Japhet N'Doram

[1] Born in N'Djamena, N'Doram begun his career with local Tourbillon FC, then spent three seasons in Cameroon with Tonnerre Yaoundé, one of the biggest clubs in Sub-Saharan Africa.

In 1990 the 24-year-old signed for FC Nantes in France, scoring two goals in 19 games in his first season in Ligue 1; his first professional contract arrived as Argentine Jorge Burruchaga was recovering from injury and accepted to be given an amateur licence on behalf of his teammate.

[2] N'Doram became something of a cult hero at Stade de la Beaujoire, scoring important goals as the club's 2000th in the top division, through a penalty against Lille OSC (1–0 win) or the second in a 3–2 home triumph against Juventus FC in the 1995–96 UEFA Champions League semi-finals (3–4 aggregate loss).

[3] In 1994–95, he netted 12 goals as Les Canaris won their seventh national championship – the first in 12 years – bettering to a career-best 21 in the 1996–97 campaign (second-best in the competition).

Aged 31, N'Doram left Nantes and signed for fellow league side AS Monaco FC, winning the 1997 Trophée des Champions,[4] but retired at the end of the season following a persistent injury sustained during a match against his former team.