Pascal Chimbonda
Personal information
Full name	Pascal Chimbonda
Date of birth	21 February 1979 (1979-02-21) (age 30)
Place of birth	Les Abymes, Guadeloupe
Height	1.82 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in)[1]
Playing position	Full Back
Club information
Current club	Blackburn Rovers
Number	39
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1999–2003 2003–2005 2005–2006 2006–2008 2008–2009 2009 2009–	Le Havre Bastia Wigan Athletic Tottenham Hotspur Sunderland Tottenham Hotspur Blackburn Rovers	85 (5) 67 (4) 38 (2) 65 (3) 13 (0) 03 (0) 06 (1)
National team2
2003 2006	Guadeloupe France	03 (0) 01 (0)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 15:44, 18 October 2009 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 23:19, 31 August 2006 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

Pascal Chimbonda (born 21 February 1979) is a French footballer who plays for Blackburn Rovers as a defender.

Chimbonda, who is able to play at centre-back or left-back but more commonly appears at right-back, became well known to English football supporters due to his impressive displays on the pitch for Wigan Athletic, which led to Tottenham Hotspur chasing his signature in the summer season of 2006, finally landing him on transfer deadline day.

[edit] Club career

[edit] Early career

Chimbonda was born in Les Abymes, Guadeloupe and began his career at Le Havre AC in France in 1999, making his debut against RC Strasbourg on 29 April 2000. He spent four years with the club, until Le Havre were relegated to Ligue 2, when he transferred to Bastia. During his stay at Bastia, Chimbonda received racist taunts from his own fans after a heavy loss against AS Saint-Étienne;^[2][3] this may have contributed to his leaving the club. However, his former teammates at Bastia firmly denied Chimbonda's accusations of racism.^[4].

After Bastia were relegated in July 2005, he left the club, turning down an offer from Olympique de Marseille, and moved to Wigan Athletic for £500,000 on a three-year contract. He cited the fact that he was "ready for a new challenge and coming to Wigan is the perfect opportunity to test myself against the best players in the world" as the reason for selecting Wigan.^[5]

[edit] Wigan Athletic

After signing for Wigan, Chimbonda was one of the stars of the Latics' first ever season in the Premier League. He played 44 times for the club in all competitions and featured in all but one game of the 2005/06 Premier League season. He scored two goals for the club, both in the 2005/06 season, in consecutive league games against Fulham^[6] and Portsmouth.^[7] After a hugely successful first season in English football, Chimbonda was named in the PFA Team of the Year for the 2005–06 season, having been voted as best right back in the Premiership, ahead of Gary Neville, Steve Finnan and Paulo Ferreira.^[8]Whilst at Wigan he started in the 2006 Football League Cup Final.

He was linked with a move to a range of clubs and was subject to an offer from West Ham United based on a clause in his contract that allowed him to switch clubs for an offer of £1m - which was subsequently renegotiated and removed.^[9] On the final day of the 2005-06 season, he handed in a transfer request after Wigan lost 4-2 to Arsenal in the final game played at Arsenal's old Highbury ground,^[10] only six months after renegotiating his contract for a further four years. This riled the Wigan management, who set a high price - higher than many prospective buyers were willing to pay - and informed Chimbonda that he could "play in the reserves until his contract is over," if he was not bought.^[11]

Tottenham Hotspur replied with a £2m transfer offer and then a £3m offer; however, both were rejected, as Wigan had stated that any offers below £6m would not be accepted, despite previously stating that, according to his agent Willie McKay, "they wouldn't step in the player's way if a top club came in for him".^[9][12] Further, according to McKay, £3m "was a terrific offer", and Chimbonda was still hopeful of a move to Tottenham. ^[13] Chimbonda has stated that "moving to Tottenham will help me take the next step forward", and has called Wigan a "stepping stone". West Ham also made a bid, reportedly £4m, for the player, though this was also turned down because it fell short of the asking price.^[14]

He made his last appearance for Wigan on 26 August 2006 in a win against Reading as a substitute. He replaced Emile Heskey in the 79th minute, Heskey having scored the winning goal earlier. He eventually joined Tottenham on transfer deadline day, 31 August, 2006, after a summer of negotiations.

