- Moussa Dembélé
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Moussa Dembélé 
Personal information Full name Moussa Sidi Yaya Dembélé[1] Date of birth 16 July 1987 Place of birth Wilrijk, Belgium Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) [2] Playing position Attacking Midfielder, Winger, Striker Club information Current club Fulham Number 30 Senior career* Years Team Apps† (Gls)† 2003–2005 Germinal Beerschot 20 (1) 2005–2006 Willem II 33 (9) 2006–2010 AZ 118 (24) 2010– Fulham 34 (4) National team‡ 2006– Belgium 35 (5) * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19:37, 29 October 2011 (UTC).
† Appearances (Goals).
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 20:10, 11 October 2011 (UTC)Moussa Sidi Yaya Dembélé (born 16 July 1987) is a Belgian footballer who currently plays as a striker for Fulham in the English Premier League. He has a Malian father and a Belgian mother.
Contents
Club career
Early career
Dembélé played for K. Berchem Sport 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.
Willem II Tilburg
Dembélé spent the 2005-06 season in the Eredivisie 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.
AZ Alkmaar
In 2006-07 he was one of the most important players of Louis van Gaal'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.[3]
Fulham
Dembélé was said to be 'edging closer' to join Birmingham City,[4] 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.[5]
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.[6] He then scored a great solo goal against Tottenham Hotspur, 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.[7]
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.[8]
International career
Dembélé made his first international appearance On 20 May 2006, against Slovakia coming on as a substitute for Luigi Pieroni.[9] 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.[10]
Temporarily dropped by former Belgium coach Dick Advocaat, he has been recalled for the Euro 2012 qualifying campaign by current coach Georges Leekens.
Moussa Dembele: International goals Goal Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition 1 11 October 2006 Constant Vanden Stock Stadium, Brussels, Belgium 
Azerbaijan3-0 3-0 Euro 2008 qualifying 2 22 August 2007 King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels, Belgium 
Serbia1-0 3-2 Euro 2008 qualifying 3 22 August 2007 King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels, Belgium Serbia3-1 3-2 Euro 2008 qualifying 4 17 October 2007 King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels, Belgium 
Armenia2-0 3-0 Euro 2008 qualifying 5 28 March 2009 Cristal Arena, Genk, Belgium 
Bosnia and Herzegovina1-1 2-4 2010 WCQ Career statistics
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 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 - As of 20:42, 11 September 2011.
2011-12 appearances includes match in Uefa Cup, away to Dnipro on 25/8/2011, which is currently not included on Soccerbase website.
Honours
AZ Alkmaar
- Eredivisie: 2008-09
- Dutch Super Cup: 2009
References
- This article incorporates information from the Dutch Wikipedia.
- ^ "List of Players under Written Contract Registered Between 01/08/2010 and 31/08/2010" (PDF). The Football Association. http://www.thefa.com/TheFA/RulesandRegulations/~/media/Files/PDF/TheFA/PlayerRegistrations/August%202010.ashx/August%202010.pdf. Retrieved 2010-10-14.
- ^ "Premier League Player Profile". Premier League. http://www.premierleague.com/page/PlayerProfile/0,,12306~35042,00.html. Retrieved 21 March 2011.
- ^ IM Scouting Profile
- ^ http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-sport/birmingham-city-fc/birmingham-city-fc-news/2010/08/12/birmingham-city-latest-news-on-mauro-camoranesi-and-moussa-dembele-97319-27046878
- ^ "Dembele Joins Fulham". Fulham FC. http://www.fulhamfc.com/Club/News/NewsArticles/2010/August/DembeleJoinsFulham.aspx. Retrieved 18 August 2010.
- ^ "Fulham v Wolves". BBC Sport. 11 September 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/8977069.stm. Retrieved 11 September 2010.
- ^ "Goal of the Season". Fulham FC. http://www.fulhamfc.com/Club/News/NewsArticles/2011/June/GoaloftheSeason.aspx. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
- ^ "Fulham 2–5 Liverpool". Fulham FC. http://www.fulhamfc.com/MatchAndTeam/MatchCentre/Matches/1011/Premiership/LiverpoolHome.aspx. Retrieved 9 May 2011.
- ^ http://www.ronaldzwiers.0catch.com/Clubs/B/Belgie/2006/slobel2006.htm
- ^ FIFA Statistics
- ^ "Moussa Dembélé Career Stats". Soccerbase. 11 September 2011. http://www.soccerbase.com/players_details.sd?playerid=44788. Retrieved 11 September 2011.
External links
- Moussa Dembélé career stats at Soccerbase
- Moussa Dembélé at National-Football-Teams.com
- ESPN Profile
- Premier League profile
Fulham F.C. – current squad 1 Schwarzer · 2 Kelly · 3 J. A. Riise · 4 Sidwell · 5 Hangeland · 6 Baird · 8 Johnson · 9 Sá · 10 Kasami · 11 Ruiz · 13 Murphy (c) · 14 Senderos · 15 Gecov · 16 Duff · 17 B. H. Riise · 18 Hughes · 20 Etuhu · 21 Frei · 22 Somogyi · 23 Dempsey · 25 Zamora · 26 Grygera · 28 Briggs · 29 Davies · 30 Dembélé · 32 Halliche · 34 Donegan · 37 Harris · 38 Etheridge · 39 Arthurworrey · 40 Smith · 41 Bettinelli · 42 Trotta · 43 Pritchard · Manager: Jol
Belgium squad – 2008 Summer Olympics Fourth Place 
Categories:- 1987 births
- Living people
- Belgian footballers
- K.F.C. Germinal Beerschot players
- Willem II Tilburg players
- AZ Alkmaar players
- Fulham F.C. players
- Belgian Pro League players
- Eredivisie players
- Premier League players
- Belgium international footballers
- Belgian Muslims
- Footballers at the 2008 Summer Olympics
- Olympic footballers of Belgium
- Belgian expatriate footballers
- Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands
- Expatriate footballers in England
- Belgian expatriates in the Netherlands
- People from Wilrijk
- Belgian people of Black African descent
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