Congo: Premier League Nations
The next destination of our alphabetical world tour is the Republic of the Congo (not to be confused with the Democratic Republic of the Congo). According to the Premier League website, three players have represented the Republic of the Congo in the Premier League.
First Player – Christopher Samba (Blackburn, QPR; 2007-12, 2013)
A man-mountain of a defender, Christopher Samba moved to the Premier League with Blackburn in January 2007, from German club Hertha Berlin.
He quickly established himself in the side with impressive battling displays and featured regularly until his mid-season move to Anzhi Makhachkala in 2012.
He returned to England with QPR in 2013 but was unable to help the Rs survive and rejoined Anzhi in the summer.
Records
- Most Appearances – Christopher Samba (171)
- First appearance – Christopher Samba (Chelsea 3-0 BLACKBURN, January 31st 2007)
- Most goals – Christopher Samba (16)
- First goal – Christopher Samba (BLACKBURN 1-2 West Ham, March 17th 2007)
Other Players
No Congolese players currently play in the Premier League. The most recent player was Thievy, who played six times for West Brom in 2013/14. Aside from Thievy and Christopher Samba, the only other player to represent Congo in the Premier League was former Blackburn midfielder Amine Linganzi.
Trivia
- Congo are one of 32 CAF nations to have been represented in the Premier League.
- Christopher Samba is the only Congolese player to have made more than 20 Premier League appearances, making 171 in total.
- None of the three players to have represented Congo in the Premier League were born in the Republic of the Congo. Amine Linganzi was born in Algeria, while the other two were born in France.