- Mathias Chago
-
Mathias Chago 
Personal information Full name Mathias Dellgoue Chago de Confiance Date of birth 13 March 1983 Place of birth Bakou, Cameroon Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) Playing position Defensive midfielder Club information Current club Dinamo Zagreb Number 15 Senior career* Years Team Apps† (Gls)† 2000 Olympic Mvolyé 2001–2003 Racing Bafoussam 2003–2005 Metalac Osijek 33 (8) 2005– Dinamo Zagreb 72 (7) 2010 → Istra 1961 (loan) 12 (1) National team‡ 2009– Cameroon 1 (0) * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 27 June 2011.
† Appearances (Goals).
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 18 August 2009Mathias Dellgoue Chago de Confiance (born 6 March 1983 in Bakou, Cameroon), commonly known simply as Chago, is a Cameroonian professional footballer who is also a Croatian citizen as from January 2006.[1] Formerly a player of Olympic Mvolyé, Racing FC Bafoussam and NK Metalac, he currently plays for Croatian top division champions NK Dinamo Zagreb. Chago also represents Cameroon at the international level, debuting in a first–team against Ivory Coast in a friendly match that was played on 13 June 2009.
Contents
Club career
Early career in Cameroon
Chago started his football career at a youth club Olympic Mvolyé. There he played for two seasons before joining the MTN Elite one side Racing FC Bafoussam in 2000, where he until 2003.
Career in Croatia
At the age of 19, Chago and two other Cameroonian players ran away to Croatia, hoping to succeed in professional football there in order to feed his family of ten brothers and sisters back in Cameroon.[2] The manager that brought them left them broke on the streets of Zagreb. Without any money to return to Cameroon, the players didn't have any choice but to stay in Croatia. Soon after the players were contacted by Croatian football icon Miroslav Blažević, who gave them his own flat to sleep at, also providing players with training sessions at the Maksimir football centre.[2] The players had to hide from the Croatian police since they didn't have the visas which were required for their prolonged stay in Croatia.
During one of the training sessions Croatian manager Boro Ivković (to who Chago also refers as his "dad")[2] spotted Chago's talents and immediately brought him to Osijek. His new manager linked him with a Croatian second division club NK Metalac. Chago impressed everyone in his new club and was signed on a long–term deal. Chago spent three seasons playing for Metalac, before he went on a trial to Osijek's best club, first division side NK Osijek. Chago didn't succeed at the trial but had another chance, this time with NK Dinamo Zagreb, Croatia's most successful football club.
Chago was back on his way to Zagreb again, this time needing to prove his qualities in Dinamo's friendly match against Slovenian football club NK Aluminij. Having his poor family depending on him, Chago was determined to give his best in the forthcoming match and force Dinamo into signing him onto a professional contract. Before the match Chago held a speech in the dressing room for his teammates, to which he never interacted before, saying:
- "Guys, I'm poor. I came all the way from Cameroon to earn money so I could feed my family. You all have contracts and earn a lot. Please, help me to play well in this match, so I can sign a contract with Dinamo."[2][3]
Chago played well and amazed everyone in the club, especially the club's physios who couldn't believe that Chago endured the whole match with painful blisters all over his feet. The injury was so serious that he had to undertake surgery after the match.[2] With his driven attitude, determination and bravery Chago immediately won over hearts both of his teammates and fans. With €30,000 per season contract on his hands, all he had to do now is to concentrate on his game.
His debut season at his new club went well. At the end of Prva HNL season 2005–06 Chago had 27 league appearances, also bagging 3 goals. Unfortunately for Chago, before the start of the next season he suffered a serious anterior abdominal wall injury. Which made things worse the injury didn't seem to be short–termed. This made Chago miss the whole 2006–07 campaign, making no appearances for Dinamo in that season. Meanwhile, Chago's manager Boro Ivković started negotiations with his club concerning Chago's annual wage. The new contract was signed by the player and manager, a 3–year €75,000 per season deal. His salary was almost matching the salaries of the club's stars at the time, The Spurs' footballers Luka Modrić and Vedran Ćorluka.
