Thomas N'Kono

Thomas N'Kono
Personnel
birthday	July 20, 1955
place of birth	Dizangué ,  Cameroon
size	183 cm
position	goalkeeper
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1974	Canon Yaoundé
1975	Tonnerre Yaoundé
1976-1982	Canon Yaoundé
1982-1991	Espanyol Barcelona	241 (0)
1991-1993	CE Sabadell	70 (0)
1993-1994	CE L'Hospitalet	20 (0)
1994-1997	Club Bolívar	92 (0)
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals)
1975-1994	Cameroon	66 (0)
Stations as a trainer
Years	station
1999-2006	Espanyol Barcelona (goalkeeping coach)
2007-2009	Cameroon (assistant coach)
2009	Cameroon (interim)
2009–	Espanyol Barcelona (goalkeeping coach)
1 Only league games are given.

Thomas N'Kono (born July 20, 1955 in Dizangué , Cameroon ) is a former Cameroonian football goalkeeper .

Life

N'Kono is considered to be one of the best goalkeepers the African continent has ever produced. Overall, he was in three world championships (1982, 1990 and 1994) in the squad of the " indomitable lions " and came in eight missions.

At his first World Cup in Spain in 1982 , N'Kono, who had been named Footballer of the Year in Africa three years earlier , won the games against Peru and Poland and saved his team a goalless draw. The “Jaguar von Yaounde” was also able to convince against Italy in the first half of the game, but did not make a happy figure with the only goal conceded in the 60th minute. Cameroon was able to equalize, but ultimately there was no goal to reach the next round.

Not only because of its respectable performance at the World Cup, but probably also due to the success with his club Canon Yaounde , who between 1979 and 1982 a total of five titles, including the CAF Champions League and the African Cup Winners' Cup , won, they gave him 1982 again the title of "Africa's Footballer of the Year". This made N'Kono the first player to receive this award for the second time.

After the World Cup, the African attracted international attention from the Spanish top club Espanyol Barcelona , where he was just as quick to convince the fans. Based on Spain's goalkeeper idol Ricardo Zamora , N'Kono was given the honorary title "El Zamora negro" (the black Zamora). Despite good performance, he was only used in the 1987/88 season in the European Cup. With fantastic saves he made a big contribution to the UEFA Cup final, in which Espanyol failed on penalties at Bayer 04 Leverkusen .

For the 1990 World Cup in Italy , Joseph-Antoine Bell was supposed to be number 1 in the Cameroon goal, but the rebellious Bell fought with the association and was removed from the team. Therefore, like in 1982, Thomas N'Kono came to the train. After sensational victories over Argentina (1: 0) and Romania (2: 1), a clear defeat against the USSR (0: 4) could not prevent the Africans from winning the group. In the round of 16 against Colombia , Cameroon won 2-1 and was in the quarter-finals against England . In this game, the then almost 34-year-old goalkeeper acted unhappy. When the score was 2-2, he collided with England's star striker Gary Lineker in extra time . Referee Edgardo Codesal decided on a penalty and Lineker converted himself to the decisive 3-2 for the English. N'Kono repeatedly protested his innocence - he said he hadn't even touched Lineker.

After the World Cup, the goalkeeper was no longer included in the national team - only for the 1994 World Cup did he and his team go to the USA as the third goalkeeper . Even with his Spanish club he was no longer the first choice and then moved to the 2nd, later to the 3rd Spanish league. At the end of 1994, N'Kono moved again for three years to the Bolivian top club Club Bolívar , with whom he won two championship titles and then ended his active career at the age of 42.

After his active career, Thomas N'Kono switched to the coaching business and worked as a goalkeeping coach for Cameroon's national team and Espanyol Barcelona, ​​among other things.

successes

• at club level:
  • Cameroonian champion (1974, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1982)
  • CAF Champions League winners (1978 and 1980)
  • Winner of the African Cup Winners' Cup (1979)
  • UEFA Cup finalist (1988)
  • Bolivian champion (1996, 1997)

• with the national team:
  • African Nations Cup Winner (1984)
  • Quarter-finalist of the 1990 World Cup

• Africa's Footballer of the Year (1979 and 1982)

Trivia

• The Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon , whose youth role model was N'Kono, named his son, born in December 2007, in honor of the Cameroonian Louis Thomas .
• In the vote for Africa's Goalkeeper of the Century , N'Kono came second behind Joseph-Antoine Bell .

Web links

• Thomas N'Kono in the database of transfermarkt.de

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Roland Zorn: Italy's goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon "I want to rob the Spaniards of their sleep". www.faz.net, June 22, 2008, accessed September 20, 2008 .