Valéry Mézague

Valéry Mézague

Personal information
Date of birth	(1983-12-08)8 December 1983
Place of birth	Marseille, France
Date of death	15 November 2014(2014-11-15) (aged 30)
Place of death	Toulon, France
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1999–2006	Montpellier	57	(10)
2004–2005	→ Portsmouth (loan)	11	(0)
2005–2009	Sochaux	34	(0)
2007–2008	→ Le Havre (loan)	28	(3)
2009	Châteauroux	16	(2)
2009–2011	Vannes	46	(5)
2011–2012	Panetolikos	3	(0)
2013	Bury	7	(0)
2014	Toulon	3	(0)
Total		205	(20)
International career
2003–2004	Cameroon	7	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Valéry Mézague (8 December 1983 – 15 November 2014) was a Cameroonian professional footballer who played as a midfielder.

Mézague was born in the 5th arrondissement of Marseille in 1983, to a Cameroonian mother. He acquired French nationality on 16 September 1997, through the collective effect of his mother's naturalization.^[1]

He represented Cameroon at international level. His most notable moment with the Lions Indomptables was at the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup, where he became the starter central midfielder in the lost final against host France, after replacing the late Marc-Vivien Foé during the victorious semi final versus Colombia.

In 2003, he was involved in a serious car crash which ruled him out of the game for four months. Despite this, he fought back to reclaim his form and his performances attracted the attention of Harry Redknapp, with Mézague joining Portsmouth F.C. on loan for the 2004–05 season. However, he failed to make any sort of substantial impression and returned to France in June 2005, where he followed his former manager at Portsmouth Alain Perrin to FC Sochaux-Montbéliard.

His younger brother, Teddy, is also a footballer.

He was found dead in his apartment on 15 November 2014, due to a cardiac arrest caused by a heart disease.^[2][3][4][5]

References

1. "JORF n° 0217 du 18 septembre 1997 - Légifrance" (PDF). legifrance.gouv.fr (in French). p. 13575. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
2. Sporting Club Toulon [@sportingtoulon] (15 November 2014). "C'est avec une très grande tristesse que le Sporting Toulon vous informe du décès de Valery Mezague... @lequipe" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
3. "Valéry Mézague est décédé" (in French). L'Équipe. 15 November 2014. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
4. "Football - Ex-Portsmouth midfielder Valery Mezague found dead - Yahoo Eurosport UK". Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
5. "Valéry Mezague died of heart attack - Autopsy". 25 November 2014. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 10 December 2014.

External links

• Valéry Mézague – French league stats at LFP – also available in French (archived)
• Valéry Mézague – FIFA competition record (archived)
• Valéry Mézague at National-Football-Teams.com