Dani Chigou

Daniel "Dani" Chigou (born 5 July 1983) is a Cameroonian former professional footballer who played as a striker. In a journeyman career, he played for numerous clubs in Italy, Romania, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Russia. He has been compared to fellow Cameroonian striker Samuel Eto'o.^[1]

Dani Chigou

Chigou with FK Dukla Prague in 2011
Personal information
Full name	Daniel Chigou
Date of birth	(1983-07-05) 5 July 1983 (age 41)
Place of birth	Limbe, Cameroon
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s)	Forward
Youth career
2000	Mount Cameroon F.C.
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2001	Fovu Baham
2001–2002	Ternana Calcio	2	(0)
2002–2003	A.S. Andria BAT	25	(3)
2003–2004	Legnano Calcio	19	(1)
2004	A.C. Paternò 2004	12	(4)
2004–2005	S.S. Virtus Lanciano 1924	8	(0)
2005	Sanremese	14	(2)
2005–2007	S.S.C. Giugliano	49	(21)
2007	Nuorese	11	(1)
2007	FC Farul Constanţa	11	(2)
2008	FCM Câmpina	0	(0)
2008	Debreceni VSC	1	(0)
2009–2011	FK Dukla Prague	62	(37)
2011	Volgar-Gazprom	2	(0)
2012–	Dukla Prague	0	(0)
2012	→Zbrojovka Brno (loan)	12	(3)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 30 June 2012

Career

Italy

He played for eight clubs in Italy in a period of seven years.^[2] He began his football career in the 2001–02 season in the Italian Serie B with Ternana Calcio, where he played twice without scoring. After moving on, he represented clubs in Serie C1 and Serie C2.^[3]

Czech Republic

Chigou playing for FK Dukla Prague in 2011

In January 2009, Chigou signed for Czech club FK Dukla Prague from Hungarian side Debrecen.^[4] He made his first appearance for Dukla in a friendly match against SV Wacker Burghausen on 17 January 2009,^[5] scoring two goals.^[6] He opened his account in his second competitive game for the club,^[7] scoring a hat-trick as Dukla defeated Fotbal Fulnek by a club record score, 6–0.^[8]

In the 2009–2010 season he scored 14 goals, becoming the top goalscorer of the Czech 2. Liga together with Pavel Černý and Karel Kroupa.^[9]

Chigou started the following season, the 2010–11 Czech 2. Liga, by scoring six goals in five matches^[4] and again finished the season as the division's top scorer, this time outright, with 19 goals for FK Dukla Prague.^[10] Following the end of the 2010–11 season, Chigou decided not to extend his contract and left the club.^[11]

In July 2011, Chigou had a trial at Belgian First Division club Oud-Heverlee Leuven.^[12] However Chigou was not offered a contract and found himself back at Dukla at the beginning of the 2011–12 Gambrinus liga to train with the club, watching the opening game of the season against Olomouc.^[13] On 25 August 2011 it was announced he had started training at Russian First Division outfit FC Volgar-Gazprom Astrakhan.^[14]

In February 2012, Chigou returned to the Czech Republic, signing once more for Dukla, but immediately going on loan to Czech 2. Liga side FC Zbrojovka Brno.^[15]

Chigou returned to Dukla in the summer of 2012 but did not feature for the first team in the first half of the season. In February 2013 he had a trial at second division 1. SC Znojmo. Despite scoring in a 4–1 friendly win against Austrian third division side Retz, Znojmo manager Leoš Kalvoda decided against signing the player.^[16]

