Carlos Kameni

France

Born in Douala, Kameni was first spotted when, aged 16, he became the youngest footballer to win an Olympic gold medal, in 2000. This earned him a transfer to French club Le Havre AC but he was unable to break into the first team, and remained a reserve for the duration of his spell, also being loaned to AS Saint-Étienne and also failing to gain any playing time there. In 2001 he was linked with a move to Juventus FC, but nothing came of it. Kameni almost joined Premier League's Wolverhampton Wanderers on a season-long loan for the 2003–04 season, but the deal collapsed after he was not granted a United Kingdom work permit.

Espanyol

20-year-old Kameni signed with Spanish side RCD Espanyol in July 2004 for US$600,000, and became first choice in his second year, winning the Copa del Rey as backup to Gorka Iraizoz, who started in La Liga. In the 2006–07 campaign, the opposite: Kameni was the starter, and Iraizoz was picked for the Catalans' UEFA Cup runner-up run. Early in 2006, the club suspended two fans for racist abuse towards the player. In 2008–09, a tense season for Espanyol, which ranked in the bottom three for a lengthy period, Kameni had two incidents: first, he had a near-physical confrontation with a fan (who first insulted the player) after a training session in January, then fought with teammate Grégory Béranger again in training, in May. He still featured in 37 out of 38 league games, being essential to his team's survival, and also broke…

A Cameroon international since the age of 17, in a 0–0 friendly draw against South Korea on 25 May 2001, Kameni was part of the national team squads at the 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, starting in all but the first. He was first-choice as his country finished second at the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup, having already been selected for the tournament's previous edition. In 2002, Kameni was picked for Cameroon's squad of 23 at the 2002 FIFA World Cup. He was named Best African Goalkeeper for 2006–07, after being runner-up the previous season. Kameni was also chosen for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, and was expected to start by many observers. However, he ended up on the bench as coach Paul Le Guen preferred Souleymanou Hamidou over him, and the national side was the first team to be eliminated from the tournament after losing all three group matches. On 27 October 2015, more than two years after being left out of consideration for selection for "trying to orchestrate disorder", Kameni was called by new manager Volker Finke for a game against Niger for the 2018 World Cup qualifiers.

Club

As of match played 25 April 2023

International

Kameni's older brother, Mathurin, was also a footballer and a goalkeeper.