Blaise Nkufo
Blaise Nkufo 2007
Career
Association
Born in what was then Zaire, he fled as a seven year old boy with his parents in Switzerland. In Lausanne, he made the high school and took 20 years, the Swiss citizenship. 1993/94, the then young players rose to the senior squad of FC Lausanne-Sport. There he got his first and only title for a long time as a footballer when he was Swiss Cup winner. After only a year he moved to FC Echallens, where he stayed only one season to go for the season 1995/96 for his first foreign stop. The Arabian club Al- Arabi committed Nkufo. However, the striker was not happy there and it already pulled him after a year back to Switzerland to Yverdon -Sport FC and subsequently playing time to his home club Lausanne. After 94 games and 43 goals for the Swiss National League A Teams FC Lausanne-Sport, Grasshopper Club Zurich FC Lugano and FC Luzern beefy striker moved in the winter of 2000 /01 the German second division 1 FSV Mainz 05, for which he in year and a half in 42 games 20 times met. After the missed rise Nkufo left the 05ers in the summer of 2002 Hannover 96, where he not relied on the improper position as a winger. Since the summer of 2003 Nkufo plays for the Dutch Ehrendivisionär FC Twente, for which he scored in the first four seasons 64 goals in 126 games. In 2008 and 2009 he was with the team Dutch runners-up. Also in 2009, reached to the final of the KNVB Cup, but the SC Heerenveen had to concede defeat. On August 15, 2009 Nkufo scored in a 1-0 victory in The Hague his 103 matches for Twente, which he broke the club record of Jan Jeuring (103 goals). Beginning in December 2009 announced to the fans to want to set up a Nkufo statue in front of the Grolsch Veste Stadium -. At the end of the 2009 /10 of Twente celebrated their first championship in club history. It was Nkufos first success for 15 years.
After the 2010 World Cup Nkufo moved to the Seattle Sounders in Major League Soccer, to be closer to his family. In eleven games of the 2010 season, he scored five goals. Just before the season opener in 2011 triggered Nkufo and the Seattle Sounders their contractual relationship again. Nkufo declared a week later his pro career ended.
National
Nkufos career in the Swiss national team finished first early. After the striker had obtained a regular place, he returned in 2002 after seven inserts the national team back on because he felt misunderstood and suspected a connection with his skin color. In May 2007, however, announced Kobi Kuhn to want to consider Nkufo again in the future for the national team. This took the offer on June 8 and was on 22 August 2007 against Holland a good game. Nevertheless, he volunteered for the 2008 European Championship due to an injury from. In qualifying for the 2010 World Cup under new coach Ottmar Hitzfeld Nkufo came in every game used and scored five goals in ten games. According to the 2010 World Cup Nkufo ended his national team career.
Find out more
Nkufo is married and has two children, whose names he has tattooed on his upper arms. He called Malcolm X and Jean Ziegler as role models. For years, he points out that his name is spelled without the apostrophe and the "N" is not pronounced.
His twelve- years younger half brother Yannick Nkufo is also football player. Blaise steered him once in the team of Jong Twente, the reserve of his former club FC Twente. Since 2005, Yannick plays mainly in the Swiss 1st League.
Achievements
- Swiss Cup Winner: with Lausanne- Sports: 1998
- Dutch champion with FC Twente: 2009/10
- American Cup winner with the Seattle Sounders in 2010