benoit assou-ekotto

Born on 24th March 1983 in Arras, France.

Height : - 1.8m (' ")

Weight : - 89 kgs (st lbs)

One of the most respected young defenders in Ligue 1 in France, Benoit Assou-Ekotto was signed by Spurs from Racing Club Lens in June 2006.

Benoit broke into the Lens side in 2003-04, playing three times and then started 29 games in 2004-05. His experience in the InterToto and UEFA Cups in 2005-06 were added to by playing 34 out of 38 league games, helping Lens to finish fourth in the table last season.

Kicking-off last season in the Inter Toto Cup on July 3, he played in all of Lens’ games as they won that tournament and therefore secured a place in the UEFA Cup. He then played in seven of eight UEFA Cup matches as Lens went out to Udinese in the last 32.

Through his parents, he is qualified to play for Cameroon.

A fleet-footed defender or midfielder, Benoit looks skilful and has a willingness to join the attack, giving width to the team and also pushing the opposition's wide midfielders back into their own half. However, an ankle injury ruled the young defender out until the end of the 2006-07 season.

He did not have much more luck in the following season, picking up a knee injury that required more surgery and he played one game before being ruled out until 2008-09.

Restored to the team by Juande Ramos at the start of that season, he played much better and despite rumours of him wanting a move to Paris St. Germain, he settled into the side and maintained his place under Harry Redknapp when he replaced the Spanish Head Coach as manager. His first goal for Spurs in the opening game of the 2009-2010 season against Liverpool at home, was also the first goal of his career.

Benny enjoyed a good run in the side under Harry Redknapp when he took over as Spurs manager, but there was often an over-confidence on the ball that saw him robbed of it in dangerous parts of the pitch, which became something that Andre Villas-Boas was not too keen on when he became Head Coach. Following BAE's fondness for posting his forthright comments on Twitter, his position in the side became less secure, as Danny Rose was installed at left back and he was allowed to link up again with Redknapp, at QPR for a season long loan in August 2013. The defender was Tweeting that he would return when AVB got sacked, but this did not happen and he remained at Loftus Road.

Made his Cameroon international debut after giving up on waiting for a call to come from his native France and went on to represent his adopted country in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Off the pitch, Benoit is into hip-hop and likes Ice Cube and 50 Cent.

NICKNAME : Beni

Career Record

Club Signed Fee Debut Apps Goals

RC Lens (France) ?? ?? 28th March 2004 v PSG (won 1-0) ?? ??

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR June 2006 ?? ?? ?? ??

QPR August 2013 Loan ?? ?? ??

- ?? ?? ?? ?? ??

Honours
Cameroon international
10 full caps; 0 goals (as of 10.09.2010)
Debut : - 12th February 2009 v Guinea (Paris) (Friendly) won 3-1
Under-21 caps; goals
- Cup winners medal 19---

Milestones
100th Spurs appearance - 21st August 2010 v Stoke City (Premier League) (away) won 2-1

What Benoit Assou-Ekotto said about ...

... his thinking on the game ... .. (Hotspur Jan 2010)

"I just look forward to playing football. That's all I want to do."

... being out injured ... .. (THFC programme 16.05.2009)

"Being out for a year and a half was very difficult. The hardest part of the injury was when the specialist said it might end my career. It made me doubt what was going to happen to me and it affected the way I am, my whole being.
After my second operation, I was told I had to wait and see how it settled down, but it could be a month, two months or maybe 10 months. All I could do was wait. I felt like I was having the life of someone who was unemployed because there was nothing there for me. The doctors said I could do everything except run, but my living is based on running, so my life just felt empty.
The first about the first 10 months back in France, doing the first part of my rehab at a centre where there were people who had lost limbs. That was a very sobering experience for me, because I was speaking to people who had their own personal stories and problems, and they certainly gave me hope for the future. It made me realise that, although I had my injury problem, my situation could have been a lot worse."

beating Arsenal away on 20.11.2010 ... 28.11.2010 (THFC programme)

"The last five minutes went so slowly, it felt like a whole year ! When the board went up to show five minutes of added time, Arsenal were attacking strongly and I started to think that if it finished 3-3 we would be really disappointed, but it would still be a good result. But we defended for our lives in those last few minutes and we held on for the win. It was such a fantastic feeling at the final whistle.

As I looked around, all I could see was the Arsenal supporters looking so upset and being so quiet, then the team went over to where the Spurs fans were and there was a really good bond between us at that moment. I know they had waited a long time for that result so I can understand why they were so happy at the end and we wanted to say thank you very, very much for their fantastic support."

loyalty ... 03.05.2013 (The Guardian)

"I must say, as well, that I have seen quite a few Spurs players kiss the badge and then fuck off. I am still here."

his goal against Everton on 11th January 2012 ... February 2012 (Hotspur Magazine)

"It was my second 'mistake' in two years. I looked to my right and I couldn't pass the ball. On my left, there were also problems so because I'm a defender, I thought it's better to lose the ball far away from our goal. But then they could counter attack, so I decided to try – and I scored."

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