Benoît Assou-Ekotto

Lens

At the age of ten, Assou-Ekotto followed his brother in signing for Lens, before making his Ligue 1 debut on 28 March 2004 against Paris Saint-Germain, which Lens won the match 1–0. He played in 66 matches in Ligue 1 for Lens. He then played in seven of eight UEFA Cup matches as Lens fell to Udinese in the round of 32. After breaking into the first-team with three appearances in 2003–04, Assou-Ekotto caught the eye with 29 starts in 2004–05. At the start of the 2005–06 season, he played in all of Lens' matches in the UEFA Intertoto Cup, as they won that tournament and secured a place in that season's UEFA Cup. In the 2005–06 season, he was an almost ever-present for Lens in the league missing just four of 38 league matches as his team finished fourth and again qualified for the UEFA Cup. Assou-Ekotto's outstanding performances throughout the season led to him being praised as one of the best left-backs in the country.

Tottenham Hotspur

2006–2009

In the summer of 2006, Assou-Ekotto moved to Tottenham Hotspur for an undisclosed fee, though estimated to be in the region of £3.5 million by the media. Manager Martin Jol and club sporting director Damien Comolli described him as one of the brightest prospects in French football at that time. Assou-Ekotto was expected to provide competition with South Korean Lee Young-pyo at the left-back position, but his performances in pre-season secured him a place in the starting line-up ahead of Lee.…

Assou-Ekotto made his debut for Cameroon against Guinea in a friendly match on 11 February 2009. He also played the full 90 minutes in Cameroon's 1–0 surprise 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying defeat to Togo on 28 March 2009. He was named in Cameroon's 2010 Africa Cup of Nations squad but was forced to withdraw prior to the tournament due to injury. Assou-Ekotto was also named in Paul Le Guen's final 23-man squad for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and played every minute of Cameroon's three matches. In an interview with the BBC in February 2011, Assou-Ekotto stated that he was encouraged to play for the France under-16 team as a teenager, but that "I told them I don't need to go because there is no point to wear the French shirt, I don't have feelings with French players". In an interview with The Guardian in May 2010, he stated:

Me playing for Cameroon was a natural and normal thing. I have no feeling for the France national team; it just doesn't exist. When people ask of my generation in France, 'Where are you from?', they will reply Morocco, Algeria, Cameroon or wherever. But what has amazed me in England is that when I ask the same question of people like Lennon and Defoe, they'll say: 'I'm English.' That's one of the things that I love about life here. Assou-Ekotto took part in the 2014 World Cup, headbutting teammate Benjamin Moukandjo in his country's 4–0 loss to Croatia. He played no further part in the tournament.

Benoît Pierre David Assou-Ekotto was born on 24 March 1984 in Arras, Pas-de-Calais. He was born to a Cameroonian father and French mother. His father, David, was a professional footballer in France and introduced him to the sport.

Assou-Ekotto now lives in his hometown, Arras. He has two children.

Frankness

Assou-Ekotto is known for his forthright social commentary. In 2010, he sparked controversy with his criticism of the inconsistency between the public and private opinions of Premier League footballers, claiming that he was "always honest", though he added that he did not believe that the truth was always "good to say". In 2011, he drew further attention when he commented that football was "just a job", explaining that his primary motivation for playing the game professionally was the wage collected rather than intrinsic pleasure:

I have never bought into the hypocrisy of football but perhaps I'm more strident in my views now. I'm lucky and appreciate what I have, but football is just a job, a means to an end... there are more important things in life than kicking a ball around... Yes, I play for the money but then doesn't everybody who gets up in the morning and goes to work? They do it to provide for their family. It infuriates me when footballers go on about playing for the shirt. I think they should be held accountable for it when they kiss the badge and six months later clear off for a better pay day. Assou-Ekotto maintained a similar philosophy when his Tottenham teammate Luka Modrić had an unsuccessful and controversial public transfer saga attempting to secure a move from Tottenham to city rivals Chelsea, asserting that a football player could be expected to transfer to a new…