Joseph-Antoine Bell

Last updated

Joseph-Antoine Bell
Personal information
Date of birth (1954-10-08) 8 October 1954 (age 69)
Place of birth Mouandé, Cameroon [1]
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) [1]
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1975–1981 Union Douala
1981–1983 Africa Sports
1983–1985 Al Mokawloon Al Arab
1985–1988 Marseille 109 (0)
1988–1989 Toulon 31 (0)
1989–1991 Bordeaux 75 (0)
1991–1994 Saint-Étienne 99 (0)
International career
1977–1994 Cameroon [2] 50 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Joseph-Antoine Bell (born 8 October 1954), sometimes referred to as JoJo Bell, is a Cameroonian former professional footballer who played as a [gGoalkeeper (association football)|goalkeeper]]. In a 20-year career, he played in his native Cameroon as well as in the Ivory Coast and Egypt before moving to France, where he played for several top-level clubs including Marseille, Bordeaux and eventually ending his playing career with Saint-Étienne. He played for the national team in three World Cups (1982, 1990, 1994), the 1984 Summer Olympics and several African Cup of Nations.

Contents

Club career

Bell was born in Mouandé. He started his career in Eclair Douale then Oryx Douala and Prisons Buea beforeUnion Douala in Cameroon, where he spent the years 1975 to 1981. He then moved to Africa Sports National, staying there for two seasons. From 1983 to 1985 he played for Al-Mokawloon al-Arab in Egypt. [1]

By the time he went to France to play, he was already 31 years old. He played for Olympique de Marseille from 1985 to 1988, playing 36, 38, and 35 league matches in each of his three seasons there. He then spent one season at Sporting Toulon Var, playing 31 matches. Two years at FC Girondins de Bordeaux followed, where he played 38 matches in 1989–90 and 37 matches in 1990–91. He ended his playing career with AS Saint-Étienne, where he played 35 matches in 1991–92 and 38 matches in 1992–93, but only 26 matches in 1993–94. [1]

Bell, in joining the campaign United Against Malaria in 2009, stated that "malaria ... affected his playing". [3]

International career

For the national team, Bell was in the squads at the 1982 and 1990 FIFA World Cup but did not play any matches. He was also selected for the squad for the 1994 FIFA World Cup where he eventually made his debut, playing in two of Cameroon's group matches. [4] After Cameroon's elimination in 1994, enraged fans set fire on Bell's house in Douala. [5] Bell also played at the 1984 Summer Olympics, and was on Cameroon's winning team in the 1984 and 1988 African Cup of Nations. [6] At international level, though, he was second-choice goalkeeper after Thomas N'Kono for many years.[ citation needed ]

Style of play

Considered to be one of the greatest African goalkeepers of all time, Bell often acted as a sweeper-keeper, and was known for his ability to rush out of the box to sweep up the ball when his team played with a high defensive line. [7]

Honours

Al-Mokawloon al-Arab

Individual

Bell was named "African Goalkeeper of the Century" by IFFHS, as part of their "Century Elections". Cameroon had three goalkeepers among the top six, with Thomas N'Kono being second and Jacques Songo'o being sixth. Sadok Attouga was third, Badou Ezzaki was fourth and Mwemba Kazadi was fifth. [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roger Milla</span> Cameroonian footballer

Albert Roger Miller, known as Roger Milla, is a Cameroonian former professional footballer who played as a forward. He was one of the first African players to be a major star on the international stage. He played in three World Cups for the Cameroon national team.

Listed below are the dates and results for the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for Africa. 51 teams took part, competing for 5 World Cup places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patrick M'Boma</span> Cameroonian footballer

Henri Patrick Mboma Dem is a Cameroonian former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is the fourth all-time top goal-scorer for the Cameroon national team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Djamel Belmadi</span> Football manager (born 1976)

Djamel Belmadi is a professional football coach and former player who last managed the Algeria national team. Born in France, he represented Algeria internationally between 2000 and 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carlos Kameni</span> Cameroonian footballer

Idriss Carlos Kameni is a Cameroonian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">František Plánička</span> Czech footballer (1904–1996)

František Plánička was a Czech football goalkeeper and one of the most honoured players in the history of Czechoslovak football. He played all his career for Slavia Prague, during which time the club won the Czech league eight times and the Mitropa Cup once. He also became a member of the Czechoslovakia national team, where his first success as a young goalkeeper was helping Czechoslovakia to become runner-up in the Central European International Cup 1931-32 and later became captain during the World Cup finals of 1934 and 1938.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Modeste M'bami</span> Cameroonian footballer (1982–2023)

Modeste Mbami was a Cameroonian professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Mbami played for clubs in France, Saudi Arabia, and Cameroon, most notably Paris Saint-Germain and Marseille, both of which in Ligue 1.

