Christ Bongo

{{Short description|Republic of the Congo footballer (born 1976)}}

{{Infobox football biography

| name = Christ Bongo

| image =

| full_name = Christ Bongo-Zanoni

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1976|8|11|df=y}}

| birth_place = Kinshasa, Zaire

| height =

| position = Striker

| currentclub =

| youthyears1 =

| youthclubs1 =

| years1 = 1996–1997

| clubs1 = SV Wilhelmshaven

| caps1 = 26

| goals1 = 6

| years2 = 1997–1998

| clubs2 = Hannover 96 II

| caps2 =

| goals2 =

| years3 = 1998–1999

| clubs3 = Gazélec Ajaccio

| caps3 =

| goals3 =

| years4 = 1999

| clubs4 = FC Aarau

| caps4 = 4

| goals4 = 0

| years5 = 1999–2000

| clubs5 = FC Schaffhausen

| caps5 = 10

| goals5 = 0

| years6 = 2000–2001

| clubs6 = FC Solothurn

| caps6 = 6

| goals6 = 1

| years7 = 2001–2002

| clubs7 = FC Thun

| caps7 = 4

| goals7 = 0

| years8 = 2002

| clubs8 = Prato

| caps8 = 8

| goals8 = 0

| years9 = 2003–2005

| clubs9 = FC 105 Libreville

| years10 = 2006–2008

| clubs10 = Sporting Cabinda

| nationalyears1 = 2000–2001

| nationalteam1 = Republic of the Congo

| nationalcaps1 = 4

| nationalgoals1 = 1

}}

Christ Bongo-Zanoni (born 11 August 1976) is a Congolese former professional footballer who played as a striker. He played for SV Wilhelmshaven, Hannover 96, Gazélec Ajaccio, FC Aarau, FC Schaffhausen, FC Solothurn, FC Thun and FC 105 Libreville, and also represented the Republic of the Congo internationally.

Club career

Bongo was born in Kinshasa, Zaire. His first European club was SV Wilhelmshaven of the Regionalliga Nord, the third tier of German football. In his single season at the club he made 26 league appearances, scoring six goals.{{cite web|url=http://www.dsfs.de/uploads/media/SV_Wilhelmshaven_RL-Nord-Spieler_1994-08.pdf|title=SV Wilhelmshaven Spieler in der Regionalliga Nord 1994 – 2008 |accessdate=4 February 2009|publisher=Deutscher Sportclub für Fußballstatistiken|language=German}} Wilhelmshaven were involved in a struggle against relegation, but Bongo's goals, including a late winner against SV Lurup,{{cite web|author=Andreas Sude|url=http://archiv.mopo.de/archiv/1997/19970310/91679883424109.html|title=0:1! Rektors Patzer nutzte Bongo aus|date=10 March 1997|accessdate=4 February 2009|publisher=Hamburger Morgen Post|language=German}}{{dead link|date=August 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} helped the club to finish a single place above the relegation zone. During the 1997 close season Bongo joined another Regionalliga Nord side, Hannover 96, signing a three-year contract.{{cite web|url=http://www.hannover96online.de/9798/me9798.htm|title=Meldungen Saison 1997/98 |accessdate=4 February 2009|publisher=Hannover96Online|language=German}} His Hannover debut did not come until November, when he played in a 4–0 victory against Sportfreunde Ricklingen.

He continued his nomadic career in France and Switzerland with Gazélec Ajaccio and FC Aarau, before signing for FC Schaffhausen on a one-year contract in 2000.{{cite web |url=http://www.news.ch/Souleyman+Sane+wechselt+vom+Linzer+ASK+zum+FC+Schaffhausen/803/detail.htm|title= Souleyman Sané wechselt vom Linzer ASK zum FC Schaffhausen|date=14 February 2000 |accessdate=5 February 2009|publisher=News.ch|language=German}} From there he moved to FC Solothurn, where he was top scorer, and scored the winner in a local derby against FC Grenchen.{{cite web|url=http://www.fcg.ch/ARCHIV/saison_01.htm |title=Solothurner Sieg dank Bongos letztem FCS-Tor |accessdate=5 February 2009 |publisher=FC Grenchen |language=German |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081009175711/http://www.fcg.ch/ARCHIV/saison_01.htm |archivedate=9 October 2008 }} This proved to be his last goal for the club before moving on loan to FC Thun until the winter break.{{cite web|url=http://www.news.ch/Christ+Bongo+wechselt+vom+FCS+zum+FC+Thun/64297/detail.htm|title= Christ Bongo wechselt vom FCS zum FC Thun|date=16 October 2001 |accessdate=5 February 2009|publisher=News.ch|language=German}}{{cite web|url=http://www.news.ch/Transfers+im+Schweizer+Fussball+Zirkus/103789/detail.htm|title= Transfers im Schweizer Fussball-Zirkus |date=21 February 2002 |accessdate=5 February 2009|publisher=News.ch|language=German}}

In 2004, having returned to Africa with Gabonese club FC 105 Libreville, he scored against Cameroon's Bamboutos FC in the final of the Coupe de l'Uniffac, a competition contested by clubs from Central African countries, but finished on the losing side.{{cite web|url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesu/uniffac04.html|title=Coupe de l'Uniffac 2004|accessdate=29 January 2009|website=RSSSF|date=8 November 2006}} Bongo's late equalising goal sent the match into extra time, but his team were defeated 6–5 in a penalty shootout.

Bongo signed for Sporting Cabinda in Angola in 2006 and retired in 2008.{{cite web|url=http://www.portalangop.co.ao/motix/pt_pt/noticias/desporto/Sporting-vence-Futebol-Clube-Cabinda,cc61133e-7031-4743-97d7-11043fed7484.html|title=Sporting Vence Futebol Clube de Cabinda|accessdate=5 February 2009|date=20 July 2008|publisher=ANGOP|language=Portuguese}}

International career

Bongo was capped at international level by the Republic of the Congo national team. In January 2001 he scored in a World Cup qualifier against Tunisia,{{cite web |url=https://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=4395/preliminaries/preliminary=3868/matches/match=20115/report.html |title=Congo - Tunisia |accessdate=4 February 2009 |publisher=FIFA |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090326165624/http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition%3D4395/preliminaries/preliminary%3D3868/matches/match%3D20115/report.html |archivedate=26 March 2009 }} and was one of only three Congolese players to score in the qualifying tournament. The other were Edson Dico Minga and Walter Bakouma; in addition a Malagasy opponent scored an own goal.{{cite web|url=https://www.rsssf.org/tables/2002q.html|title=World Cup 2002 Qualifying|website=RSSSF|accessdate=29 January 2009}}