Ariel Ngueukam

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
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	14	(14)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 5 January 2025

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

Career

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 Tuco would return to SJK for the 2020 season. ^[11] In the 2021 season he scored 14 goals for SJK in Veikkausliiga, making him the joint top scorer of the season alongside Benjamin Källman. ^[12]

On 17 March 2022, Ngueukam returned to Ilves for the 2022 season, with an option to extend for 2023. ^[13] Following a season with the club, he joined IFK Mariehamn for the 2023 season. ^[14]

In March 2024 he signed for Filipino club United City. ^{[15] [16]}

Career statistics

As of 5 January 2025 ^{[1] [17] [18] [19]}

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
JIPPO	2011	Ykkönen	17	6	0	0	–		–		17	6
	2012	Ykkönen	17	11	4	2	–		–		21	13
	Total		34	17	4	2	0	0	0	0	38	19
Lahti	2012	Veikkausliiga	9	7	0	0	–		0	0	9	7
Denizlispor	2012–13	TFF 1. Lig	10	1	0	0	–		–		10	1
Lahti	2013	Veikkausliiga	8	5	0	0	–		0	0	8	5
	2014	Veikkausliiga	29	7	3	2	–		4	1	36	10
	Total		37	12	3	2	0	0	4	1	44	15
SJK	2015	Veikkausliiga	32	5	1	0	2	0	4	2	39	7
	2016	Veikkausliiga	32	4	5	4	2	1	6	2	44	11
	Total		64	9	6	4	4	1	10	4	84	18
Ilves	2017	Veikkausliiga	32	15	5	3	–		–		37	18
Al-Khor	2017–18	Qatar Stars League	10	3	0	0	–		–		10	3
Hapoel Ra'anana	2018–19	Israeli Premier League	15	1	1	0	–		–		16	1
KuPS	2019	Veikkausliiga	12	4	0	0	4	0	–		16	4
SJK Seinäjoki	2020	Veikkausliiga	18	4	1	0	–		–		19	4
	2021	Veikkausliiga	26	14	4	0	–		–		30	18
	Total		44	18	5	0	0	0	0	0	49	18
Ilves	2022	Veikkausliiga	25	6	2	2	–		0	0	27	8
IFK Mariehamn	2023	Veikkausliiga	26	6	5	2	–		2	0	33	8
United City	2024	Philippines Football League	14	14	–		–		–		14	14
Career total			332	113	31	15	8	1	16	5	387	134

Honours

Individual

• Veikkausliiga Team of the Year: 2017 ^[20]
• Veikkausliiga Top scorer: 2021 (14 goals) ^[21]
• Veikkausliiga Player of the Month: October 2021 ^[22]

References

1. 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. Maalikuningas löysi pelipaikan – Tuco palaa Ilvekseen, pallotv.fi, 18 March 2022
13. "TUCO PALAA ILVES-PAITAAN – "TULEMME TAATUSTI OLEMAAN KILPAILUKYKYINEN JOUKKUE TÄNÄ VUONNA"" (Press release) (in Finnish). Ilves. 17 March 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
14. "Ariel Ngueukam ansluter till IFK" [Ariel Ngueukam joins IFK]. www.ifkfotball.ax. 30 March 2023. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
15. Sarte, Liz (15 March 2024). "United City FC Welcomes Ariel "Tuco" Ngueukam to the Squad".
16. Manila Digger FC 2-4 United City FC: Nguekam delivers hattrick, pfl.org.ph
17. Ariel Ngueukam stats, Football Association of Finland
18. 77. Ariel Ngueukam, playmakerstats.com
19. Aril Ngueukam, besoccer.com
20. "Jalkapallolehdistön tähdistö valittiin – KuPS sai hopeaa, Ilves pronssia ja Lahtikin pääsee europeleihin – Päivän Lehti". www.paivanlehti.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 2 January 2023.
21. "Veikkausliiga". www.veikkausliiga.com.
22. Tuco äänestettiin Veikkausliigan kuukauden pelaajaksi, JPY, 12 November 2021