Franck Songo'o

Early career

Born in the Cameroonian capital, Yaoundé, Songo'o began his youth footballing career at Spanish club Deportivo de La Coruña. Franck's father, Jacques, played for Deportivo's senior club and was part of the squad that won the 1999–2000 La Liga championship. At Deportivo, Franck was spotted by Spanish club FC Barcelona. He spent several years at Barcelona's youth facility centre, La Masia, alongside future stars Lionel Messi, Cesc Fàbregas, and Gerard Piqué. Although Songo'o did not make an immediate impact on Barça's first team, he impressed other clubs, drawing interest from the Premier League.

Portsmouth

On 31 August 2005, Songo'o signed for Portsmouth for a fee of £250,000. He made two appearances for Portsmouth in the 2005–2006 season. After several loan spells, on 13 January 2008, he made his third and final Premier League appearance for Portsmouth as a second-half substitute for Arnold Mvuemba against Sunderland while a number of Portsmouth's first eleven were away at the African Cup of Nations in Ghana. He was then loaned out again to Sheffield Wednesday and left England at the end of the season.

Loan spells

On 20 October 2006, Songo'o joined League 1 side Bournemouth on a one-month loan but failed to make an impact. On 8 March 2007, he signed with Championship club Preston North End on loan until the end of the season. He became Neil Warnock's first signing at Crystal Palace at the end of October 2007, returning to…

France U-19

Although he was born in Cameroon, he has represented the French under-19 international team.

Cameroon national team

In 2008 Songo'o applied to FIFA for a change in nationality to allow him to play in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The request was granted, and Songo'o was named in the Cameroon national squad for the games. He earned his first cap for Cameroon in the 2010 World Cup Qualifiers match against Cape Verde on 6 September 2008. In November 2012, Songo'o was called up for the first time in four years. He came on as a second-half substitute in a friendly against Albania on 14 November 2012.

The Songo'o family has raised many footballers. Franck is the son of former Cameroonian national team goalkeeper Jacques Songo'o, who featured for Spanish side Deportivo La Coruña in the late 1990s and early 2000s. His brother, Yann Songo'o, was formerly on the books of Blackburn Rovers. Near the end of his playing career it was reported that Franck Songo'o was becoming involved with several businesses in A Coruña owned by his father.