Patrice Loko

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Patrice Loko (born February 6, 1970 in Sully-sur-Loire / Département Loiret ) is a former French football player .

The club career

The striker , a descendant of Congolese immigrants, went through the junior school of FC Nantes , which is considered one of the best talent factories in the country; In 1983 he played for the first time in the national school team ( Équipe de France cadets ), 1986 in the Équipe de France juniors and a great career seemed predetermined. Loko played his first game for Nantes in Division 1 in April 1989. Between 1989 and 1995 he was, apart from a longer injury-related break in 1993/94, indispensable from the club's regular formation. With Loko, Christian Karembeu , Claude Makélélé , Reynald Pedros and Nicolas Ouédec (all born between 1970 and 1973, all later French internationals), Nantes had an offensive from 1992 that understood each other blindly and was unparalleled in France in the mid-1990s in particular. In 1994/95 Patrice Loko was not only French champion in this formation , he also won the top scorer's crown with 22 goals. He also made his debut in the Equipe Tricolore in 1993 and became a regular there from the end of 1994.

After this rapid development, Loko moved to Paris Saint-Germain in 1995 . The first two years there were also good for him: PSG were only runner-up behind AJ Auxerre and AS Monaco , but Loko played in 65 of the 76 championship games and scored 23 goals. He also won the European Cup Winners' Cup with his club in 1996 , the final of which he reached again in 1997 (0: 1 against CF Barcelona ), and took part with the national team at the 1996 European Championships in England. But since his departure from Nantes he had increasing problems, at times could not withstand the sporting and media pressure, suffered from depression , was arrested for a sexual offense and from mid-1997 was no longer appointed to the national team. So in the 1997/98 season he only made 10 point appearances for PSG and was also not part of the team that won the 1998 national cup . Four weeks earlier, at the league cup final, which PSG also won, he had at least been substituted on, albeit only 15 minutes before the end.

In the summer of 1998 Patrice Loko was loaned to the newly promoted FC Lorient , but was brought back to Paris before the end of the season. Three months later he moved to Montpellier HSC . Loko's eight goals this season could not prevent Montpellier's relegation to Division 2 ; after half a year and only one appearance in the second division Loko went to Olympique Lyon for the remainder of the 2000/01 season , was nominally again league cup winners with the team, but had to watch the final again. Until 2004 Loko played for ES Troyes (in D1 ), again with Lorient (in D2 ) and for AC Ajaccio (again in the top division) and then ended his playing career.

Stations in his career

  • FC Nantes (1988–1995) 180 games, 41 goals
  • Paris Saint-Germain (1995–1998) 75 games, 23 goals
  • FC Lorient (1998 – spring 1999, on loan) 20 games, 9 goals
  • Paris Saint-Germain (Spring – June 1999, returned) 9 games, no goal
  • Montpellier HSC (1999 – January 2001) 26 first division, one second division, 8 goals
  • Olympique Lyon (January – June 2001) 2 games, no goal
  • ES Troyes (2001/02) 27 games, 8 goals
  • FC Lorient (2002 – January 2004) 48 second division appearances, 10 goals
  • AC Ajaccio (January – June 2004) 13 games, 1 goal

The national player

Between February 1993 and June 1997 Patrice Loko played a total of 26 games (8 for FC Nantes, 18 for Paris Saint-Germain) in the French national team and scored seven goals for Les Bleus . At the European Football Championship in England in 1996 , he was used in all five games of France and scored one goal.

Loko's life after retirement

Since 2004 Loko has worked in the coaching staff of several amateur clubs, which he changed as restlessly as in the second half of his time as a player. Patrice Loko is currently (October 2005) youth coach at AS Cannes .

Palmarès

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Loko, Patrice
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French soccer player
DATE OF BIRTH February 6, 1970
PLACE OF BIRTH Sully-sur-Loire , France