Junior Kabananga

Junior Kabananga
Personal information
Full name Junior Kabananga Kalonji
Date of birth (1989-04-04) 4 April 1989 (age 35)
Place of birth Kinshasa, Zaire
Height 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)[1]
Position(s) Striker
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008–2009 MK Etanchéité
2010–2013 Anderlecht 5 (1)
2011 → Germinal Beerschot (loan) 2 (0)
2012–2013 → Roeselare (loan) 29 (5)
2013–2015 Cercle Brugge 64 (13)
2015–2018 Astana 57 (29)
2016 → Karabükspor (loan) 7 (2)
2018–2019 Al-Nassr 6 (4)
2018–2019 → Astana (loan) 20 (2)
2019–2020 Qatar SC 5 (1)
2020 Shakhtyor Soligorsk 5 (0)
2021–2022 Suzhou Dongwu 22 (3)
2022–2023 Mioveni 10 (0)
2023 Maktaaral 7 (0)
International career‡
2014–2018 DR Congo 22 (4)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 27 May 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 9 September 2018

Junior Kabananga Kalonji (born 4 April 1989) is a Congolese former professional footballer who played as a striker. He was a member of DR Congo national team.

Club career

Born in Kinshasa, Kabananga began his early career with FC MK Etanchéité.[1]

Anderlecht

He made his senior debut for Belgian club Anderlecht in the 2010–11 season,[2] although Anderlecht later admitted negligence when transferring the player from Democratic Republic of the Congo after a forged document was used.[3]

Loans to Beerschot and Roeselare

He moved on loan to Germinal Beerschot in January 2011,[4] and also spent the 2012–13 season on loan at Roeselare.[5]

Cercle Brugge

He signed a permanent two-year contract with Cercle Brugge in July 2013.[6]

Astana

In June 2015 he signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with Kazakhstan Premier League side FC Astana.[7] In June 2016 he returned from the loan.[8] On 27 July 2017, Kabananga signed a new two-year contract with Astana.[9]

Karabükspor(loan)

On 1 February 2016, Kabananga joined Kardemir Karabükspor on loan until the end of the 2015–16 Turkish season.[10]

Al-Nassr and Astana(loan) return

On 31 January 2018, Kabananga signed a $2 million two-and-a-half-year contract with Al-Nassr.[11] He returned on loan to Astana in September 2018.[12]

Suzhou Dongwu

On 10 June 2021, Kabananga joined China League One side Suzhou Dongwu.[13]

Mioveni

In August 2022, Kabananga joined Liga I club Mioveni.[14] He left the club in January 2023.[15]

Maktaaral

In February 2023, Kabananga signed a contract with Kazakh club Maktaaral. [16]

International career

Kabananga made his international debut for DR Congo in 2014.[1] In January 2015 he was named in the final squad for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations.[17]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 21 May 2023[5]
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
Roeselare (loan) 2012–13 Belgian Second Division 29 5 0 0 — — 29 5
Cercle Brugge 2013–14 Belgian Pro League 34 5 3 2 — — 37 7
2014–15 30 8 2 0 — — 32 8
Total 64 13 5 2 — — 69 15
Astana 2015 Kazakhstan Premier League 13 5 2 0 10 0 0 0 25 5
2016 13 5 2 3 12 2 0 0 27 10
2017 31 19 0 0 11 4 1 0 43 23
Total 57 29 4 3 33 6 1 0 95 38
Kardemir Karabükspor (loan) 2015–16 TFF First League 7 2 0 0 — — 7 2
Al-Nassr 2017–18 Saudi Professional League 6 4 1 0 — — 7 4
Astana (loan) 2018 Kazakhstan Premier League 6 0 0 0 11 0 — 17 0
2019 14 2 1 0 0 0 1 2 16 4
Total 20 2 1 0 11 0 1 2 33 4
Qatar 2019–20 Qatar Stars League 5 1 0 0 — 0 0 5 1
Shakhtyor Soligorsk 2020 Belarusian Premier League 5 0 0 0 — — 5 0
Suzhou Dongwu 2021 China League One 22 3 1 0 — — 23 3
Mioveni 2022–23 Liga I 10 0 4 1 — — 14 1
Maktaaral 2023 Kazakhstan Premier League 7 0 2 0 — — 9 0
Career total 232 59 18 6 44 6 2 2 297 73