Career statistics

Club	Season	League		Cup		League Cup		Continental		Other		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Ternana Calcio	2001–02	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
Fidelis Andria	2002–03	25	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	25	3
Legnano	2003–04	19	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	19	1
Paternò	2003–04	12	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	12	4
Lanciano	2004–05	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	8	0
Sanremese	2004–05	14	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	14	2
Giugliano	2005–06	32	14	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	32	14
	2006–07	17	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	17	7
	Total	49	21	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	49	21
Nuorese	2006–07	11	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	11	1
Farul Constanţa	2007–08	11	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	11	2
Câmpina	2007–08	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Debrecen	2007–08	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Dukla Prague	2008–09	10	4	0	0	–		0	0	0	0	10	4
	2009–10	26	14	0	0	–		0	0	0	0	26	14
	2010–11	26	19	0	0	–		0	0	0	0	26	19
	Total	62	37	0	0	–		0	0	0	0	62	37
Volgar-Gazprom	2011–12	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
Brno	2011–12	12	3	0	0	–		0	0	0	0	12	3
Career total		228	74	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	228	74

Statistics accurate as of match played 30 June 2012^[3][17]

Honours

Club

FK Dukla Prague

• Czech 2. Liga: 2011

Individual

• Czech 2. Liga top goalscorer: 2010 (shared), 2011

References

1. "Pražské derby mělo černého krále" (in Czech). denik.cz. 7 September 2009. Retrieved 21 June 2011.
2. "Kamerunský útočník Chigou zlepšil přístup a táhne fotbalovou Duklu" (in Czech). idnes.cz. 10 August 2010. Retrieved 21 June 2011.
3. "Daniel Chigou – Carreira – stagioni, presenze, goal" (in Italian). Tutto Calciatori. Retrieved 30 April 2009.
4. "Šest gólů v pěti zápasech. Duklu ve druhé lize táhne kamerunský střelec" (in Czech). idnes.cz. 29 August 2010. Retrieved 21 June 2011.
5. "Freundschaftsspiel SV Wacker Burghausen gegen Dukla Prag endet 3:3 unentschieden" (in German). fussball.sv-wacker.de. Retrieved 21 June 2011.
6. "Dukla v Burghausenu 3:3 s Wackerem" (in Czech). fkdukla.cz. Archived from the original on 6 October 2011. Retrieved 21 June 2011.
7. "Dani Chigou a Petr Malý – góloví debutanti" (in Czech). fkdukla.cz. Archived from the original on 1 April 2012. Retrieved 21 June 2011.
8. "Rekordní výhra – 6:0 nad Fulnekem" (in Czech). fkdukla.cz. Archived from the original on 6 October 2011. Retrieved 21 June 2011.
9. "Ze Zlína odejdu, ví Kroupa, nejlepší střelec druhé ligy" (in Czech). idnes.cz. 7 June 2010. Retrieved 21 June 2011.
10. "Dukla i Žižkov zakončily sezonu remízou, králem střelců je Chigou" (in Czech). idnes.cz. 11 June 2011. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
11. "Kamerunský kanonýr Chigou si s Duklou první ligu nezahraje" (in Czech). idnes.cz. 20 June 2011. Retrieved 20 June 2011.
12. "OH Leuven test een Kameroener" (in Dutch). voetbalkrant.com. 6 July 2011. Retrieved 7 July 2011.
13. "Kamerunský kanonýr Chigou trénuje na Dukle, vrátí se?" (in Czech). idnes.cz. 1 August 2011. Retrieved 1 August 2011.
14. "Волгарь-Газпром" пригласил нападающего из Камеруна (in Russian). donnews.ru. 25 August 2011. Archived from the original on 31 March 2012. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
15. "Kanonýr Chigou opět patří Dukle, na jaře ale bude hostovat v Brně" (in Czech). idnes.cz. 26 February 2012. Retrieved 26 February 2012.
16. "Znojemští fotbalisté zkoušeli Chigoua. Dal gól, přesto neuspěl" (in Czech). idnes.cz. 25 February 2013. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
17. "Romanian Soccer – History and Statistics – Daniel CHIGOU". Romanian Soccer. Retrieved 1 August 2011.

External links

• Dani Chigou – Czech First League statistics at Fotbal DNES (in Czech)
• Dani Chigou at Soccerway