Serge-Junior Martinsson Ngouali

Serge-Junior Martinsson Ngouali (born 23 January 1992), commonly known simply as Junior, is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Norwegian club Sarpsborg 08. Born in Sweden, he represents the Gabon national team.

Serge-Junior Martinsson Ngouali
Martinsson Ngouali with Hammarby IF in 2018
Personal information
Full name Serge-Junior Bertil Nicolas
Martinsson Ngouali
Date of birth (1992-01-23) 23 January 1992
Place of birth Gothenburg, Sweden
Height 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Sarpsborg 08
Number 18
Youth career
Gunnilse IS
Västra Frölunda IF
2004–2009 IF Brommapojkarna
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009–2016 IF Brommapojkarna 172 (11)
2017–2020 Hammarby IF 73 (3)
2021–2022 HNK Gorica 12 (0)
2022– Sarpsborg 08 46 (2)
International career‡
2009–2011 Sweden U19 12 (1)
2011 Sweden U21 1 (0)
2017– Gabon 14 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 4 September 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 18 November 2019

Early life

Martinsson Ngouali was born in Gothenburg, Sweden, to a Central African father of Gabonese descent.[1] His mother is Swedish and Serge-Junior grew up in the city of Gothenburg. Living in the suburb of Hammarkullen, he started to play football at local clubs Gunnilse IS and Västra Frölunda IF.[2]

Together with his mother and twin brother Tom Martinsson Ngouali, also a former professional footballer, he moved to Stockholm in 2003. At age 11, he joined the academy at IF Brommapojkarna.[2]

Career

Brommapojkarna

In 2010, he made his debut for Brommapojkarna in Allsvenskan – the Swedish top tier – at age 18.[3] He played 12 games in the league during his debut season, as Brommapojkarna got relegated to Superettan.[4]

He established himself as a regular starter in the central midfield position for Brommapojkarna in 2012 and 2013, only missing a few competitive games. Martinsson Ngouali soon got known for his technical gift and strong passing game.[5]

Before the start of the 2014 season, he attracted interest from then reigning Swedish champions Malmö FF. Martinsson Ngouali opted to stay at Brommapojkarna and signed a new three-year deal with the club.[5] He made 28 appearances for the side the same year, marking his first full season in Allsvenskan.[4]

Martinsson Ngouali also featured in both legs against the Serie A side Torino as Brommapojkarna got knocked out from the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League third qualifying round. In the first leg on home ground, he got fouled inside the penalty area by defender Giuseppe Vives who received a red card from the referee. Striker Dardan Rexhepi however missed the penalty and Brommapojkarna eventually lost with 0–7 on aggregate.[6]

Brommapojkarna eventually declined and got relegated to Superettan before the start the 2015 season, where they would finish in last place. In 2016, Martinsson Ngouali scored 7 goals – a new career best – as Brommapojkarna won Division 1, the Swedish third tier.[3]

2017
Martinsson Ngouali in a match against Djurgårdens IF in September 2018

On 16 March 2017, he moved to the fellow Stockholm-based team Hammarby IF.[7] Martinsson Ngouali signed a three-year deal with the Allsvenskan club. He rejoined his former manager Stefan Billborn and former teammate Pablo Piñones Arce at Hammarby, now both working as assistant managers at said club.[8]

He made his competitive debut for the club on 3 April, on the first match day of Allsvenskan 2017. Martinsson Ngouali got sent off late in the second half as Hammarby lost 1–2 against IFK Norrköping.[9] He scored his first goal for Hammarby on 7 May in an away fixture against Östersund, netting in a 2–1 loss.[10] Midway through his first season at Hammarby, Junior received much praise from the club's director of football Jesper Jansson, who complimented him as a "real class player" with a strong defensive game and great ability to cover big surfaces on the pitch.[11] On 21 August, in a 3–0 away win against Örebro SK, Martinsson Ngouali attracted a serious thigh injury that kept him out of play for almost two months.[12] He returned to the pitch on 16 October, in a 0–2 away loss against Kalmar FF.[13]

2018

On 12 February 2018, Junior extended his contract for another half year, with the new deal running until June 2020.[14] He played 26 league games for Hammarby, scoring once, as the club finished 4th in the table. He suffered a serious cruciate ligament injury in October, in a 2–1 loss against Malmö FF, with an expected return in the summer of 2019.[15] At the end of 2018, Martinsson Ngouali was voted Hammarby Player of the Year by the fans of the club and also featured in the official Allsvenskan Team of the Year.[16][17]

2019

Martinsson Ngouali spent the first half of the 2019 season nursing his serious knee injury. He made his comeback on 15 September in a 6–2 home win against IFK Göteborg.[18] He eventually played 8 games, scoring once, as Hammarby finished 3rd in the table.

