Sébastien Bassong

Sébastien Bassong

Bassong warming up for Tottenham Hotspur in 2010
Personal information
Full name	Sébastien Aymar Bassong Nguena[1]
Date of birth	9 July 1986
Place of birth	Paris, France
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) [2]
Playing position	Defender
Club information
Current team	Norwich City
Number	6
Youth career
1999–2002	INF Clairefontaine
2002–2005	FC Metz
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
2005–2008	FC Metz	79	(1)
2008–2009	Newcastle United	30	(0)
2009–2012	Tottenham Hotspur	45	(2)
2012	→ Wolverhampton Wanderers (loan)	9	(0)
2012–	Norwich City	105	(4)
2014–2015	→ Watford (loan)	11	(0)
National team^‡
2007–2009	France U21	2	(0)
2009–	Cameroon	15	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 00:38, 15 February 2016 (UTC). † Appearances (goals) ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 16:00, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

Sébastien Aymar Bassong Nguena (born 9 July 1986) is a professional footballer who plays as a defender for Premier League club Norwich City. Born in France, he also plays for the Cameroon national football team.

Club career

FC Metz

FC Metz signed Bassong out of the Clairefontaine academy.^[3] There he played 79 times, scoring once, in the French second tier.^[3]

Newcastle United

In July 2008 Bassong was offered a one-week trial and made his debut in a pre-season friendly against Doncaster Rovers.^[3][4] On 30 July it was confirmed that Newcastle had agreed a fee of £500,000 with FC Metz for Bassong.^[3][5]

He made his professional debut for Newcastle on 26 August in a League Cup game away to Coventry City, before playing his first league game for Newcastle away to Arsenal when he came on as a sub for José Enrique. He received his first red card for the club away to Wigan Athletic on 26 December. Another came on 16 May 2009 as part of 0–1 home defeat to Fulham in the penultimate game of the season. Bassong was named the Newcastle player of the season for the 08–09 season.^[6][7]

Tottenham Hotspur

Following Newcastle's relegation to the Football League Championship, Bassong expressed his desire to leave the club, with Manchester City, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur linked with him. On 6 August 2009, it was confirmed that he had passed a medical at Spurs signing a five-year deal and completed an £8 million move to the North London club that same day.^[8] Bassong scored on his debut for Tottenham in a 2–1 victory over Liverpool, heading in the winner from a free kick cross from team-mate Luka Modrić in the 59th minute.^[9] At the start of Tottenham's 2010–11 Champions League campaign Bassong scored Spurs first goal in a losing 3–2 effort to BSC Young Boys.^[10] He however failed to start or make the bench for the second leg in which Spurs won 4–0, (6–3 on agg) sending Tottenham into the Champions League proper.^[11]

Loan spell at Wolves

On 31 January 2012, Bassong joined fellow Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers on loan until the end of the season.^[12] Four days later he made his debut for Wolves, playing the full 90 minutes in the 2–1 win against QPR.^[13] However, his loan spell with Wolves did not prevent the club from being relegated after a 2–0 home loss to Manchester City.^[14]

Norwich City

On 21 August 2012, Bassong signed with Norwich City for an undisclosed fee.^[15] This deal linked him back up with Chris Hughton who he worked under at Newcastle United.^[15] Bassong made his Canaries debut against QPR in a 1–1 draw at Carrow Road.^[16] In November, Bassong scored his first goal for Norwich City, a 90th-minute equaliser away at Everton.^[17] At the beginning of December he scored again to help Norwich get three points and a 2–1 win against Sunderland.^[18] He scored his third for Norwich at Swansea City on 8 December. On 17 May 2013, Bassong was named Norwich City's player of the season for 2012–13, winning the Barry Butler Memorial Trophy. In doing so he became the first player from outside the British Isles to win the prestigious award. On 10 August 2013 he was named as the team captain.

Bassong missed the start of the 2013-14 Premier League season after suffering an injury just before the start of pre-season. He played in developmental games and a League Cup fixture against Bury to get back to match fitness. On 31 August, he returned against Southampton and helped the team keep a clean sheet as they beat the Saints 1–0. During the 2013-14 Premier League season, he was named the team captain for Norwich.

