Moussa Dembélé
Encyclopedia
Moussa Sidi Yaya Dembélé (born 16 July 1987) is a Belgian footballer who currently plays as an Attacking Midfielder for Fulham
in the English Premier League. He has a Mali
an father and a Belgian
mother.
as a youth. He started his professional career playing for K.F.C. Germinal Beerschot, a team in the Belgian Pro League. He played his first game when he was 16 years old. In 2005 he signed for the youth section of Willem II Tilburg
, despite apparent interest from Ajax
.
with Willem II Tilburg
. The team had a very bad season that year, but Dembele scored nine times. After this season for Willem II he attracted further interest from the bigger Eredivisie teams and was subsequently transferred to AZ in summer 2006.
's team. They were poised to win the championship but on the last day they lost the title to PSV Eindhoven and only finished third after losing 3-2 to Excelsior. AZ Alkmaar also lost the final of the KNVB Beker and the play-off final for qualification to the Champions League
, both to Ajax
. Dembélé scored six times that season.
The season of 2007-08 was a very disappointing season for AZ. They finished twelfth, and Dembele scored four times for them. The 2008-09 season started disappointingly as well for Dembélé's team after two defeats, but then AZ started to win more games and eventually won the championship. Dembélé was out injured from October until December with a knee injury, but on his return he was hailed as being one of the players of the season in the Eredivisie.
, but on 12 August 2010, Dembélé declined a move to Birmingham in favour of Fulham
. On 18 August 2010, Fulham announced that Dembele had joined from AZ Alkmaar on a three-year deal for a fee of £5 million and will see the player at the club until the summer of 2013.
Dembélé made an excellent start to his career at Fulham. He made his debut on 22 August 2010, coming on as a substitute against Manchester United
. He capped his first start for the club with a goal, scoring the second of six goals against Port Vale
in the Carling Cup
on 25 August. The same week, Dembélé made his first league start against Blackpool
in which he provided two assists. The first of the two was a cross to a Bobby Zamora
following a good run in the box, and the second gave Fulham a draw and a point; he dodged past a couple of Blackpool players before playing a good ball for an on-rushing Dickson Etuhu
to make the score (and result) 2–2. Dembélé scored two league goals against Wolverhampton Wanderers
on 11 September in a 2–1 win, his first league goals for Fulham. He then scored a great solo goal against , running from the halfway line before powerfully placing his shot beyond Heurelho Gomes. This was voted the Fulham goal of the season by the Fulham fans.
It took until 9 May in Fulham's home game against Liverpool
for Dembélé to score his third Premier League goal, but the Cottagers were soundly beaten 5–2.
coming on as a substitute for Luigi Pieroni
. He made his first international goal in October 2006 against Azerbaijan
. Dembele participated in the 2008 Summer Olympics
, where he put on a remarkable show, being instrumental in Belgium's 3-2 win to Italy
in the quarterfinals, scoring two goals, including the defining goal of the match. Belgium then progressed, losing to Nigeria
in the semi-finals and Brazil in the third place play-offs. Dembélé played in all six of Belgium's games at the Olympics.
Temporarily dropped by former Belgium coach Dick Advocaat
, he has been recalled for the Euro 2012 qualifying campaign
by current coach Georges Leekens.
2011-12 appearances includes match in Uefa Cup, away to Dnipro on 25/8/2011, which is currently not included on Soccerbase website.
Fulham F.C.
Fulham Football Club is a professional English Premier League club based in southwest London Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Founded in 1879, they play in the Premier League, their 11th current season...
in the English Premier League. He has a Mali
Mali
Mali , officially the Republic of Mali , is a landlocked country in Western Africa. Mali borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. Its size is just over 1,240,000 km² with...
an father and a Belgian
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
mother.
Early career
Dembélé played for K. Berchem SportK. Berchem Sport
K. Berchem Sport is a Belgian association football club based in the district of Berchem in the municipality of Antwerp and currently playing in the Promotion B . It has formerly played in the first division....
as a youth. He started his professional career playing for K.F.C. Germinal Beerschot, a team in the Belgian Pro League. He played his first game when he was 16 years old. In 2005 he signed for the youth section of Willem II Tilburg
Willem II Tilburg
Willem II , also known as Willem II Tilburg, is a football club based in Tilburg, North Brabant, Netherlands. The team was founded on 12 August 1896 as Tilburgia...
, despite apparent interest from Ajax
Ajax Amsterdam
Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax , also referred to as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam or simply Ajax , is a professional football club from Amsterdam, Netherlands...
.
