Lauren

Club

International

Scores and results list Cameroon's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Lauren goal.

Early career

Lauren was born in Kribi, Cameroon to parents from Equatorial Guinea who had fled political persecution during the dictatorship of Francisco Macías Nguema. At a young age his family moved to Seville, Spain, where he was raised. He started his career in Spain playing for Utrera on loan from Sevilla. He then played for Sevilla B, Levante, and Mallorca. He played with Mallorca in the 1999 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final defeat against Lazio, and helped Mallorca qualify for the Champions League by coming 3rd in the 1998–99 La Liga season. After the end of 1999–2000 La Liga season, Lauren received offers from numerous clubs including Real Madrid and Roma but ended up moving to Arsenal in England.

Arsenal

After a transfer to Italian club Roma fell through, he moved to English club Arsenal in 2000. He made his Arsenal debut as a substitute against Sunderland on 19 August 2000 and scored his first goal for the club just two days later against Liverpool. However his first season was blighted by injuries. Although at first Lauren was unable to gain a regular place in the Arsenal side, he eventually ended up becoming the club's first-choice right-back, replacing Lee Dixon and leapfrogging Oleh Luzhnyi in the process. By the time Arsenal had won the Double in 2001–02, Lauren was an integral part of the Arsenal defence. Lauren missed part of the season as he went off to play in the 2002 Africa Cup of Nations, but returned to feature for Arsenal from February…

Lauren chose to represent Cameroon, the nation of his birth, despite saying he feels Spanish. He made the decision following an invitation from former Cameroonian goalkeeper Thomas N'Kono who had found out that Lauren was born in Cameroon. Lauren said that "went there knowing nothing of Cameroon and not knowing the language." While on international duty, he would roommate with Samuel Eto'o who also spoke Spanish. Lauren made his senior international debut for Cameroon in 1998. With Cameroon he won a gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, playing six matches and scoring three goals. With the senior team, he won the 2000 African Cup of Nations. This success was repeated with victory at the 2002 Africa Cup of Nations; Cameroon beat Senegal on penalties after a 0–0 draw. Lauren scored in the penalty shootout. He was also part of the Cameroon squad at the 1998 World Cup in France and the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea. Lauren played a total of 24 matches for the senior team, scoring two goals. Lauren retired from international football at the age of 25 in 2002.

He is also an avid boxer and enjoys sparring in his spare time. He lives in Seville, and has two children.