International career

Bassong played as a defensive midfielder for the French under 21 national team, playing in two matches against the Netherlands and Japan in the summer of 2007 before joining Newcastle. On 25 May 2009 he was called up by the Cameroon national team for their 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Morocco. He is eligible for Cameroon due to not having played in a competitive Under-21 match for the France team,^[19] and he made his debut for the national side on 12 August in a 2–0 away win to Austria.^[20] He was selected for the 2010 World Cup squad in South Africa alongside his former Tottenham teammate Benoît Assou-Ekotto. He regularly wears the number 5 jersey internationally for Cameroon.^[21]

Career statistics

As of match played 19 March 2016^[22]

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Europe		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
FC Metz	2005–06	Ligue 1	23	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	23	0
	2006–07	Ligue 2	37	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	37	1
	2007–08	Ligue 1	19	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	19	0
	Total		79	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	79	1
Newcastle United	2008–09	Premier League	30	0	2	0	2	0	0	0	34	0
	Total		30	0	2	0	2	0	0	0	34	0
Tottenham Hotspur	2009–10	Premier League	28	1	7	0	3	0	0	0	38	1
	2010–11	Premier League	12	1	2	0	1	0	5	1	20	2
	2011–12	Premier League	5	0	1	0	1	0	6	0	13	0
	Total		45	2	10	0	5	0	11	1	71	3
Wolverhampton Wanderers (loan)	2011–12	Premier League	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	9	0
	Total		9	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	9	0
Norwich City	2012–13	Premier League	34	3	0	0	1	0	0	0	35	3
	2013–14	Premier League	23	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	26	0
	2014–15	Championship	21	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	21	0
	2015–16	Premier League	27	1	1	0	3	1	0	0	31	2
	Total		105	4	2	0	6	1	0	0	113	5
Watford (loan)	2014–15	Championship	11	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	11	0
	Total		11	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	11	0
Career total			279	7	14	0	13	1	11	1	317	9

References

1. "Premier League Clubs submit Squad Lists" (PDF). Premier League. 4 September 2012. p. 23. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
2. "Premier League Player Profile". Premier League. Retrieved 6 April 2011.
3. "Bassong agrees to Magpies switch". bbc.co.uk. BBC Sport. 31 July 2008. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
4. "Toon Out-Don at Rovers". Newcastle United Football Club (nufc.co.uk). 26 July 2008. Retrieved 30 July 2008.
5. "United agree Defender Fee". Newcastle United Football Club (nufc.co.uk). 30 July 2008. Retrieved 30 July 2008.
6. Louise Taylor (4 August 2009). "Newcastle's Sébastien Bassong fined for missing Dundee United trip". The Guardian (guardian.co.uk). Retrieved 22 September 2009.
7. Louise Taylor (1 May 2009). "Newcastle messiah struggles to work miracles as injury worries grow". The Guardian (guardian.co.uk). Retrieved 22 September 2009.
8. "Bassong quits Newcastle for Spurs". British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC Sport). 6 August 2009. Retrieved 6 August 2009.
9. Phil McNulty (16 August 2009). "Tottenham 2–1 Liverpool". British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC Sport). Retrieved 22 September 2009.
10. Mandeep Sanghera (17 August 2010). "Young Boys 3 – 2 Tottenham". bbc.co.uk. BBC Sport. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
11. Mandeep Sanghera (25 August 2010). "Tottenham 4 – 0 Young Boys (agg 6 – 3)". bbc.co.uk. BBC Sport. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
12. "Wolves sign Sebastien Bassong on loan from Tottenham". BBC Sport. 31 January 2012.
13. "QPR 1 Wolves 2". BBC Sport. 4 February 2012.
14. "Wolves 0 – 2 Manchester City". BBC Sport. 22 April 2012.
15. "Sebastien Bassong leaves Tottenham for Norwich". bbc.co.uk. BBC Sport. 21 August 2012. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
16. Chris Osborne (25 August 2012). "Norwich 1 – 1 QPR". bbc.co.uk. BBC Sport. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
17. Chris Bevan. "Everton 1 – 1 Norwich". bbc.co.uk date=24 November 2012. BBC Sport. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
18. Mandeep Sanghera (2 December 2012). "Norwich 2 – 1 Sunderland". bbc.co.uk. BBC Sport. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
19. "Bassong joins Cameroon squad". British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC Sport). 29 May 2009. Retrieved 22 September 2009.
20. Stuart Rayner (15 August 2009). "Bassong was Alan’s tip, says Redknapp". The Journal (journallive.co.uk). Retrieved 22 September 2009.
21. "World Cup 2010: Cameroon finalise World Cup squad". BBC Sport. 11 May 2010. Retrieved 14 June 2010.
22. "Sebastien Bassong". Soccerbase. Retrieved 3 March 2014.

External links

• Sébastien Bassong career statistics at Soccerbase