward Florent Sinama-Pongolle". Chicago Fire. 9 September 2014. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
  23. "Florent Sinama Pongolle signs for Dundee United after trial". BBC Sport. 27 November 2015. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  24. "กระแสดี! PLTเผยรายได้ไทยลีก บุรีรัมย์ทะลุ64ล้าน,กิเลนตามมาอันดับ2" [Florent Sinama Pongolle ready to stay even though team was relegated to division1.] (in Thai). Goal. 7 November 2016. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
  25. "Former Liverpool striker Sinama Pongolle extends contract with Chainat". Football Channel Asia. 6 November 2016. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
  26. "Florent Sinama-Pongolle sur la JS Saint-Pierroise: «Une super bande de potes»" [Florent Sinama-Pongolle on JS Saint-Pierroise: «A super bunch of mates»] (in French). France Football. 4 January 2020. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  27. Demetriou, Greg; Harrold, Michael (22 May 2006). "Goals the goal for Sinama-Pongolle". UEFA. Retrieved 14 July 2010.
  28. Canot, Aurélien (14 October 2008). "Des Bleus à réaction" [Blues react] (in French). Foot 365. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  29. "Games played by Florent Sinama Pongolle in 2003/2004". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  30. "Games played by Florent Sinama Pongolle in 2004/2005". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  31. "Games played by Florent Sinama Pongolle in 2005/2006". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  32. "Games played by Florent Sinama Pongolle in 2005/2006". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  33. "F. Sinama-Pongolle". Soccerway. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  34. Florent Sinama Pongolle at BDFutbol
  35. "Games played by Florent Sinama Pongolle in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  36. "Florent Sinama Pongolle". European Football. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
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