Rio Antonio Zoba Mavuba (born March 8, 1984 at sea) is a French football player of Angolan and Congolese descent who plays for and captains Lille O.S.C. in the French Ligue 1. He is a defensive midfielder well known for his agility.

[edit] Biography

Mavuba's father was Mafuila "Ricky" Mavuba (nicknamed The Black Sorcerer), a football player, who appeared at the 1974 World Cup for Zaire (Democratic Republic of Congo) national football team, while Rio Antonio's mother was an Angolan national.

He was born on board of a boat in international waters, far away from the Angolan coast, during the period of the civil war. Mavuba has stated that his passport does not have a nationality on it, it just reads "born at sea",^[1] however, as he grew up in France he considers himself French. He received French nationality in September 2004.

[edit] Football career

[edit] Club career

Mavuba's mother died when he was two, and his father when he was just 14 years old. He threw himself into football to help deal with his grief.^[1] After breaking through from the reserve team, the youngster made his debut for Bordeaux against Olympique Lyonnais, in January 2004. From that moment on, he would become a mainstay in the team, eventually leading to his international debut with France.

On July 3, 2007, he signed a five-year deal with La Liga side Villarreal CF, who had lost Alessio Tacchinardi, who returned to Juventus after his two-year loan. He found it hard to break into the first team, even though he had some good performances, in January 2008 he joined Lille OSC on loan until the end of the season.^[2]Following the season, Lille opted to sign Mavuba permanently and reached an agreement on the transfer with both Villarreal and Mavuba. Mavuba agreed to a four-year deal and the transfer fee is estimated to be 7 million euros.^[3]

[edit] International career

He made his senior team debut for France on August 18, 2004 against Bosnia and Herzegovina in a 1-1 draw.

While an Under-21 player, he almost played for Congo DR, but it never materialized.^{[citation needed]}

He also won a place in the Under-21 UEFA Championship's Team of the Tournament in centre midfield with Dutchman Ismail Aissati.

[edit] Honors

• 2006-07 Coupe de la Ligue (Bordeaux)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Profile on ESPN