Ariel Thierry Ngueukam (born 15 November 1988), nicknamed "Tuco",[2] is a Cameroonian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Filipino club United City.

Ariel Ngueukam
Ngueukam with Ilves
Personal information
Full name Ariel Thierry Ngueukam
Date of birth (1988-11-15) 15 November 1988 (age 36)
Place of birth Yaoundé, Cameroon
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
United City
Number 77
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2012 JIPPO 34 (17)
2012 Lahti 9 (7)
2012–2013 Denizlispor 10 (1)
2013–2014 Lahti 37 (12)
2015–2016 SJK 64 (9)
2017 Ilves 32 (15)
2017 HJK 0 (0)
2018 Al-Khor 10 (3)
2018–2019 Hapoel Ra'anana 15 (1)
2019 KuPS 12 (4)
2020–2021 SJK 44 (18)
2022 Ilves 25 (6)
2023 IFK Mariehamn 28 (6)
2024– United City
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 2 May 2024

Career

edit

Born in Yaoundé,[1] Ngueukam began playing football as a striker with local sides FC Achille de Sa'a and FC Lotus-Terek. After unsuccessful trials with clubs in Hungary and Bulgaria, he signed with Finnish second division club JIPPO, where he scored 13 goals in his first 11 matches.[3]

In 2012, he moved to FC Lahti in the Finnish first division. Ngueukam scored two goals on his debut for FC Lahti on 31 August 2012.[4] Ngueukam signed for Turkish club Denizlispor in January 2013,[5][6] but returned FC Lahti, playing with them in the 2013 and 2014 seasons.[1] He moved to SJK for the 2015 season, and Ilves for the 2017 season.[1]

On 6 November 2017, Ngueukam signed a two-year contract with HJK Helsinki for the 2018 and 2019 seasons.[7] In January 2018 Ngueukam joined Al-Khor in Qatar, without having played for HJK.[8]

On 11 July 2018, Ngueukam signed to the Israeli Premier League club Hapoel Ra'anana.[9]

In June 2019 he returned to Finland to sign for KuPS.[10] In November 2019 it was announced that he would return to SJK for the 2020 season.[11]

On 17 March 2022, Ngueukam returned to Ilves for the 2022 season, with an option to extend for 2023.[12] Following a season with the club, he joined IFK Mariehamn for the 2023 season.[13]

In March 2024 he signed for Filipino club United City.[14][15]

Career statistics

edit
As of 30 September 2017[1]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup Other Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
JIPPO 2011 17 6 0 0 0 0 17 6
2012 17 11 2 0 0 0 19 11
Total 34 17 2 0 0 0 36 17
Lahti 2012 9 7 0 0 0 0 9 7
Denizlispor 2012–13 10 1 0 0 0 0 10 1
Lahti 2013 8 5 0 0 0 0 8 5
2014 29 7 3 2 4 1 36 10
Total 37 12 3 2 4 1 44 15
SJK 2015 32 5 4 2 2 0 38 7
2016 32 4 4 4 8 3 44 11
Total 64 9 8 6 10 3 82 18
Ilves 2017 32 15 5 3 0 0 37 18
Career total 186 61 18 11 14 4 218 76

Honours

edit

Individual

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c d e Ariel Ngueukam at Soccerway. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  2. ^ Raunio, Antti (2 April 2022). "Kamerunissa kasvaneen Ilves-tähden lapsuus ei ollut helppo – Tuco kertoo, miksi kukaan ei kutsu häntä hänen oikealla nimellään ja miksi hän palasi Ilvekseen". Aamulehti.
  3. ^ Tchana, Etienne Fréjus (17 January 2013). "Ariel Thierry Ngueukam: Un lion qui rugit en Finlande" [Ariel Thierry Ngueukam: A lion roars in Finland] (in French). Journal du Cameroun. Archived from the original on 3 April 2014. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
  4. ^ "Ariel Ngueukam upotti Hongan" (in Finnish). HS.fi. 31 August 2012.
  5. ^ "DENIZLISPOR, ARIEL THIERRY NGUEUKAM ILE ANLASTI" (in Turkish). haberler.com. 16 January 2013.
  6. ^ "ARIEL THIERRY NGUEUKAM - Player Details TFF". www.tff.org.
  7. ^ "TUCO LIITTYY KLUBIIN" (6 November 2017). hjk.fi (in Finnish). Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi. 6 November 2017. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  8. ^ Konlog, Noé (7 January 2018). "AL-KHOR : Un challenge en or pour Ariel-Thierry Ngueukam".
  9. ^ Nachum, Tom (11 July 2018). "אריאל תיירי נגואקם חתם ברעננה לשלוש שנים". One.co.il (in Hebrew). Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  10. ^ Hirvonen, Juho (26 June 2019). "Mualimedia: KuPS tekemässä todella kovan kaappauksen siirtoikkunan auetessa".
  11. ^ "Tuco palaa SJK-paitaan" (in Finnish). SJK.fi. 11 November 2019.
  12. ^ "TUCO PALAA ILVES-PAITAAN – "TULEMME TAATUSTI OLEMAAN KILPAILUKYKYINEN JOUKKUE TÄNÄ VUONNA"" (Press release) (in Finnish). Ilves. 17 March 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  13. ^ "Ariel Ngueukam ansluter till IFK" [Ariel Ngueukam joins IFK]. www.ifkfotball.ax. 30 March 2023. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  14. ^ Sarte, Liz (15 March 2024). "United City FC Welcomes Ariel "Tuco" Ngueukam to the Squad".
  15. ^ Manila Digger FC 2-4 United City FC: Nguekam delivers hattrick, pfl.org.ph
  16. ^ "Jalkapallolehdistön tähdistö valittiin – KuPS sai hopeaa, Ilves pronssia ja Lahtikin pääsee europeleihin – Päivän Lehti". www.paivanlehti.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  17. ^ "Veikkausliiga". www.veikkausliiga.com.
  18. ^ Tuco äänestettiin Veikkausliigan kuukauden pelaajaksi, JPY, 12 November 2021