Chago was finally back for the 2007–08 season, but struggled to make any impact since he had to be careful with his abdomen which was not completely recovered. He played a total of 10 league matches, not scoring any goals. He continued his struggle with injuries in the next season as well. He missed out on most of the matches in the summer part of Prva HNL 2008–09, but came back fully recovered and eager to play in the winter part of the campaign. Chago made a total of 16 appearances, scoring 2 goals, including the one in the last week of the season against Dinamo's fierce rivals HNK Hajduk Split. He also made 4 appearances in UEFA Champions League 2008–09 qualifying rounds and 3 appearances in Croatian Cup.
National team
Chago was first called–up for the national squad on the 30 May in 2009, a week before Cameroon's World Cup qualifier against Morocco. On the next day he reported to Cameroon's training camp in Belgium where he started training with his new teammates. According to Chago, the national team staff was scouting him for a longer while with him knowing nothing about it.[4] He didn't make the appearance on the match against Morocco, but he started in the friendly match against Ivory Coast and played for 60 minutes before being subbed. For the sport section of the Croatian daily newspaper Večernji list, Chago gave an interview in which he stated that Samuel Eto'o himself encouraged him before the kick–off, alluding on Eto'o being a great player and a man of great character.[5]
Personal life
Chago was born in a poor Cameroonian family, sharing the same fate with his 10 brothers and sisters. He ran away from Cameroon in order to earn money for his family. He came to Croatia where he eventually succeeded at a top of professional football. Chago now lives happily married with his Croatian wife Daša and their two daughters Melissa and Marceline.[2]
Honours
- Croatian First League (5): 2005–06, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11
- Croatian Cup (4): 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2010-11
- Croatian Super Cup (2): 2006, 2010
Career statistics
- Note: the Croatian Cup appearances for Dinamo Zagreb can be viewed at the official website of the club nk-dinamo.hr under the The Match section.
Club performance League Cup Continental Total Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Croatia League Croatian Cup Europe Total 2003–04 Metalac Druga HNL 15 5 0 0 0 0 15 5 2004–05 18 3 0 0 0 0 18 3 2005–06 Dinamo Zagreb Prva HNL 27 3 0 0 0 0 27 3 2006–07 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2007–08 10 0 1 0 2 0 13 0 2008–09 16 2 3 0 5 0 24 2 2009–10 3 0 4 1 5 0 12 1 Istra 1961 12 1 0 0 0 0 12 1 2010–11 Dinamo Zagreb 16 2 1 0 6 0 171 1 Career total 117 16 9 0 18 0 138 16 1 Including the 2010 Croatian Supercup match against Hajduk Split.[9]
References
- ^ www.nacional.hr (Croatian)
- ^ a b c d e f www.nogomet.com (Croatian)
- ^ www.tportal.hr/sport (Croatian)
- ^ www.javno.com (Croatian)
- ^ Večernji list - Sunday, 14th of June, the sport section - Retrieved on 24-06-2009
- ^ Career statistics at Nogometni Magazin
- ^ Career statistics at transfermarkt.de
- ^ Career statistics at Dinamo Zagreb's official website
- ^ "Bišćan presudio Hajduku" (in Croatian). Sportnet.hr. 2010-07-17. http://www.sportnet.hr/vijesti/400660/nogomet-kup/biscan-presudio-hajduku. Retrieved 2010-07-28.
External links
- Mathias Chago at National-Football-Teams.com
- Mathias Chago at nogometni-magazin (Croatian)
- Mathias Chago at Transfermarkt.
GNK Dinamo Zagreb – current squad 2 Bručić · 3 Ibáñez · 4 Šimunić · 5 Calello · 6 Ademi · 7 Leko · 8 Kovačić · 9 Kramarić · 10 Sammir · 11 Tomečak · 12 Lončarić · 13 Tonel · 14 Vrsaljko · 15 Chago · 16 Badelj · 17 Sylvestr · 18 Šitum · 19 Barbarić · 20 Alispahić · 21 Bećiraj · 22 Bišćan (c) · 23 Pokrivač · 24 Vida · 25 Cufré · 26 Špehar · 28 Puljić · 30 Kelava · 31 Zelenika · 33 Palić · 55 Rukavina · 77 Morales · 99 Krstanović · Atta · Manager: Jurčić
Categories:- 1983 births
- Living people
- Cameroonian footballers
- Racing Club Bafoussam players
- GNK Dinamo Zagreb players
- NK Istra 1961 players
- Prva HNL players
- Cameroon international footballers
- Cameroonian expatriates in Croatia
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