[edit] Tottenham Hotspur

On 31 August 2006, Wigan Athletic accepted a bid from Tottenham Hotspur of £4.5 million, with the transfer being completed just before midnight. He made his Tottenham debut against Manchester United on 9 September 2006.

Chimbonda played in a 2–1 victory over Chelsea in which it later transpired he had played on with knee ligament damage (technical name neystas) resulting from a strong challenge by Frank Lampard in the opening minutes of the game. Tottenham manager Martin Jol singled out Chimbonda after the match as the best example of the players' spirit and character that day.^[15] However, on 14 January 2007 Chimbonda was involved in a controversial incident in his team's match against Newcastle United when he slapped Nicky Butt in the face with his glove; an incident that provoked a skirmish between the members of the two teams.

He scored the equaliser, and his first goal for Tottenham on 20 January 2007 in the 1–1 draw with Fulham.^[16] He started for Spurs in the 2008 Football League Cup Final victory over Chelsea. On 12 March 2008, he missed an important penalty kick in a penalty shootout, following a series of penalties at the end of the match with PSV Eindhoven in the UEFA Cup. PSV went to the next round (quarter finals) and Tottenham were knocked out.

[edit] Sunderland

On 26 July 2008, Chimbonda signed for Sunderland, joining up with former team mates Teemu Tainio and Steed Malbranque. Chimbonda stated on arrival that he wanted to help Sunderland mount a title challenge in the next five years.^[17]

[edit] Return to Tottenham Hotspur

On 26 January 2009, Chimbonda underwent a medical at Tottenham Hotspur ahead of a proposed return to White Hart Lane and the deal was completed the following day. Sunderland manager Ricky Sbragia declined to reveal the fee, although it is thought that Sunderland would recoup what they originally paid for Chimbonda, somewhere around the £3 million mark.^[18] His second Tottenham debut came in a 3–2 defeat against Bolton Wanderers on 31 January, where he set up Darren Bent to pull one back for Spurs, after coming on as a substitute.^[19]

[edit] Blackburn Rovers

On 27 August 2009, Chimbonda joined Blackburn Rovers on a two-year contract for a undisclosed fee, believed to be in the region of £2.5 million.^[20][21] He made his debut against West Ham United on 29 August,^[22] in the 0–0 draw.^[23] On 18 October 2009, Chimbonda scored his first goal for the club in the East Lancashire derby against Burnley.^[24]

[edit] International career

Despite early concerns that he would not make France's 2006 World Cup squad,^[25] he was selected on the quality of his performances, despite having no previous international experience.^[26] During a World Cup warm-up friendly match, a 2-0 win against Denmark on May 31, 2006, he appeared amongst the substitutes, appearing briefly on the pitch in the final minutes of the game, replacing Willy Sagnol in the 87th minute for his debut.^[27] Chimbonda did not make a single appearance during the 2006 World Cup, and as of 25 August 2009, his cap against Denmark is his only appearance for the national side, competitive or friendly.

In 2003, he played three matches for Guadeloupe in the Caribbean qualifiers for the CONCACAF Gold Cup.^[28]

[edit] Honours

Tottenham Hotspur

• League Cup: 2007–08
• Barclays Asia Trophy: 2009

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Pascal Chimbonda career stats at Soccerbase
• Pascal Chimbonda profile, detailed statistics and career timeline

v • d • e France squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup Runners-up 1 Landreau • 2 Boumsong • 3 Abidal • 4 Vieira • 5 Gallas • 6 Makélélé • 7 Malouda • 8 Dhorasoo • 9 Govou • 10 Zidane • 11 Wiltord • 12 Henry • 13 Silvestre • 14 Saha • 15 Thuram • 16 Barthez • 17 Givet • 18 Diarra • 19 Sagnol • 20 Trezeguet • 21 Chimbonda • 22 Ribéry • 23 Coupet • Coach: Domenech