Willem II Tilburg
Dembélé spent the 2005-06 season in the EredivisieEredivisie
The Eredivisie is the highest football league in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956 two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is currently ranked the ninth best league in Europe by UEFA....
with Willem II Tilburg
Willem II Tilburg
Willem II , also known as Willem II Tilburg, is a football club based in Tilburg, North Brabant, Netherlands. The team was founded on 12 August 1896 as Tilburgia...
. The team had a very bad season that year, but Dembele scored nine times. After this season for Willem II he attracted further interest from the bigger Eredivisie teams and was subsequently transferred to AZ in summer 2006.
AZ Alkmaar
In 2006-07 he was one of the most important players of Louis van GaalLouis van Gaal
Aloysius Paulus Maria "Louis" van Gaal OON is a Dutch football manager formerly in charge of Ajax, Netherlands, Barcelona, AZ and Bayern Munich...
's team. They were poised to win the championship but on the last day they lost the title to PSV Eindhoven and only finished third after losing 3-2 to Excelsior. AZ Alkmaar also lost the final of the KNVB Beker and the play-off final for qualification to the Champions League
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
, both to Ajax
Ajax Amsterdam
Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax , also referred to as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam or simply Ajax , is a professional football club from Amsterdam, Netherlands...
. Dembélé scored six times that season.
The season of 2007-08 was a very disappointing season for AZ. They finished twelfth, and Dembele scored four times for them. The 2008-09 season started disappointingly as well for Dembélé's team after two defeats, but then AZ started to win more games and eventually won the championship. Dembélé was out injured from October until December with a knee injury, but on his return he was hailed as being one of the players of the season in the Eredivisie.
Fulham
Dembélé was said to be 'edging closer' to join Birmingham CityBirmingham City F.C.
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905, finally becoming Birmingham City in 1943.They were relegated at the end of the...
, but on 12 August 2010, Dembélé declined a move to Birmingham in favour of Fulham
Fulham F.C.
Fulham Football Club is a professional English Premier League club based in southwest London Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Founded in 1879, they play in the Premier League, their 11th current season...
. On 18 August 2010, Fulham announced that Dembele had joined from AZ Alkmaar on a three-year deal for a fee of £5 million and will see the player at the club until the summer of 2013.
Dembélé made an excellent start to his career at Fulham. He made his debut on 22 August 2010, coming on as a substitute against Manchester United
Manchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...
. He capped his first start for the club with a goal, scoring the second of six goals against Port Vale
Port Vale F.C.
Port Vale Football Club is an English football club currently playing in Football League Two. They are based in Burslem, Staffordshire — one of six towns that make up the city of Stoke-on-Trent. The club's traditional rivals in the city are Stoke City, and games between the two clubs are known as...
in the Carling Cup
Football League Cup
The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...
on 25 August. The same week, Dembélé made his first league start against Blackpool
Blackpool F.C.
Blackpool Football Club are an English football club founded in 1887 from the Lancashire seaside town of Blackpool. They are competing in the 2011–12 season of the The Championship, the second tier of professional football in England, having been relegated from the Premier League at the end of the...
in which he provided two assists. The first of the two was a cross to a Bobby Zamora
Bobby Zamora
Robert Lester "Bobby" Zamora is an English footballer who plays for Fulham and the England national football team. Zamora began his career at Football League club Bristol Rovers, but was soon signed by Brighton & Hove Albion, where he found first team success...
following a good run in the box, and the second gave Fulham a draw and a point; he dodged past a couple of Blackpool players before playing a good ball for an on-rushing Dickson Etuhu
Dickson Etuhu
Dickson Paul Etuhu is a Nigerian footballer who plays for Fulham in the Premier League. His younger brother Kelvin is also a footballer...
to make the score (and result) 2–2. Dembélé scored two league goals against Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club that represents the city of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands region. They are members of the Premier League, the highest level of English football. The club was founded in 1877 and since 1889 has played at...
on 11 September in a 2–1 win, his first league goals for Fulham. He then scored a great solo goal against , running from the halfway line before powerfully placing his shot beyond Heurelho Gomes. This was voted the Fulham goal of the season by the Fulham fans.
It took until 9 May in Fulham's home game against Liverpool
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
for Dembélé to score his third Premier League goal, but the Cottagers were soundly beaten 5–2.
International career
Dembélé made his first international appearance On 20 May 2006, against SlovakiaSlovakia national football team
The Slovakia national football team represents Slovakia in association football and is controlled by the Slovak Football Association , the governing body for football in Slovakia. Slovakia's home stadium is Štadión Pasienky and their head coach is Vladimír Weiss...
coming on as a substitute for Luigi Pieroni
Luigi Pieroni
Luigi Pieroni is a Belgian football striker, currently playing for French club AC Arles-Avignon.-Career:He finished the Jupiler League 2003-04 season as topscorer with 28 goals while he was playing for R.E. Mouscron. He previously played with R.F.C...