International

As of match played 9 September 2018[1]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
DR Congo Year Apps Goals
2014 3 1
2015 8 0
2017 9 3
2018 2 0
Total 22 4
Scores and results list DR Congo's goal tally first.[1]
List of international goals scored by Junior Kabananga
Goal Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 15 October 2014 Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Abidjan, Ivory Coast  Ivory Coast 2–1 4–3 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
2. 16 January 2017 Stade d'Oyem, Oyem, Gabon  Morocco 1–0 1–0 2017 Africa Cup of Nations
3. 20 January 2017 Stade d'Oyem, Oyem, Gabon  Ivory Coast 2–1 2–2 2017 Africa Cup of Nations
4. 24 January 2017 Stade de Port-Gentil, Port-Gentil, Gabon  Togo 1–0 3–1 2017 Africa Cup of Nations

Honours

Astana

DR Congo

Individual

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Junior Kabananga". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
  2. ^ "Profile" (in Dutch). Voebtal International. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
  3. ^ "Anderlecht avoue sa faute" (in French). So Foot. 17 April 2015. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
  4. ^ Kingsley Kobo (17 January 2011). "Anderlecht's Congolese Striker Junior Kabananga On Loan To Germinal Beerschot". Goal.com. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
  5. ^ a b Junior Kabananga at Soccerway. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
  6. ^ "Junior Kabananga naar Cercle Brugge" (in Dutch). Sport Wereld. 6 July 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
  7. ^ ""АСТАНА" ПОПОЛНИЛАСЬ ЕЩЕ ОДНИ НОВИЧКОМ" (in Russian). FC Astana. 19 June 2015. Archived from the original on 19 June 2015. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
  8. ^ "Срок аренды Кабананга в "Карабюкспор" подошел к концу". fca.kz (in Russian). FC Astana. 10 June 2016. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
  9. ^ "Патрик Твумаси и Джуниор Кабананга продлили контракты с Астаной". fca.kz (in Russian). FC Astana. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
  10. ^ "Junior Kabananga ile Resmi Sözleşme İmzalanmıştır". www.kardemirkarabukspor.org.tr (in Turkish). Kardemir Karabükspor. 1 February 2016. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  11. ^ "Kabananga leaves FC Astana, joins Saudi Al-Nassr". www.inform.kz (in Russian). 31 January 2018.
  12. ^ "Кабананга вернулся в "Астану"".
  13. ^ "官方：苏州东吴签约民主刚果国脚儒尼奥尔-卡巴南加". Dongqiudi (in Chinese).
  14. ^ Mihaitalazarica (1 September 2022). "ULTIMII VENIȚI ÎN LOTUL GALBEN-VERDE, PREZENTAȚI ASTĂZI" (in Romanian). Mioveni. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  15. ^ "Iustin Popescu a semnat cu Chiajna după ce s-a despărțit de Mioveni". sportulargesean.ro.
  16. ^ "Жуниор Кабананга вернулся в Казахстан. Он подписал контракт с клубом КПЛ". vesti.kz (in Russian). 9 February 2023.
  17. ^ "2015 Nations Cup: Yannick Bolasie in DR Congo squad". BBC Sport. 9 January 2015. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
  18. ^ ""Астана" стала чемпионом страны". tengrinews.kz. 8 November 2015. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  19. ^ a b "FC Astana Steckbrief". Worldfootball. Retrieved 27 July 2014.
  20. ^ "«Астана» — обладатель Кубка Казахстана 2016! - Футбол". Sports.kz.
  21. ^ "DR Congo Nations Cup squad finalised". BBC Sport.
  22. ^ a b "Bassogog named Total Man of the Competition". CAF. 6 February 2017.