Léandre Tawamba

Léandre Tawamba
Tawamba with Partizan in 2017
Personal information
Full name Léandre Gaël Tawamba Kana
Date of birth (1989-12-20) 20 December 1989 (age 35)
Place of birth Yaoundé, Cameroon
Height 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 Al-Tai
Number 3
Youth career
Eding
Jeunesse Star
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007–2008 Aigle Royal Menoua
2009–2010 Union Douala
2011 Aigle Royal Menoua
2012 FC Cape Town
2012 Mpumalanga Black Aces
2013 Nitra 14 (3)
2013–2014 Ružomberok 31 (13)
2014 Al-Ahly Benghazi 0 (0)
2015–2016 Zlaté Moravce 19 (11)
2016 Kairat 23 (4)
2016–2018 Partizan 48 (14)
2018–2023 Al-Taawoun 135 (65)
2023–2024 Al-Okhdood 29 (5)
2024– Al-Tai 0 (0)
International career‡
2018– Cameroon 8 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 27 May 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 5 March 2022

Léandre Gaël Tawamba Kana (born 20 December 1989) is a Cameroonian professional footballer who plays for Al-Tai as a forward.

Early in his career, Tawamba played as a centre-back and defensive midfielder, but was converted into a striker in Europe.

Club career

Early career

Born in Yaoundé, Tawamba was a regular member of Cameroon's Elite One side Aigle Royal Menoua in the 2007–08 season.[1][2] He later moved to Union Douala, spending there the 2009–10 campaign.[3][4] In 2011, Tawamba returned to his former club Aigle Royal Menoua, captaining the team in the nation's Elite Two.[5]

South Africa and Slovakia

In early 2012, Tawamba moved abroad to South Africa and joined FC Cape Town.[6] He scored once in the second half of the 2011–12 National First Division.[7] In June 2012, Tawamba traveled to Slovakia and trained with Slovan Bratislava and Ružomberok,[8][9] before returning to South Africa and joining National First Division side Mpumalanga Black Aces. He was ultimately transferred to Slovak club Nitra in early 2013.[10] Until the end of the 2012–13 season, Tawamba scored three times in 14 league appearances.[citation needed]

In June 2013, Tawamba switched to Ružomberok, rejoining his Nitra manager Jozef Vukušič.[11] He netted on his league debut on 14 July, scoring the equalizer in a 2–2 draw with Žilina.[12] On 10 August, Tawamba scored a brace in a 3–2 home win over Spartak Trnava.[13] He finished the season as the team's top scorer with 13 goals in 31 appearances.[citation needed]

Libya

In July 2014, Tawamba returned to Africa and signed with Libyan club Al-Ahly Benghazi, again following his former manager Jozef Vukušič.[14] He represented the side in the 2014 CAF Champions League exclusively, appearing in two games of the group stage against Tunisia's CS Sfaxien and Espérance.[15]

Return to Slovakia

In early 2015, Tawamba returned to Slovakia and joined Zlaté Moravce,[16][17] but was unable to play in the 2014–15 season. He scored a goal on his debut for the club on 15 August in a 2–2 home draw with Železiarne Podbrezová.[18] On 19 September, Tawamba netted both his team's goals in a 5–2 away loss to Ružomberok.[19] He subsequently scored a hat-trick to give his side a 3–1 win over Skalica on 21 November.[20]

Kazakhstan

On 1 April 2016, Tawamba transferred to Kazakh club Kairat.[21] He signed a one-plus-two-year contract and was awarded the number 20 shirt. On 29 May, Tawamba scored a stoppage-time back-heel winner to give his team a 3–2 win over Akzhayik.[22] He subsequently made his debut in UEFA competitions, coming on as a substitute for Gerard Gohou in a 1–0 away win against Teuta Durrës in the first leg of the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League first qualifying round on 30 June. A week later in the return leg, Tawamba scored his team's fourth goal in an eventual 5–0 victory at home. He also netted a brace in a 3–2 away win against Irtysh Pavlodar on 17 July. One day before the league's final fixture, on 28 October, Tawamba terminated his contract with Kairat by mutual agreement.[23] He made 29 appearances and scored six goals in all competitions.

