Franck Songo'o

Franck Songo'o

Personal information
Full name	Franck Steve Songo'o
Date of birth	14 May 1987 (1987-05-14)
Place of birth	Yaoundé, Cameroon
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position	Winger
Club information
Current club	Portland Timbers
Number	8
Youth career
-2002	Deportivo La Coruña
2002–2005	Barcelona
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2005	Barcelona C	1	(0)
2005–2008	Portsmouth	3	(0)
2006	→ Bournemouth (loan)	4	(0)
2007	→ Preston North End (loan)	6	(0)
2007	→ Crystal Palace (loan)	9	(0)
2008	→ Sheffield Wednesday (loan)	12	(1)
2008–2010	Zaragoza	31	(1)
2010	→ Real Sociedad (loan)	8	(0)
2010–2011	Albacete	6	(0)
2012–	Portland Timbers	0	(0)
National team‡
2006	France U19	2	(0)
2008	Cameroon U23	4	(0)
2008–	Cameroon	1	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16 February 2012. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 10 May 2009

Franck Steve Songo'o (born 14 May 1987) is a Cameroonian footballer. His senior career has been spent primarily in the English and Spanish football league systems. He currently plays for Portland Timbers in Major League Soccer. He has also been capped for the Cameroonian national team.

Club career

Early career

Born in the Cameroonian capital, Yaoundé, Songo'o began his youth footballing career at Spanish club Deportivo de La Coruña. Franck's father, Jacques, played for Depor's senior club and was part of the squad that won the 1999–2000 La Liga championship. At Depor, Franck was spotted by Spanish giants FC Barcelona. He spent several years at FC Barcelona's youth facility centre, La Masia, concurrently with future stars Lionel Messi, Cesc Fabregas, and Gerard Piqué. Although Songo'o did not make an immediate impact on Barça's first team, he impressed other clubs, drawing interest from the English Premier League.

Portsmouth

On 31 August 2005 Songo'o signed for Portsmouth for a fee of £250,000. He made two appearances for Portsmouth in the 2005-2006 season. After several loan spells, on 13 January 2008 he made his third and final Premiership appearance for Portsmouth as a second-half substitute for Arnold Mvuemba against Sunderland; a number of Portsmouth's first eleven were away at the African Cup of Nations in Ghana. He was then loaned out again to Sheffield Wednesday and left England at the end of the season.

Loan spells

On 20 October 2006, he joined League 1 side Bournemouth on a one-month loan but failed to make an impact. On 8 March 2007, he signed for Championship club Preston North End on loan until the end of the season. He became Neil Warnock's first signing at Crystal Palace at the end of October 2007, returning to Portsmouth in the new year.

On 7 March 2008 Songo'o joined Championship side Sheffield Wednesday on an initial one month loan deal from his parent club. Whilst making his debut for Sheffield Wednesday he showed his wealth of trickery as he performed the rainbow kick skill to bypass two QPR defenders in the last minute of the game. He scored his first goal in English football for Wednesday, scoring a late equaliser against Stoke City.

Spain

In the summer of 2008, Songo'o joined Spanish side Real Zaragoza, where he was given the number 11 shirt. Zaragoza played well in the 2008–09 Segunda División and were promoted to La Liga. Songo'o played limited minutes for Zaragoza in the top flight and was loaned to Segunda División side Real Sociedad.

On 6 September 2010 Zaragoza terminated Songo'o's contract. He then signed for another Segunda División club, Albacete. Songo'o only made six first-team appearances for Albacete, and when the club was relegated at the end of the 2011 season, he was released.

Portland Timbers

In January and February 2012, Songo'o practiced and played as a trialist with the Portland Timbers of Major League Soccer. After assisting on four goals in four preseason games, Songo'o was signed to a contract by the Timbers on 16 February 2012.

International career

France U-19

Although he was born in Cameroon, he has represented the French under-19 international team.

Cameroon national team

In 2008 Songo'o applied to FIFA for a change in nationality to allow him to play in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The request was granted, and Songo'o was named in the Cameroon national squad for the games.

He earned his first cap for Cameroon in the 2010 World Cup Qualifiers match against Cape Verde on 6 September 2008.

Personal life

The Songo'o family has raised many footballers. Franck is the son of former Cameroonian national team goalkeeper Jacques Songo'o, who featured for Spanish side Deportivo La Coruña in the late 1990s and early 2000s. His brother, Yann Songo'o, is currently under contract by Spanish side, CE Sabadell.

External links

• BDFutbol profile
• BBC Profile
• Cameroon change Olympic squad
• Fifa clears Songo'o for Cameroon
• Songo’o To Attend Olympics
• Franck Songo'o career stats at Soccerbase
• Franck Songo'o at ESPN Soccernet
• Transfermarkt profile