. He made his first international goal in October 2006 against Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan national football team
The Azerbaijan national football team is the national football team of Azerbaijan and is controlled by Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan...
. Dembele participated in the 2008 Summer Olympics
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...
, where he put on a remarkable show, being instrumental in Belgium's 3-2 win to Italy
Italy national football team
The Italy National Football Team , represents Italy in association football and is controlled by the Italian Football Federation , the governing body for football in Italy. Italy is the second most successful national team in the history of the World Cup having won four titles , just one fewer than...
in the quarterfinals, scoring two goals, including the defining goal of the match. Belgium then progressed, losing to Nigeria
Nigeria national football team
The Nigeria national football team, nicknamed the Super Eagles or Green Eagles, is the national team of Nigeria and is controlled by the Nigeria Football Federation . The team has ranked as high as 5th in the FIFA World Rankings, in April 1994...
in the semi-finals and Brazil in the third place play-offs. Dembélé played in all six of Belgium's games at the Olympics.
Temporarily dropped by former Belgium coach Dick Advocaat
Dick Advocaat
Dirk Nicolaas "Dick" Advocaat is a Dutch football manager and former player currently the manager of the Russia national football team.He has been moderately successful as a football player and as a coach, which included two stints with the Dutch national football team...
, he has been recalled for the Euro 2012 qualifying campaign
UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying
The qualifying competition for UEFA Euro 2012 is a series of parallel association football competitions held over 2010 and 2011 to decide the qualifiers for UEFA Euro 2012, to be held in Poland and Ukraine...
by current coach Georges Leekens.
Club
| Club | Season | Competition | European | Cup | Other | Total | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | Goals | Cautions | G | Goals | Cautions | G | Goals | Cautions | G | Goals | Cautions | G | Goals | Cautions | ||
| Germinal Beerschot | 2003–2004 | 1 | 0 | 0 | − | 0 | 0 | 0 | − | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 2004–2005 | 19 | 1 | 0 | − | 3 | 1 | 0 | − | 22 | 2 | 0 | |||||
| Willem II Willem II Tilburg Willem II , also known as Willem II Tilburg, is a football club based in Tilburg, North Brabant, Netherlands. The team was founded on 12 August 1896 as Tilburgia... |
2005–2006 | 33 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 39 | 10 | 3 |
| AZ | 2006–2007 | 33 | 6 | 2 | 12 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 52 | 13 | 4 |
| 2007–2008 | 33 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2008–2009 | 23 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 10 | 0 | |
| 2009–2010 | 29 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 4 | 0 | |
| Fulham | 2010–2011 | 24 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 5 | 0 |
| 2011–2012 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 1 | 2 | |
| Total | Competition | European | Cup | Other | Total | |||||||||||
| G | Goals | Cautions | G | Goals | Cautions | G | Goals | Cautions | G | Goals | Cautions | G | Goals | Cautions | ||
| Germinal Beerschot | 20 | 1 | 0 | − | 3 | 1 | 0 | − | 23 | 2 | 0 | |||||
| Willem II | 33 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 39 | 10 | 3 | |
| AZ | 118 | 24 | 2 | 12 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 147 | 31 | 4 | |
| Fulham | 34 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 42 | 6 | 2 | |
| Total | 199 | 37 | 7 | 17 | 3 | 2 | 13 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 234 | 48 | 9 | |
2011-12 appearances includes match in Uefa Cup, away to Dnipro on 25/8/2011, which is currently not included on Soccerbase website.
AZ Alkmaar
- EredivisieEredivisieThe Eredivisie is the highest football league in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956 two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is currently ranked the ninth best league in Europe by UEFA....
: 2008-09Eredivisie 2008-09The Eredivisie 2008–09 is the fifty-third season of Eredivisie since its establishment in 1955. PSV were the reigning champions. The season began on 29 August 2008 with a game between Vitesse and FC Groningen and ended on 10 May 2009. A total of 18 teams take part in the league, consisting of 16... - Dutch Super Cup: 2009Johan Cruijff-schaal XIVThe 2009 Johan Cruijff Schaal was held on 25 July 2009 in the Amsterdam ArenA. The match featured the Eredivisie 2008–09 champions AZ and KNVB Cup 2008–09 winners Heerenveen. The match started off the 2009–10 season in Dutch football.-Match details:...