2020

He had difficulties breaking into the side as a regular in 2020, as the club disappointedly finished 8th in the table. On 9 December, it was announced that Martinsson Ngouali would leave the club at the end of the year, as his contract expired.[19]

HNK Gorica

On 15 February 2021, Martinsson Ngouali signed a one and a half-year contract with Prva HNL club HNK Gorica, linking up with Jiloan Hamad, his former teammate from Hammarby.[20]

International career

Martinsson Ngouali won 12 caps for the Swedish under-19 national team between 2009 and 2011.[21] On March 24, 2011, he also made a single appearance for the Swedish under-21s in a 1–3 loss against Italy.[22]

In the summer of 2016, he was approached by the Gabonese national football team when manager José Antonio Camacho invited him to a training camp.[1] He was eventually called up to the final squad ahead of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations.[23] Martinsson Ngouali made his debut for Gabon in a 1–1 draw against Burkina Faso on 18 January 2017 in said tournament.[24]

Honours

Individual

References
  1. "Från svenska division 1 till afrikanska mästerskapen". Dagens Nyheter. January 8, 2017. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  2. "Mamma från Ed på plats när Serge-Junior spelar Afrikanska mästerskapen". NWT. January 13, 2017. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  3. "Serge-Junior Martinsson Ngouali förlänger med BP!". Brommapojkarna. December 16, 2016. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  4. "Serge-Junior Martinsson Ngouali". SVFF. March 18, 2017. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  5. "10. Serge-Junior Martinsson Ngoual". SvenskaFans. March 18, 2017. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  6. "BP föll efter två röda kort och missad straff". Dagens Nyheter. July 31, 2014. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  7. "Serge-Junior Martinsson Ngouali till Hammarby IF". Brommapojkarna. March 16, 2017. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  8. "HTV: Junior klar för Bajen - "Kul att komma till en storklubb"". Hammarby Fotboll. March 16, 2017. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  9. "Uträknat HIF en felskriven slutscen från poäng". Hammarby Fotboll. April 2, 2017. Retrieved April 3, 2017.
  10. "Match: Östersunds FK - Hammarby". Hammarby Fotboll. May 7, 2017. Retrieved May 14, 2017.
  11. "Jesper Jansson tokhyllar Junior: "Fantastisk värvning"". Fotbolldirekt. July 24, 2017. Retrieved August 9, 2017.
  12. "Junior tvingas tacka nej till landslagssamlingen med Gabon". Hammarby Fotboll. 15 September 2017. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
  13. ""0-0-matchen" i Kalmar blev 0-2-förlust". Hammarby Fotboll. 16 October 2017. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
  14. "HTV: Hammarby förlänger med Junior". Hammarby Fotboll. 12 February 2018. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  15. "Junior drabbad av korsbandsskada". Hammarby Fotboll. 20 October 2018. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  16. "Olga och Junior årets Bajenspelare". Hammarby Fotboll. 15 November 2018. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  17. "Årets bästa spelare och lag enligt spelarna själva". Allsvenskan. 20 December 2018. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  18. "Junior tillbaka – tackar för stödet: "Bäst supportrar i Sverige"". Fotboll STHLM. 15 September 2019. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  19. "Junior och Aron lämnar Hammarby" (in Swedish). Hammarby Fotboll. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  20. "Junior Martinsson Ngouali novi igrač Gorice: 'Veselim se ovom izazovu!'" (in Croatian). HNK Gorica. 15 February 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  21. "Landslagsdatabasen: Serge-Junior Martinsson Ngouali". SVFF. March 18, 2017. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  22. "U21 herr: Förlust 3-1 mot Italien". SVFF. March 21, 2011. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  23. "Aubameyang leads cast as hosts Gabon name final Nations Cup squad". BBC. December 27, 2016. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  24. "Matchcenter: Gabon - Burkina Faso". CAF. January 18, 2017. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
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