Prince Segbefia

Kossi Prince Segbefia (born 11 March 1991) is a Togolese professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Turkish club Tuzlaspor. He is a Togolese international, having made his debut in September 2011 against Botswana. His older brother, Alikem, is also a footballer who plays for Al-Jaish SC Damascus in Syria.

Prince Segbefia
Segbefia in 2014
Personal information
Full name Kossi Prince Segbefia[1]
Date of birth (1991-03-11) 11 March 1991
Place of birth Lomé, Togo
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Tuzlaspor
Number 10
Youth career
1998–2007 Sporting Club de Lomé
2007–2009 Al Ain
2009–2010 Auxerre
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2010–2014 Auxerre 60 (3)
2014–2015 Zorya Luhansk 9 (1)
2015–2016 Elazığspor 24 (5)
2016–2018 Göztepe 28 (3)
2018–2019 Gazişehir Gaziantep 44 (3)
2020 Altay 2 (0)
2020– Tuzlaspor 17 (1)
International career‡
2006–2007 Togo U17 8 (0)
2011– Togo 14 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 1 July 2021
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 28 December 2014

Club career

Early career

Born in Lomé, Segbefia began his football career at the Centre de Développement Sportif de Lomé (English: Sports Development Centre of Lomé), also known as Sporting Club de Lomé.[2] He spent nearly a decade at the club before venturing to France where he underwent trials with professional clubs Marseille, Reims, Niort, and Sochaux.[2][3] Several of the clubs were interested in signing Segbefia to a youth contract, but due to his age, 16 years old at the time, he was not signed.[2] Afterwards, Segbefia returned to Togo where he was spotted by German Winfried Schäfer who was serving as manager of Al Ain in the United Arab Emirates. Segbefia, subsequently, signed with the club.[2] Due to Al Ain being allowed to use only four foreigners in its squad, he spent most of his time with Al Ain playing on the reserve team.[4]

Auxerre

In 2009, Segbefia returned to his home country and met with former Sporting Club de Lomé player Emmanuel Adebayor. Adebayor recommended that he play in France and contacted Francis de Taddeo who had coached him at Metz and was now serving as the youth academy director of Auxerre.[4] After successfully trialing with the club, Segbefia was signed to a one-year amateur contract.[3] He spent the 2009–10 season playing on Auxerre's under-19 team before earning promotion to the club's reserve team in the Championnat de France amateur, the fourth level of French football, for the 2010–11 season. Segbefia spent the majority of the season with the team making 17 appearances and scoring one goal.[5] In April 2011, he was called up to the senior team by manager Jean Fernandez and made his club debut in a 1–0 league victory over Toulouse appearing as a substitute.[6] A week later, he made his first club start in a 1–1 draw with Lens.[7] Segbefia finished the campaign with four appearances and, on 6 May 2011, signed a three-year professional contract with the club.[8]

International career

Youth

Segbefia made his youth international debut at under-17 level playing with the Togo under-17 team. He made his debut in a 2006 friendly match against the Burkina Faso.[2] The Togo under-17 team later qualified for both the 2007 African Under-17 Championship and the 2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup. In the former competition, he appeared in all five matches the team contested as it finished runner-up to Nigeria. In the U-17 World Cup, he appeared in two group stage matches; as a starter in a 1–1 draw with Costa Rica and as a substitute in a 2–1 defeat against South Korea.[9][10] Togo finished its group in last place.

Senior

On 28 August 2011, Segbefia was called up to the senior national team for the first time for a 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match against Botswana on 4 September.[11] He made his senior international debut in the match, which Togo won 1–0.[12]

Career statistics

Club
As of 18 December 2011
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup[lower-alpha 1] Europe[lower-alpha 2] Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Auxerre 2010–11 Ligue 1 40000040
2011–12 50200070
Total 902000110
Career total 902000110
  1. Appearances in Coupe de France, Coupe de la Ligue, Trophée des Champions
  2. Appearances in UEFA Supercup

International
As of 31 October 2011
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamSeasonAppsGoals
Togo 2011–1220
Total20
Scores and results list Togo's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Segbefia goal.
List of international goals scored by Prince Segbefia
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
119 November 2014Tamale Stadium, Tamale, Ghana Ghana2–13–12015 Africa Cup of Nations qualification

References
  1. "Kossi Prince SEGBEFIA" (in French). National Union of Professional Footballers. Archived from the original on 25 March 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
  2. "Prince Segbefia: Espoir du Milieu des Éperviers du Togo" (in French). TooTogo. Archived from the original on 24 December 2011. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
  3. "Togo: Prince Segbefia signe à Auxerre" (in French). StarAfrica. 6 May 2011. Archived from the original on 3 April 2012. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
  4. "Espoir du mois: Segbefia Prince" (in French). Togo Football News. 13 February 2011. Archived from the original on 9 May 2016. Retrieved 31 October 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  5. "Auxerre B: 9e CFA Groupe B" (in French). Stat2Foot. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
  6. "Toulouse v. Auxerre Match Report" (in French). Ligue de Football Professionnel. 16 April 2011. Archived from the original on 20 April 2011. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
  7. "Auxerre v. Lens Match Report" (in French). Ligue de Football Professionnel. 24 April 2011. Archived from the original on 31 August 2011. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
  8. "Communiqué Officiel: Prince Segbefia prolonge son contrat avec l'AJA" (in French). AJ Auxerre. 6 May 2011. Archived from the original on 17 July 2012. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
  9. "Costa Rica v. Togo Match Report". Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 18 August 2007. Archived from the original on 21 October 2009. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
  10. "Korea Republic v. Togo Match Report". Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 24 August 2007. Archived from the original on 5 June 2012. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
  11. "Bien qu'éliminé, le Togo soigne ses derniers matches". Afriquinfos. 28 August 2011. Archived from the original on 12 October 2011. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
  12. "Togo v. Botswana Match Report". Soccerway. 4 September 2011. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
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