Ajara Nchout Njoya (born 12 January 1993) is a Cameroonian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Saudi Women's Premier League club Al Qadsiah and the Cameroon women's national team.

Ajara Nchout
Personal information
Full name Ajara Nchout Njoya[1][2]
Date of birth (1993-01-12) 12 January 1993 (age 31)
Place of birth Njissé, Cameroon
Height 1.64 m (5 ft 5 in)[1]
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
Al Qadsiah
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007–2010 Franck Rollycek de Douala 0 (0)
2011–2012 FC Energy Voronezh 23 (5)
2012–2013 WFC Rossiyanka 14 (2)
2014 AS Police de Yaoundé 0 (0)
2015 Western New York Flash 7 (0)
2016–2017 Sundsvalls 41 (22)
2018 IL Sandviken 19 (15)
2019–2020 Vålerenga 40 (20)
2021 Atlético Madrid 17 (2)
2021–2024 Inter Milan 39 (10)
2024– Al Qadsiah 1 (1)
International career
2012– Cameroon 43[3] (15)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22 April 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 16:26, 23 June 2015 (UTC)

Early life

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Born in Njissé, Foumban, Nchout states that her family discouraged her from playing football, preferring that she instead focus on education.[4]

Club career

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In January 2015 Nchout agreed to join Western New York Flash of the NWSL.[5] She had previously played in the Russian Top Division for FC Energy Voronezh and WFC Rossiyanka.

She was waived by the Flash in October 2015.[6] In December 2015 she announced that she had signed for Sundsvalls DFF of the Swedish Elitettan.[7]

Nchout later signed with Vålerenga after appearing in 22 matches for Sandviken. She missed the final of the Norwegian cup with Sandviken as she was on international duty with Cameroon, a match they lost.[8]

International career

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As a member of the Cameroonian national team, she played at the 2012 Summer Olympics.[9] She was also part of the national team at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup and 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup.[4] She was capped for all four matches in the 2015 World Cup, and scored a goal against Japan,[6] the team that ended up placing second in the tournament. During the 2019 World Cup, she scored the team's only two goals in the team's only win of group play that led them to the round of 16.[10] In August 2019, she was nominated for 2019 FIFA Puskas Award for her goal against New Zealand at the FIFA Women's World Cup.[11]

Honours

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Vålerenga

Atlético Madrid

Cameroon

Individual

International goals

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No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 12 June 2015 BC Place, Vancouver, Canada   Japan 1–2 1–2 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup
2. 6 June 2018 Stade Alphonse Massemba-Débat, Brazzaville, Congo   Congo 2–0 5–0 2018 Women's Africa Cup of Nations qualification
3. 9 June 2018 Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, Yaoundé, Cameroon   Congo 1–0 5–0
4. 17 November 2018 Accra Sports Stadium, Accra, Ghana   Mali 2–1 2–1 2018 Women's Africa Cup of Nations
5. 20 November 2018   Algeria 3–0 3–0
6. 20 June 2019 Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier, France   New Zealand 1–0 2–1 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup
7. 2–1
8. 12 November 2019 Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, Yaoundé, Cameroon   Ivory Coast 2–1 2–1 2020 CAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament
9. 5 March 2020   Zambia 1–1 3–2
10. 10 March 2020 Nkoloma Stadium, Lusaka, Zambia   Zambia 1–2 1–2
11. 10 April 2021 Arslan Zeki Demirci Sports Complex, Antalya, Turkey   Chile 1–2 1–2 2020 Summer Olympics qualification
12. 18 February 2022 Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, Yaoundé, Cameroon   Gambia 2–0 8–0 2022 Women's Africa Cup of Nations qualification
13 9 July 2022 Stade Mohammed V, Casablanca, Morocco   Tunisia 2–0 2–0 2022 Women's Africa Cup of Nations
14. 17 July 2022 Stade Moulay Hassan, Rabat, Morocco   Botswana 1–0 1–0
15. 21 February 2023 Waikato Stadium, Hamilton, New Zealand   Portugal 1–1 1–2 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification

References

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  1. ^ a b "List of Players – Cameroon" (PDF). FIFA. 30 May 2015. p. 3. Retrieved 6 June 2015. FIFA Display Name: Ajara NCHOUT, Last Name: NCHOUT NJOYA, First Name: Ajara, Shirt Name: NCHOUT
  2. ^ "Ajara Nchout Njoya". Western New York Flash. Archived from the original on 27 May 2018. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  3. ^ "Profile". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 10 June 2015. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  4. ^ a b Enow, Njie (21 June 2019). "Cameroon's Nchout Ajara, a heroine on and off the pitch, can hurt England". BBC. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  5. ^ "Flash Sign Two International Forwards". www.nwslsoccer.com. 29 January 2015. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  6. ^ a b "Flash Waive Ajara Nchout Njoya" (Press release). WNY Flash. 21 October 2015. Archived from the original on 10 December 2017. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  7. ^ "VM-spelare till Sundsvalls DFF" (in Swedish). Damfotboll.com. 28 December 2015. Archived from the original on 4 June 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  8. ^ "Cameroon star Ajara Nchout Njoya on the move in Norway". bbc.co.uk. 19 December 2018.
  9. ^ "Ajara Nchout profile at 2012 Olympics website". Archived from the original on 30 May 2013. Retrieved 28 November 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  10. ^ Hafez, Shamoon (20 June 2019). "Women's World Cup: Cameroon score injury-time winner to set up England tie". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  11. ^ "2019 FIFA Puskas Award : Nchout Ajara, the wonder girl with phenomenal goals". CRTV. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  12. ^ a b Ahmadu, Samuel (7 December 2020). "Nchout revels in Norwegian Toppserien topscorer gong and title win with Valerenga". Goal. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  13. ^ "2020 Toppserien Women: Nchout Ajara's Veleranga Wins Cup Title". Cameroon Radio Television (in French). 7 December 2020. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  14. ^ "Norwegian Cup final: Ajara scores in extra time as Valerenga defeats LSK to complete double". KICK442. 13 December 2020. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  15. ^ "Dritter Neuzugang im Januar - Madrid verpflichtet Nchout - Newsansicht - Frauenfußball auf soccerdonna.de".
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