Florent Sinama Pongolle

Liverpool

Sinama Pongolle began his career at hometown club Saint-Pierroise before moving to Le Havre in Metropolitan France at the age of 11. In 2001, he, along with his cousin Anthony Le Tallec, was signed by Liverpool, after some impressive performances in both the UEFA European Under-16 Championship and the FIFA Under-17 World Championship. He was named player of the tournament as France won the latter competition, and remained at Le Havre – as Le Tallec – for a further two years on loan. After his return, Sinama Pongolle appeared sporadically for the Reds. He made his debut in a UEFA Cup tie against Olimpija Ljubljana and shortly afterwards scored his first goal in a league game against Leeds United. In Liverpool's victorious campaign in the UEFA Champions League, he came from the bench against Olympiacos and immediately scored Liverpool's equaliser to make it 1–1, in an eventual 3–1 win and qualification to the round of 16. However in a League Cup tie against Watford in January 2005 he picked up a knee injury, meaning he missed the rest of the season including Liverpool's victory in the Champions League final. Sinama Pongolle also netted in the third round of the 2005–06 FA Cup against Luton Town, as he helped Liverpool come from 3–1 down to a final score of 5–3, with the side finally emerging victorious in the tournament, and scoring in the 2005–06 Champions League 2–1 away defeat of Real Betis, with a chip from 20 yards. In late January 2006, Sinama Pongolle…

After his under-16 and under-17 exploits, Sinama Pongolle made his France under-21 debut on 21 August 2002. He was a part of the squad that participated in the 2006 UEFA European Championship which took place in Portugal and, at the end of his four-year tenure with this category, ranked first in caps (37) and goals (11). Sinama Pongolle played his only game with the senior side on 14 October 2008, during a 3–1 friendly win against Tunisia.

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International

Sinama Pongolle was born in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.