Rigobert Song

Rigobert Song

Song with Cameroon in 2008
Personal information
Full name	Rigobert Song Bahanag
Date of birth	(1976-07-01) 1 July 1976 (age 48)
Place of birth	Nkenglicock, Cameroon
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Position(s)	Defender
Club information
Current team	Cameroon U-23 (manager)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1994–1998	Metz	123	(3)
1998	Salernitana	4	(1)
1999–2000	Liverpool	34	(0)
2001–2002	West Ham United	24	(0)
2001–2002	→ 1. FC Köln (loan)	16	(0)
2002–2004	Lens	63	(3)
2004–2008	Galatasaray	104	(4)
2008–2010	Trabzonspor	46	(0)
Total		414	(11)
National team^‡
1993–2010	Cameroon	137	(5)
Teams managed
2016–2018	Cameroon A'
2018	Cameroon (caretaker)
2018–	Cameroon U-23
2022–	Cameroon
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 8 May 2010 ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 08:02, 25 June 2010 (UTC)

Rigobert Song Bahanag (born 1 July 1976) is a former Cameroonian football player. He played for Trabzonspor and the Cameroonian national team. He is the first African to play in four World Cups. He is regarded as one of the greatest African football players of all time.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition^[2]

Club	Season	League			National cup		League cup		Europe		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Metz	1994–95	French Division 1	24	2	2	0	1	0	–		27	2
	1995–96	French Division 1	37	0	0	0	4	0	–		41	0
	1996–97	French Division 1	34	0	0	0	1	0	6[a]	1	41	1
	1997–98	French Division 1	28	1	1	0	0	0	4[a]	0	33	1
	Total		123	3	3	0	6	0	10	1	142	4
Salernitana	1998–99	Serie A	4	1	2	0	–		–		6	1
Liverpool	1998–99	Premier League	13	0	0	0	0	0	–		13	0
	1999–2000	Premier League	18	0	1	0	2	0	–		21	0
	2000–01	Premier League	3	0	0	0	0	0	1[a]	0	4	0
	Total		34	0	1	0	2	0	1	0	38	0
West Ham United	2000–01	Premier League	19	0	1	0	2	0	–		22	0
	2001–02	Premier League	5	0	0	0	1	0	–		6	0
	Total		24	0	1	0	3	0	–		28	0
1. FC Köln	2001–02	Bundesliga	16	0	3	1	–		–		19	1
Lens	2002–03	Ligue 1	35	3	1	0	1	0	8[b]	1	45	4
	2003–04	Ligue 1	28	0	0	0	3	0	4[a]	0	35	0
	Total		63	3	1	0	4	0	12	1	78	4
Galatasaray	2004–05	Süper Lig	28	2	4	0	–		–		36	2
	2005–06	Süper Lig	29	1	2	0	–		2[a]	0	33	1
	2006–07	Süper Lig	25	1	2	0	1[c]	0	7[d]	0	35	1
	2007–08	Süper Lig	22	0	2	1	–		8[a]	1	32	2
	Total		104	4	10	1	1	0	17	1	132	6
Trabzonspor	2008–09	Süper Lig	28	0	3	0	–		–		31	0
	2009–10	Süper Lig	18	0	5	1	–		2[e]	1	23	2
	Total		46	0	8	1	–		2	1	56	2
Career total			414	11	29	3	16	0	42	4	501	18

1. Appearance(s) in UEFA Cup
2. Six appearances in UEFA Champions League, two appearances and one goal in UEFA Cup
3. Appearance in Turkish Super Cup
4. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
5. Appearances in UEFA Europa League

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year^[3]

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Cameroon	1993	1	0
	1994	4	1
	1995	2	0
	1996	5	0
	1997	7	0
	1998	12	1
	1999	3	1
	2000	11	0
	2001	10	0
	2002	15	0
	2003	7	0
	2004	11	1
	2005	6	1
	2006	7	0
	2007	6	0
	2008	12	0
	2009	6	0
	2010	4	0
Total		129	5

Source:^[4]

List of international goals scored by Rigobert Song

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	28 January 1998	Roumdé Adjia Stadium, Garoua, Cameroon	Angola	1–0	Win	Friendly match
2	6 June 1999	Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, Yaoundé, Cameroon	Eritrea	1–0	Win	2000 African Cup qualifying
3	6 June 2004	Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, Yaoundé, Cameroon	Benin	2–1	Win	2006 World Cup qualifying
4	4 June 2005	Stade de l'Amitié, Cotonou, Benin	Benin	1–4	Win	2006 World Cup qualifying
5	31 May 2008	Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, Yaoundé, Cameroon	Cape Verde	2–0	Win	2010 World Cup qualifying

Managerial

As of matches played 27 January 2024^[5]

Managerial record by team and tenure

Team	From	To	Record
			P	W	D	L	Win %
Cameroon U23	23 October 2018	17 July 2022	3	1	1	1	033.33
Cameroon	1 March 2022	28 February 2024	23	6	8	9	026.09
Total			31	9	11	11	029.03

Honours

Metz

• Coupe de la Ligue: 1995–96

Liverpool

• UEFA Cup: 2000–01^[6]

Galatasaray^[7]

• Süper Lig: 2005–06, 2007–08
• Turkish Cup: 2004–05

Trabzonspor^[7]

• Turkish Cup: 2009–10

Cameroon^[7]

• African Cup of Nations: 2000, 2002; runner-up: 2008
• Confederations Cup runner-up: 2003

Individual

• Africa Cup of Nations Player of the Tournament: 2002^[8]
• Africa Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament: 2000, 2002, 2006
• UNFP Ligue 1 Team of the Year: 1997–98^[9]
• IFFHS All-time Africa Men's Dream Team: 2021^[10]
• CAF Legends Award: 2012^[11][12]

Orders

• Knight of the Order of Valour^[13][14]

References

1. Football : Rigobert Song
2. Rigobert Song at National-Football-Teams.com
3. Rigobert Song at National-Football-Teams.com
4. RSSSF.com
5. Rigobert Song coach profile at Soccerway
6. "Rapid Bucharest 1 - 0 Liverpool". The Guardian. 14 September 2020.
7. "R. SONG – profile – Soccerway.com".
8. Jennings, Steve (20 June 2019). "What happened next? Every Afcon Player of the Tournament winner since 2000". Squawka. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
9. VII OSCARS UNFP – Simone, Trezeguet, Pédron and Fontaine honored in France Football, n°2718, May 12, 1998, page 20.
10. "IFFHS". IFFHS. 29 May 2021. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
11. "Yaya Toure crowned 2012 African Footballer of the Year". My Joy Online. 20 December 2012. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
12. "Toure named 2012 African player of year". Toure named 2012 African player of year. 20 December 2012. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
13. "Cameroun: Rigobert Song, nouveau sélectionneur des Lions indomptables". afrique-sur7.ci (in French). March 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
14. Rigobert Song. "Awin". Archived from the original on 4 September 2023. Retrieved 13 September 2023.