- Christopher Samba
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Christopher Samba Personal information Full name Veijeany Christopher Samba[1] Date of birth 28 March 1984 Place of birth Créteil, France Height 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) Playing position Defender Club information Current club Blackburn Rovers Number 4 Youth career 1997–1999 D’Issy-les-Moulineaux 1999–2001 Rouen 2001–2002 Sedan Senior career* Years Team Apps† (Gls)† 2002–2003 Sedan B 26 (?) 2003–2004 Sedan 3 (0) 2004–2006 Hertha BSC II 28 (4) 2004–2007 Hertha BSC 20 (0) 2007– Blackburn Rovers 153 (16) National team 2004–2008 Congo 20 (0) * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19:09, 29 October 2011 (UTC).
† Appearances (Goals).Veijeany Christopher Samba (born 28 March 1984), more commonly known as Christopher Samba, is a Congolese footballer who plays as a defender for Blackburn Rovers in the Premier League.
Contents
Club career
Sedan
Born in Créteil, Val-de-Marne, Samba started his career with FC Rouen before spells at CS Sedan (he played 26 games for the reserve and four games for the first team).[citation needed]
Hertha BSC
Samba only made 20 appearances during his time in Germany and desired a move elsewhere. Struggling to break into the Hertha BSC first team[2] he was invited by Mark Hughes to undertake a five-day trial at Blackburn Rovers. In total for the German club in his three years there he made approximately 28 appearances in all competitions, and he also was involved in eight Euro cup matches.[citation needed]
Blackburn Rovers
2006–07 season
Samba completed a transfer from Hertha BSC to Blackburn Rovers of the Premier League signing a three-and-a-half year deal for £450,000 on 25 January 2007 and took the number 21 shirt. He made his Rovers debut against Luton Town in the FA Cup Fourth Round, as a 69th minute sub for Ryan Nelsen and his Premiership debut on 31 January against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in a 3–0 defeat. On 17 March, Samba scored his first goal for Blackburn against West Ham United, with a header in the 47th minute, in the 2–1 defeat at Ewood Park. He then scored his second goal for Blackburn in a 3–1 victory over Watford at Ewood Park on 18 April, playing the full 90 minutes with Ryan Nelsen. At the end of the 2006–07 season, he made 19 appearances, scoring two goals in 14 Premier League games.[3]
2007–08 season
Following Samba's performances in his debut season, he established himself as a starter in the 2007–08 season and was given number 4. On 22 October 2007, Blackburn announced Samba had signed a new long-term contract keeping him at the club until the summer of 2012. He made a total of 40 appearances during the season, scoring three goals in all competitions.[4]
2008–09 season
Although being a defender, Samba made several appearances as a striker in the latter stages of the 2008–09 season. On 4 April 2009, with Blackburn losing 1–0 against Tottenham Hotspur, he started the second half up front. Blackburn went on to win 2–1, with manager Sam Allardyce claiming Samba's impact as "key to victory".[5] During the next league match against Liverpool at Anfield on 11 April, Samba again started as a lone striker, with Benni McCarthy being left on the bench. He continued to play as a striker in the next match against Wigan Athletic in the 2–0 win for Blackburn. By the end of the season, he had made 39 appearances, including 35 Premier League starts and four cup games and scored three goals in all competitions.
2009–10 season
He scored his first goal of the 2009–10 season against Aston Villa on 26 September 2009. In November, Samba signed a new five-year contract with the club. He scored on his 100th Premier League start in a 2–0 victory over Fulham at Ewood Park and netted his third league goal of the 2009–10 season on 13 March against in a 3–1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane.[6] On 3 May 2010, Samba scored the winning goal as Rovers beat Arsenal 2–1 at Ewood Park.[7] He was also picked as captain for the game, despite club captain Ryan Nelsen and vice-captain David Dunn both starting. Throughout the season, he made a total of 33 starts and scored four goals in 30 Premier League games.
