Photo : Ronnie Macdonald, CC BY-SA 2.0
Benoît Assou-Ekotto
The Tottenham full-back who called football "just a job"
Born in 1984
Cameroonian roots : Born in Arras to a Cameroonian father, David Assou-Ekotto, himself a professional footballer in France, and a French mother.
Who are they?
A left-back born in Arras in 1984 and trained at RC Lens. He joined Tottenham Hotspur in 2006 and stayed until 2015, with a loan spell at Queens Park Rangers in 2013-14, before returning to Ligue 1 with Saint-Étienne and then Metz.
What made them famous
A regular at Tottenham under Harry Redknapp, he was part of the side that qualified the club for the Champions League in 2010. He also stood out for his candour, repeatedly saying football was simply his job, and travelling to training on public transport.
Key facts
- He chose to play for Cameroon, saying he felt "more Cameroonian than French", and won his first cap in February 2009.
- He played at two World Cups with the Indomitable Lions, in 2010 and 2014.
- Won the UEFA Intertoto Cup with RC Lens in 2005.
- His first professional goal gave Tottenham a 2-1 win over Liverpool on the opening weekend of the 2009-10 season.