Pierre Achille Webó Kouamo (born 20 January 1982) is a Cameroonian football manager and former professional player who played as a striker. He is the assistant manager of Turkish club İstanbul Başakşehir.
He spent eight years of his career in La Liga, appearing in a combined 227 matches for Osasuna and Mallorca and scoring 47 goals (in Spain he also represented Leganés). He also competed professionally in Uruguay and Turkey.
His 2006–07 pre-season was hampered after he was forced to undergo treatment for malaria,[5] but he went on to produce similar numbers in the league, adding two goals in nine games in the team's semi-final run in the UEFA Cup, including the match's only in a home tie against Rangers.[6]
Mallorca
Webó moved to RCD Mallorca in 2007, spending most of his first season on the sidelines with an injury.[7] He did manage five league goals.
In the 2011 off-season, after scoring 11 goals in the campaign,[9][10] with Mallorca narrowly avoiding relegation, Webó signed a three-year contract extension. In August, however, he asked to be relieved from his obligations for personal reasons,[11] and joined İstanbul Başakşehir F.K. in Turkey.
Turkey
On 11 September 2011, in the first round of the season, Webó scored on his official debut for his new club, a 2–0 home defeat of Galatasaray SK.[12] On 31 January 2013, he signed a two-and-a-half-year deal with fellow Süper Lig side Fenerbahçe SK for €3 million.[13][14] Again he found the net in the first competitive match with his new team, but in a 1–2 home loss to Sivasspor.
Webó played in his first derby match against Galatasaray on 12 May 2013, scoring twice to secure a 2–1 win.[17] The game was marred by racist chants from Fenerbahçe fans, directed to opposing players Didier Drogba and Emmanuel Eboué.[18]
In September 2018, the 36-year-old Webó returned to Nacional de Montevideo after 16 years.[21] After only 59 minutes of play across two league appearances,[22] he left before the start of the 2019 season.[23]
Webó scored in a 1–3 friendly loss against Portugal on 1 June 2010,[25] and started in the first two games at that year's FIFA World Cup in South Africa (both ending in defeat), with the player not managing to find the net.[26][27]
Webó was called up for the Africa Cup of Nations in 2006 and 2010,[28] as well as the 2014 FIFA World Cup, but did not score in any tournament;[29] however, at the latter continental tournament he set up both goals as a substitute in a draw with Tunisia that saw his team into the quarter-finals.[30] On 17 November 2013, he was among the scorers in a 4–1 playoff victory over the same opponents that took Cameroon to the World Cup in Brazil.[31]
Coaching career
After retiring, Webó joined İstanbul Başakşehir's coaching staff under Okan Buruk.[32] In a Champions League group stage fixture against Paris Saint-Germain F.C. on 8 December 2020, he accused he was the target of racism by Romanian fourth official Sebastian Colțescu. The latter had allegedly used a term (negru, meaning black in Romanian), similar to a taboo racial slur in some western European countries but without the racial connotations, when describing and pointing out Webó to the main referee of the match, Ovidiu Hațegan; the incident, which occurred in the first half, ultimately led to the match being postponed, while UEFA also opened an investigation on the matter.[33]
Personal life
Webó's cousin Geremi was a long-time international teammate for Cameroon.[34]
