Émile Mpenza

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Émile Mpenza
Personal information
Full name	Eka Basunga Lokonda Mpenza
Date of birth	4 July 1978 (1978-07-04) (age 31)
Place of birth	Brussels, Belgium
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position	Forward
Club information
Current club	FC Sion
Number	25
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1995–1996 1996–1997 1997–1999 2000–2003 2003–2004 2004–2006 2006–2007 2007–2008 2008–2009 2009–	Kortrijk Mouscron Standard Liège Schalke 04 Standard Liège Hamburg Al Rayyan Manchester City Plymouth Argyle Sion	320(5) 31 (12) 46 (20) 79 (28) 28 (21) 36 0(5) 19 (10) 25 0(5) 09 0(2) 11 0(7)
National team2
1997–	Belgium	56 (19)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23 October 2009. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 16 August 2007. * Appearances (Goals)

Eka Basunga Lokonda "Émile" Mpenza (born 4 July 1978 in Brussels) is a Belgian footballer, of DR Congolese parentage. He plays as a forward for Swiss club FC Sion.

[edit] Club career

[edit] Belgium, Germany and Qatar

Mpenza started his career at K.V. Kortrijk, and then moved to R.E. Mouscron and Standard Liège in quick succession, with older brother Mbo playing alongside in all three clubs. In 2000 he moved to Bundesliga side FC Schalke 04, in an exchange with Michaël Goossens. At Schalke he was very succesful together with his compatriot Marc Wilmots and other striker Ebbe Sand but they failed to win the German title on the last day of competition. Emile returned to Standard three years later. In 2004–05 he returned to Germany when Hamburger SV signed him for €2.5million. However, in January 2006 he made a surprise move to Qatari team Al Rayyan.

[edit] Manchester City

Mpenza signed for Manchester City after playing and scoring in a specially arranged match at Eastlands on 14 February 2007. "I am not finished and I will prove it in Manchester", Mpenza told Belgian radio station Bel-RTL. "I make this move as revenge, with respect to all those who criticised my decision to play in Qatar".

He made his debut against Wigan Athletic as a half-time substitute replacing Georgios Samaras and was arguably City's best player. He scored his first goal for the club in the 2–0 win at Middlesbrough on 17 March 2007, and his second in the 1–0 victory at Newcastle United on 30 March. He scored once more in the 2006–07 season, away to Tottenham Hotspur on the last day of the season, as City lost 2–1.

Having signed until the end of the 2007–08 season, Mpenza scored on City's first pre-season game of the 2007–08 season away to Doncaster Rovers, he would also score goals against Bristol City, Fulham and Newcastle United before he was released in July 2008.^[1].

[edit] After City

He then signed for Coca-Cola Championship side Plymouth Argyle on 2 September 2008.^[2] Émile went on to make his Argyle debut as a sub on 70 minutes in a 2-1 defeat to Norwich City on the 13 September. He then scored his first goal for the club against Charlton Athletic in a 2-2 draw,^[3] and scored again in a 2-1 win over Cardiff City.^[4] However Émile's time at Plymouth Argyle was blighted by injury and therefore he was not offered a new contract.

[edit] International career

Mpenza has been playing for the Belgium national football team since 1997, though he has frequently been injured in times of international call-ups. He played alongside his brother Mbo in the 1998 World Cup and in Euro 2000 where he scored a goal in the opening match against Sweden (which ended with Belgium's victory 2-1), but missed out on the World Cup in 2002 with a groin injury.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Émile Mpenza career stats at Soccerbase

v • d • e Belgium squad – 1998 FIFA World Cup 1 De Wilde • 2 Crasson • 3 Staelens • 4 Vidović • 5 Borkelmans • 6 Van der Elst • 7 Wilmots • 8 Oliveira • 9 M. Mpenza • 10 Nilis • 11 Van Kerckhoven • 12 Vande Walle • 13 Verlinden • 14 Scifo • 15 Clement • 16 De Boeck • 17 Verstraeten • 18 Verheyen • 19 Van Meir • 20 E. Mpenza • 21 Boffin • 22 Deflandre • Coach: Leekens

v • d • e Belgium squad – UEFA Euro 2000 1 De Wilde • 2 Deflandre • 3 Valgaeren • 4 Staelens • 5 Clement • 6 Vanderhaeghe • 7 Wilmots • 8 Goor • 9 E. Mpenza • 10 Strupar • 11 Verheyen • 12 De Vlieger • 13 Herpoel • 14 Walem • 15 Peeters • 16 Nilis • 17 Léonard • 18 Van Kerckhoven • 19 Van Meir • 20 De Bilde • 21 M. Mpenza • 22 Hendrikx • Coach: Waseige