Ariel Ngueukam

Ariel Ngueukam

Ngueukam with Ilves
Personal information
Full name	Ariel Thierry Ngueukam
Date of birth	(1988-11-15) 15 November 1988 (age 35)
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	FC Lahti	9	(7)
2012–2013	Denizlispor	10	(1)
2013–2014	FC 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	0	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 08:33, 16 March 2024 (UTC)

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.

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 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]

Career statistics

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

Individual

• Veikkausliiga Team of the Year: 2017 ^[15]
• Veikkausliiga top scorer: 2021 (14 goals) ^[16]

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. 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. "Jalkapallolehdistön tähdistö valittiin – KuPS sai hopeaa, Ilves pronssia ja Lahtikin pääsee europeleihin – Päivän Lehti". www.paivanlehti.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 2 January 2023.
16. "Veikkausliiga". www.veikkausliiga.com.