René Salomon Olembé-Olembé is a Cameroonian former professional footballer who played as a left midfielder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hassan Shehata</span> Egyptian football manager (born 1947)

Hassan Shehata is an Egyptian retired football manager and former professional football player. He played as a forward. As a manager, Shehata led Egypt to three consecutive Africa Cup of Nations titles, in 2006, 2008 and 2010. He was the first ever coach to win three consecutive Africa Cup of Nations titles. Shehata is one of only two coaches to win the Africa Cup three times, along with Ghana's Charles Gyamfi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grégory Coupet</span> French footballer

Grégory Coupet is a French former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is most prominent for his lengthy career at Lyon where he won seven Ligue 1 titles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas N'Kono</span> Cameroonian footballer

Thomas N'Kono is a Cameroonian former professional footballer. One of the greatest goalkeepers from the continent of Africa, he was mainly associated with Espanyol, whom he represented for almost a decade playing more than 300 official matches.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Al Mokawloon Al Arab SC</span> Association football club in Cairo, Egypt

Al Mokawloon Al Arab Sporting Club, known locally as El Mokawloon(The contractors), is an Egyptian professional sports club based in Nasr City. The club was founded in 1973 by the Egyptian engineer, contractor, entrepreneur, and politician Osman Ahmed Osman as the official sporting club for his prominent, regional construction company, the Arab Contractors, arguably the biggest one in the entire Middle East at that time. The club is best known for their football team, which currently plays in the Egyptian Premier League, the highest league in the Egyptian football league system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lakhdar Belloumi</span> Algerian footballer (born 1958)

Lakhdar Belloumi is an Algerian former football player and manager. A former attacking midfielder, he is widely considered as the best Algerian player of all time and one of the best players in Africa. He is said to have invented the "Blind Pass". He was named the fourth-best African player of the century by IFFHS. He holds the record as the most capped Algerian player with 100 national caps and is also the third best goalscorer of the Algerian national team in all time with 28 goals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Landry Nguémo</span> Cameroonian footballer

Joël Landry Tsafack Nguémo is a Cameroonian former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. He has previously played for Nancy, Bordeaux and Saint-Étienne in France and for Scottish club Celtic on loan. Nguémo has played for the Cameroon national team since 2006, including at the 2010 and 2014 World Cups.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cédric Mensah</span> Togolese footballer

Cédric Mensah is a professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Avranches. Born in France, he has been a member of the Togo national team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicolas Nkoulou</span> Cameroonian footballer

Nicolas Julio Nkoulou Ndoubena, known as Nicolas Nkoulou, is a Cameroonian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Turkish Süper Lig club Gaziantep and the Cameroon national team.

Joseph Edouard Oum Ndeki was a Cameroonian footballer who last played for Rodos.He started his career in high school where he played for Lycéede New bell soccer team and quickly captioned the attention of national league recruiters.He was forced to quit high school and his first contract with Union Sportive De Douala, a division one team based in Douala. His professional career in Cameroon led him to play for Mount Cameroon FC and Coton Sport de Garoua where he was discover by Cameroon National Team Coach Pierre Le Chantre who granted him his first selection with the National Team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wahbi Khazri</span> Footballer (born 1991)

Wahbi Khazri is a professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder, left winger or forward for Ligue 1 club Montpellier.

Joseph Benson Ochaya is a Ugandan professional footballer who plays for Egyptian club Al Mokawloon Al Arab and the Uganda national team as a left back.

Ahmed Saber is an Egyptian retired professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Joseph-Antoine Bell at National-Football-Teams.com
  2. ↑ Joseph-Antoine Bell - International Appearances
  3. ↑ Bamjee-Mayet, Saaleha (2 December 2009). "Campaign to Unite Against Malaria Kicks Off". AllAfrica.com. Retrieved 25 December 2009.
  4. ↑ Profile on Worldcup-History.com
  5. ↑ "Queman la casa de Bell en Camerún". El País (in Spanish). 1 July 1994. Retrieved 18 July 2010.
  6. ↑ "Joseph-Antoine Bell". Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 26 December 2009.
  7. ↑ Wilson, Jonathan (7 September 2018). "Why is David de Gea exceptional for United and indifferent for Spain?". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  8. ↑ "IFFHS' Century Elections". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation . Retrieved 25 December 2009.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.