2010–11 season
Samba was appointed club captain for the 2010–11 season with Nelsen moving to vice-captain, but he was stripped of the captaincy by new manager Steve Kean on 26 December after announcing his desire to leave Blackburn.[8] Samba signed a new four-and-a-half year deal on 2 February 2011. On 14 May 2011, he started the game against Manchester United at Ewood Park in the 1-1 draw. Samba captained Rovers in their 3-2 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux in the last Premier League match of the campaign and headed everything that came his way and was shown with all the fans on the pitch at the final whistle. At the end of the campaign he made 36 appearances and scored four goals in all competitions as Blackburn finished in 15th place in the Premier League table.
International career
He represents Congo and made his debut as a twenty-year old in 2004.
Club career statistics
- As of match played 1 October 2011[9]
Club Season League Cup[10] Europe Total Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Hertha Berlin 2005–06 12 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 0 19 0 0 2006–07 8 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 9 0 0 Total 20 0 0 0 0 0 8 0 0 28 0 0 Blackburn Rovers 2006–07 14 2 2 5 0 0 0 0 0 19 2 2 2007–08 33 2 0 4 0 0 3 1 0 40 3 0 2008–09 35 2 4 4 1 0 0 0 0 39 3 4 2009–10 30 4 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 33 4 0 2010–11 33 4 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 36 4 0 2011–12 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Career totals 150 14 6 19 1 0 3 1 0 172 16 6 References
- ^ "Premier League clubs submit squad lists". Premier League. http://www.premierleague.com/page/Headlines/0,,12306~2142220,00.html. Retrieved 22 June 2011.
- ^ "Hertha Berlin Tactical Formations". Football-Lineups. http://www.football-lineups.com/players/player.php?route=722. Retrieved February 7, 2007.
- ^ "Tactical Formation". Football-Lineups. http://www.football-lineups.com/wiki/_match3674.php. Retrieved 7 February 2007.
- ^ "New Contract for Samba". Rovers.co.uk. Blackburn Rovers Football Club. 22 October 2007. http://www.rovers.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10303~1149186,00.html. Retrieved 29 May 2009.
- ^ "Blackburn 2–1 Tottenham". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Coporation). 2009-04-04. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/7972756.stm. Retrieved 11 April 2009.
- ^ "McCarthy hails 'phenomenal' Rovers". TEAM Talk. http://www.teamtalk.com/football/story/0,16368,1769_5243771,00.html. Retrieved 26 April 2009.
- ^ "Blackburn 2–1 Arsenal". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 3 May 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/8647514.stm. Retrieved 4 May 2010.
- ^ "Steve Kean takes Blackburn captaincy from Chris Samba". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Coporation). 26 December 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/b/blackburn_rovers/9321699.stm. Retrieved 26 December 2010.
- ^ "Statistics". Rovers.co.uk. Blackburn Rovers Football Club. http://www.rovers.co.uk/page/ProfilesDetail/0,,10303~35336,00.html. Retrieved 12 October 2011.
- ^ Includes FA Cup, League Cup and FA Community Shield
External links
- Christopher Samba profile at the Blackburn Rovers profile
- Christopher Samba career stats at Soccerbase
- Christopher Samba at National-Football-Teams.com
- Veijany-Christopher Samba French league stats at LFP.fr (French)
- Premier League profile
Blackburn Rovers F.C. – current squad 1 Robinson · 2 Salgado · 3 Olsson · 4 Samba · 5 Givet · 6 Nelsen · 8 Dunn · 10 Formica · 11 Grella · 12 Pedersen · 13 Bunn · 14 Petrović · 15 N'Zonzi · 16 Dann · 19 Slew · 20 Rochina · 22 Blackman · 23 Hoilett · 24 Yakubu · 25 Goodwillie · 28 Kean · 29 Vukčević · 30 Roberts · 31 Hanley · 32 Bruno · 33 Morris · 35 Lowe · 38 Anderson · 39 Henley · 40 Cotton · Manager: Kean
Categories:- 1984 births
- Living people
- People from Créteil
- French people of Republic of the Congo descent
- French people of Black African descent
- French footballers
- Republic of the Congo footballers
- Republic of the Congo international footballers
- Association football defenders
- CS Sedan Ardennes players
- Hertha BSC II players
- Hertha BSC players
- Blackburn Rovers F.C. players
- Fußball-Bundesliga players
- Premier League players
- Expatriate footballers in England
- Expatriate footballers in Germany
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