Guélor Kanga

Guélor Kanga Kaku (born 1 September 1990) is a Gabonese professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Red Star Belgrade and the Gabon national team.

Guélor Kanga
Kanga with Sparta in 2018
Personal information
Full name Guélor Kanga Kaku
Date of birth (1990-09-01) 1 September 1990
Place of birth Oyem, Gabon
Height 1.67 m (5 ft 6 in)
Position(s) Attacking Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Red Star Belgrade
Number 8
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007–2010 Mangasport 49 (9)
2010–2012 Missile 50 (11)
2012–2013 Mounana 23 (5)
2013–2016 Rostov 70 (7)
2016–2018 Red Star Belgrade 39 (9)
2018–2020 Sparta Prague 69 (28)
2020– Red Star Belgrade 12 (2)
National team‡
2012– Gabon 45 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 7 February 2021
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 18 November 2020

Club career

Early years in Gabon

Kanga started playing with AS Mangasport in 2007.[1] Immediately in his first season as a senior at the club, he won the Gabon Championnat National D1.[1] In the following seasons Mangasport finished third in 2008–09 and second in 2009–10.[1] After three seasons at Mangasport, in 2010 he moved to Missile FC and took a part in the 2010–11 championship winning campaign.[1] However, the following season they failed to achieve the same goal and finished 5th.[1] In the 2012–13 season Mounana won the Coupe du Gabon Interclubs, a title Manga was still missing among the domestic ones.[1]

Rostov

On 9 February 2013, Kanga signed a 3.5-year deal with Russian Premier League side FC Rostov.[2] Kanga made his debut in the Russian Premier League on 9 March 2013 for FC Rostov against FC Alania Vladikavkaz.[3]

Kanga received a three match ban in December 2014 after being sent-off for Rostov vs FC Spartak Moscow for responding to racist abuse from the Spartak fans with an obscene gesture.[4]

During the four seasons Kanga spent at Rostov, he made 70 appearances in the Russian Premier League and scored on seven occasions.[5] The first three seasons Rostov performed mostly mid-table however in his last season there the club finished second.[1] By then Kanga became the main target of Miodrag Božović who had coached him at Rostov between 2012 and 2014 and was now at Serbian side Red Star Belgrade who had won the championship and were reinforcing the team for their 2016–17 UEFA Champions League campaign.

Red Star Belgrade

On 1 July 2016, Kanga signed a two-year deal with Red Star Belgrade.[6] Kanga was Miodrag Božović's transfer wish for Red Star's upcoming Champions League campaign, as Kanga and Božović had known each other over two years at FC Rostov. Kanga was the first Gabonese footballer in 33 years to play on Serbian soil, as the previous one was actually the first ever footballer from Africa to play in Yugoslav First League, Gabonese international Anselme Delicat, who in 1983 debuted for Serbian club FK Vojvodina. He opened way for numerous players from other African countries that came after him to the region.

Kanga made his debut in an official match for Red Star on July 12, 2016, as a starter in the first leg of the second qualifying round of the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League against Valletta F.C. away. Red Star won 1–2, and he assisted team mate Aleksandar Katai for the equalizer.[5] Kanga scored his first goal for Red Star in the first leg of the third qualifying round against Ludogorets in Razgrad after a "parabola" shot from distance. Three days later he made his SuperLiga debut in a win against Metalac.

Sparta Prague

Kanga was transferred to Czech team Sparta Prague on 2 February 2018 for an undisclosed fee.[7][8] He scored 15 league goals from well executed penalties, another 13 from game.[9]

Red Star Belgrade

On 31 July 2020, Kanga signed a three-year deal with Red Star Belgrade.[10]

International career

Ever since his debut in 2012, Kanga has been a regular at Gabon national football team.[1] He was selected for the Gabon team at the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations and played all three games in the group.[1]

It was no surprise his call for the Gabon squad to play in the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations of which Gabon were the hosts.[11]

Career statistics

Club
As of end of 2019–20 season[5]
Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Rostov 2012–13 10120—11132
2013–14 24330——273
2014–15 191102030251
2015–16 17200——172
Total 707602041828
Red Star 2016–17 2564141—338
2017–18 14300122—265
Total 39941163—5913
Sparta Prague 2017–18 1440000—144
2018–19 24124020—3012
2019–20 31124221—1811
Total 69288241—6227
Career total 178441832244120348

International
As of match played 17 November 2018[12]
Gabon
YearAppsGoals
201250
201350
201430
2015121
201671
201740
201830
Total392
As of match played 17 November 2018. Gabon score listed first, score column indicates score after each Kanga goal.[13][14]
List of international goals scored by Guélor Kanga
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
16 September 2016Stade Olympique de Radès, Tunis, Tunisia Tunisia3–33–3Friendly
29 October 2015Limbe Stadium, Limbe, Cameroon Cameroon1–12–1

Honours

Club
Mangasport
Missile
Mounana
Rostov

References
  1. Guélor Kanga at National-Football-Teams.com
  2. Канга стал игроком "Ростова" (ВИДЕО) (in Russian). FC Rostov. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
  3. "Game Report". Russian Premier League. 9 March 2013. Archived from the original on 17 January 2013.
  4. "Russia bans Rostov player for three games for reacting to racism". www.foxsports.com/. Fox Sports. 5 December 2014. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
  5. "G. Kanga Stats". Soccerway. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  6. "Promocija Kange u petak!" (in Serbian). Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  7. "Guélor Kanga posilou Sparty" [Kanga reinforce Sparta] (in Czech). Sparta Prague. 2 February 2018. Archived from the original on 5 February 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  8. "Kanga u Sparti" (in Serbian). mondo.rs. 31 January 2018.
  9. "Král penalt a památných gólů. Podívejte se na všechny Kangovy trefy ve Spartě!" (in Czech). blesk.cz. 1 July 2020.
  10. "Канга поново у Звезди" (in Serbian). Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  11. Aubameyang leads cast as hosts Gabon name final Nations Cup squad at BBC, 27-12-2016, retrieved 8-1-2017
  12. "Guelor Kanga". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
  14. "Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – International Goals". RSSSF.
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