Serge Branco

{{Infobox football biography

| name = Serge Branco

| image = Serge Branco.jpg

| image_size = 160px

| caption = Serge Branco

| fullname =

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1980|10|11|df=y}}

| birth_place = Douala, Cameroon

| height = 1.76 m

| position = Defender, midfielder

| currentclub =

| clubnumber =

| youthyears1 = | youthclubs1 = Les Brasseries du Cameroon

| years1 = 1995–1998 | clubs1 = Unisport Bafang | caps1 = | goals1 =

| years2 = 1998–2000 | clubs2 = Eintracht Braunschweig| caps2 = 48| goals2 = 1

| years3 = 2000–2003 | clubs3 = Eintracht Frankfurt| caps3 = 42| goals3 = 3

| years4 = 2003–2004 | clubs4 = VfB Stuttgart| caps4 = 3| goals4 = 0

| years5 = 2004 | clubs5 = Leeds United| caps5 = 0| goals5 = 0

| years6 = 2004–2005 | clubs6 = Queens Park Rangers| caps6 = 7| goals6 = 0

| years7 = 2005 | clubs7 = Shinnik Yaroslavl| caps7 = 24| goals7 = 0

| years8 = 2006–2007 | clubs8 = Krylia Sovetov| caps8 = 38| goals8 = 3

| years9 = 2008–2009 | clubs9 = MSV Duisburg| caps9 = 13| goals9 = 0

| years10 = 2009–2010 | clubs10 = Levadiakos| caps10 = 18| goals10 = 0

| years11 = 2010–2011 | clubs11 = Wisła Kraków| caps11 = 4 | goals11 = 0

| years12 = 2012–2013 | clubs12 = Al-Muharraq| caps12 = | goals12 =

| years13 = 2013–2014 | clubs13 = Al Yarmouk| caps13 = | goals13 =

| totalcaps = | totalgoals =

| nationalyears1 = 2000 | nationalteam1 = Cameroon U23 | nationalcaps1 = 5 | nationalgoals1 = 0

| nationalyears2 = 2001 | nationalteam2 = Cameroon | nationalcaps2 = 1 | nationalgoals2 = 0

| medaltemplates = {{MedalSport|Men's football}}

{{MedalCountry|{{fb|CMR}}}}

}}

Serge Branco (born 11 October 1980) is a Cameroonian former professional footballer who played as a defender and as a midfielder.

Club career

Branco was born in Douala. In 1998, he left Cameroon to spend the initial years of his career in Germany. He started out at Regionalliga Nord side Eintracht Braunschweig, where he spent two seasons. After returning from the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Branco transferred to Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt in October 2000.{{cite web | url = http://www.berliner-kurier.de/archiv/magath-holt-gold-boy,8259702,7994756.html| title = Magath holt Gold-Boy | language = German | publisher = berliner-kurier.de | accessdate = 5 February 2013 | date = 24 October 2000}} Frankfurt were relegated to the 2. Bundesliga in 2001, but Branco stayed on for two more seasons at the club before returning to the Bundesliga by signing with VfB Stuttgart in 2003. However, he did not become a regular in Stuttgart, making only three league appearances in 2003–04.

He signed for Leeds United in August 2004,{{cite web | url = https://www.kicker.de/leeds-holt-serge-branco-303554/artikel | title = Leeds holt Serge Branco | language = German | publisher = Kicker | access-date = 30 January 2011 | date = 3 August 2004}} but was released on 13 September for fitness reasons. From 2005 to 2007 he played in the Russian league, before returning to Germany for a stint with MSV Duisburg.

International career

Branco represented the victorious Cameroonian national team at the 2000 Summer Olympics.{{cite web|publisher=Sports Reference|title=Serge Branco|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/br/serge-branco-1.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417192806/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/br/serge-branco-1.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=17 April 2020|accessdate=5 February 2013}} He was capped once for the Cameroonian senior national team, in a World Cup qualification match against Zambia in 2001.{{cite web | url = https://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=4395/preliminaries/preliminary=3868/matches/match=20063/report.html| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071116183353/http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=4395/preliminaries/preliminary=3868/matches/match=20063/report.html| url-status = dead| archive-date = 16 November 2007| title = Match report | publisher = fifa.com | accessdate = 5 February 2013}}