Serbia

In November 2016, Tawamba moved to Serbia and signed a three-year contract with Partizan.[24] He scored his first goal for the club in a 3–0 home league win over Metalac Gornji Milanovac on 8 March 2017.[25] In his first Belgrade derby, Tawamba scored the team's second goal in an eventual 3–1 away win over Red Star Belgrade on 18 April.[26] He eventually finished the season collecting the double.[27]

On 22 July 2017, Tawamba scored a brace in the league's opener versus Mačva Šabac, as Partizan won the game 6–1.[28] He also netted the opening goal in a 1–3 loss to Olympiacos in the first leg of the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round on 25 July.[29][30] In the return leg of the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League play-off round, Tawamba scored the opener in a 4–0 away win against Videoton on 24 August, thus helping Partizan progress to the group stage.[31] He subsequently found the back of the net in a 2–3 home loss to Dynamo Kyiv in Group B on 28 September.[32] In the fourth game of the group stage, on 2 November, Tawamba scored a goal to give his team a 2–0 home win over Skënderbeu Korçë.[33] He also scored the opener in a 2–1 home win over Young Boys, on 23 November, as Partizan advanced to the knockout stage after 13 years.[34] With 19 goals in 51 appearances across all competitions, Tawamba finished the season as the team's top scorer, helping them win the 2017–18 Serbian Cup.

Saudi Arabia

In July 2018, Tawamba was transferred to Saudi club Al-Taawoun for a fee of €1.4 million.[35][36] He was the team's top scorer in the 2018–19 season with 27 goals across all competitions.

On 31 August 2023, Tawamba joined Al-Okhdood on a free transfer.[37]

On 28 August 2024, Tawamba joined Al-Tai on a free transfer.[38]

International career

Tawamba was named in Cameroon's preliminary squad for the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup, but was later dropped from the final 21-man squad.[39] He was also called up to the Cameroon U23 team in preparation for the 2011 All-Africa Games.[40]

In March 2018, Tawamba received his first call-up to the Cameroon national team for a friendly against Kuwait.[41] He played the full 90 minutes in that match, receiving a yellow card in their 3–1 away victory.

Career statistics

Club

As of 30 August 2024[42]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
FC Cape Town 2011–12 National First Division — —
Mpumalanga Black Aces 2012–13 National First Division — —
Nitra 2012–13 Slovak First Football League 14 3 0 0 — — 14 3
Ružomberok 2013–14 Slovak First Football League 31 13 4 0 — — 35 13
Al-Ahly Benghazi 2014 Libyan Premier League — — 2[b] 0 — 2 0
Zlaté Moravce 2015–16 Slovak First Football League 19 11 3 2 — — 22 13
Kairat 2016 Kazakhstan Premier League 23 4 2 1 4[c] 1 — 29 6
Partizan 2016–17 Serbian Superliga 16 2 3 0 0 0 — 19 2
2017–18 32 12 6 1 13[d] 6 — 51 19
Total 48 14 9 1 13 6 — 70 21
Al-Taawoun 2018–19 Saudi Pro League 28 21 6 6 — — 34 27
2019–20 17 3 2 0 1[e] 0 1[f] 1 21 4
2020–21 27 13 3 3 1 0 — 31 16
2021–22 30 18 2 2 6[e] 3 — 38 23
2022–23 29 9 1 1 — — 30 10
2023–24 4 1 0 0 — — 4 1
Total 135 65 14 12 8 3 1 1 158 81
Al-Okhdood 2023–24 Saudi Pro League 29 5 1 0 — — 30 5
Career total 299 115 33 16 27 10 1 1 360 142
  1. ^ Includes Slovak Cup, Serbian Cup, King Cup
  2. ^ Appearances in CAF Champions League
  3. ^ Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  4. ^ Three appearances and one goal in UEFA Champions League, ten appearances and five goals in UEFA Europa League
  5. ^ a b Appearances in AFC Champions League
  6. ^ Appearance in Saudi Super Cup

International

As of 21 March 2022[43]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Cameroon 2018 2 0
2021 2 0
2022 4 0
Total 8 0

Honours

Partizan[42]

Al-Taawoun[42]

Individual

References

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  2. ^ "Mtn Elite One : Du beau spectacle dimanche dernier à Bafoussam" (in French). camfoot.com. 9 January 2008. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
  3. ^ "E1 : Cotonsport is back" (in French). camfoot.com. 15 December 2009. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
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  38. ^ "ليندر تاوامـبـا حتماوي".
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  42. ^ a b c Léandre Tawamba at Soccerway
  43. ^ Léandre Tawamba at WorldFootball.net
  44. ^ "موسلين وتوامبا الأفضل في الدوري لشهر نوفمبر". SPL. 5 December 2018. Archived from the original on 21 April 2023. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
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