Martin Hongla

Martin Hongla Yma II (born 16 March 1998) is a Cameroonian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back or a defensive midfielder for Italian club Hellas Verona and the Cameroon national team.

Martin Hongla
Hongla playing for Cameroon at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations
Personal information
Full name Martin Hongla Yma II[1]
Date of birth (1998-03-16) 16 March 1998
Place of birth Yaoundé, Cameroon
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)[2]
Position(s) Centre back, defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Hellas Verona
Number 18
Youth career
Nkufo Academy
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2019 Granada B 35 (1)
2017–2019 Granada 10 (0)
2018 → Barcelona B (loan) 6 (0)
2019 → Karpaty Lviv (loan) 13 (2)
2019–2022 Royal Antwerp 37 (3)
2021–2022 → Hellas Verona (loan) 18 (1)
2022– Hellas Verona 12 (0)
2023 → Valladolid (loan) 16 (0)
International career‡
Cameroon U17
Cameroon U20
Cameroon U23
2020– Cameroon 21 (0)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Cameroon
Africa Cup of Nations
Third place2021 Cameroon
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 1 September 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 7 December 2022

Club career

Born in Yaoundé, Hongla joined Granada CF in 2016, from Blaise Nkufo's Nkufo Sports Academy.[3] He was initially assigned to the reserves in Segunda División B.

Hongla made his senior debut on 21 August 2016, starting in a 1–1 home draw against Atlético Mancha Real.[4] He made his first team – and La Liga – debut on 28 January 2017, playing the full 90 minutes in a 2–0 defeat at Villarreal CF.[5]

Ahead of the 2017–18 season, Hongla was definitely promoted to the main squad, now in Segunda División.[6] On 16 January 2018, he was loaned to fellow league team FC Barcelona B, for six months.[7]

On 3 July 2019, after a six-month loan to FC Karpaty Lviv, Hongla joined Royal Antwerp FC in the Belgian First Division A.[8] On 9 July 2021, he joined Italian Serie A club Hellas Verona on loan with a conditional purchase obligation.[9]

On 31 January 2023, Hongla returned to Spain and its top tier, after agreeing to a six-month loan deal with Real Valladolid.[10]

International career

Hongla played at the 2015 African U-17 Championship, 2017 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations qualification and the 2019 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations.[11]

He made his debut for Cameroon national team on 16 November 2020 in a Cup of Nations qualifier game against Mozambique, as a starter.[12]

Career statistics
As of match played 28 May 2023[13]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Granada B 2016–17 Segunda División B 230———230
2017–18 Segunda División B 121———121
Total 351———351
Granada 2016–17 La Liga 10000——100
Barcelona B (loan) 2017–18 Segunda División 60———60
Karpaty Lviv (loan) 2018–19 Ukrainian Premier League 13120—2[lower-alpha 1]0171
Royal Antwerp 2019–20 Belgian First Division A 90402[lower-alpha 2]0—150
2020–21 Belgian First Division A 283108[lower-alpha 2]06[lower-alpha 3]0433
Total 3735010060583
Hellas Verona (loan) 2021–22 Serie A 18120——201
Hellas Verona 2022–23 Serie A 9010——100
2023–24 Serie A 0000——00
Total 9010——100
Real Valladolid (loan) 2022–23 La Liga 160———160
Career total 1446100100801726
  1. Appearances in Relegation play-offs
  2. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  3. Appearances in Belgian Pro League play-offs

Honours

Antwerp

References
  1. "Martin HONGLA". Confederation of African Football. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  2. "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022: List of players: Cameroon" (PDF). FIFA. 15 November 2022. p. 5. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
  3. "Martin Hongla, convicción y atrevimiento" [Martin Hongla, confidence and audacity] (in Spanish). Granada Digital. 30 September 2016. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
  4. "El Atlético Mancha Real debuta con un empate en Granada" [Atlético Mancha Real debut with a draw in Granada] (in Spanish). El Deporte de Jaén. 21 August 2016. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
  5. "El Villarreal vuela sin Pato" [Villarreal fly without Pato] (in Spanish). Marca. 28 January 2017. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
  6. "Martin Hongla tendrá ficha con el primer equipo" [Martin Hongla will have a first team place] (in Spanish). Ideal. 14 July 2017. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  7. "Granada CF agree to loan of Martin Hongla". FC Barcelona. 16 January 2018. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  8. "Comunicado | El Granada CF acuerda el traspaso de Hongla al Royal Antwerp FC" [Announcement | Granada CF agree the transfer of Hongla to Royal Antwerp FC] (in Spanish). Granada CF. 3 July 2019. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
  9. "Benvenuto Martin! Dal Royal Antwerp arriva il centrocampista Hongla" (in Italian). Hellas Verona. 9 July 2021.
  10. "Hongla fortalece la plantilla" [Hongla bolsters the squad] (in Spanish). Real Valladolid. 31 January 2023. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  11. "Martin Hongla profile". Global Sports Archive. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  12. "Mozambique v Cameroon game report". ESPN. 16 November 2020.
  13. Martin Hongla at Soccerway
  14. "Club Brugge v Antwerp". goal.com. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
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