Clinton Mata

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Clinton Mata
Personal information
Full name Clinton Mukoni Mata Pedro Lourenço[1]
Date of birth (1992-11-07) 7 November 1992 (age 28)
Place of birth Verviers, Belgium
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Position(s) Right back
Club information
Current team
 Club Brugge
Number 77
Youth career
2000–2003 Royal Battice
2003–2004 Entente Rechaintoise
2004 Royal Battice
2004–2008 Etoile Elsautoise
2008–2010 Visé
2010–2011 Eupen
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2014 Eupen 62 (2)
2014–2018 Charleroi 82 (1)
2017–2018 → Genk (loan) 25 (0)
2018– Club Brugge 88 (3)
National team‡
2014– Angola 8 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23:30, 3 July 2021 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 10:40, 3 September 2018 (UTC)

Clinton Mukoni Mata Pedro Lourenço (born 7 November 1992) is a professional footballer who plays for Club Brugge as a right back.

Born in Belgium, he represents Angola at international level.[1][2]

Club career[]

Early years[]

Born in Verviers, Belgium, Mata started playing football with local clubs Royal Battice, Entente Rechaintoise, Etoile Elsautoise and Visé before moving to the KAS Eupen in 2010.[3][4] On 17 February 2012, he made his professional debut in a 2–1 win over Waasland-Beveren in the Belgian Second Division.[5] Afterwards, Mata was not always in the starting eleven, first winning a regular place in the starting lineup in the second half of the 2013–14 season, where Eupen qualified as runner-up for the final round for promotion to the first Belgian league. This ended in a disappointing 1–2 defeat to OH Leuven.[6]

Charleroi[]

In the summer of 2014, Mata moved to Belgian First Division A club Charleroi,[7] where he was mainly a substitute as before in Eupen, before coming closer to a regular starting spot in the second half of the 2015–16 season. As group winners in play-off 2, Charleroi qualified for the play-off for participation in the final for qualifying for the UEFA Europa League. In the playoff match, Mata and his club beat Kortrijk,[8] but lost in the final Europa League play-off match against Genk. The following season marked the breakthrough of Mata for Charleroi, and in August 2017 he moved to Genk on loan.[9] Mata was part of the team qualifying for the UEFA Europa League after Zulte Waregem were beaten 2–0 in the decisive play-off game.[10]

Club Brugge[]

Mata then joined the defending Belgian champions, Club Brugge, but only made his debut on the ninth matchday in the derby against Cercle Brugge due to an injury.[11] Mata evolved into a starter for the club during his first season, where they finished runner-up in the league. He was also utilised in Club Brugge's UEFA Champions League campaign. In the following season, Mata had experienced his breakthrough when he played almost every game and won the Belgian championship with Club Brugge after the COVID-19 pandemic had resulted in the season being abandoned.[12]

International career[]

In July 2014 he was asked to switch his international allegiance to Angola.[13] He made his debut for Angola later that year.[2]

Honours[]

Club Brugge

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c Clinton Mata at Soccerway. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b "Clinton Mata". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
  3. ^ Taecke, Tomas; Dekeyser, Frank (4 April 2019). "Mata: ooit dicht bij Anderlecht, nu gelukkig bij jeugdliefde Club". Het Laatste Nieuws (in Dutch).
  4. ^ "Clinton Mata weet waar hij na Club Brugge naartoe wil - Voetbalbelgie.be". Voetbal België (in Dutch). 20 April 2019.
  5. ^ "AS Eupen vs. Waasland-Beveren - 17 February 2012 - Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  6. ^ Delvaux, Maarten (22 May 2014). "Moeskroen-Péruwelz promoveert dankzij OHL naar eerste klasse". Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch).
  7. ^ Naïli, Ilian (19 June 2014). "Clinton Mata: "Charleroi est un club familial"". Walfoot.be (in French).
  8. ^ "KV Kortrijk maakt zich op voor 'finale' tegen Charleroi". Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). 29 April 2014.
  9. ^ "Officiel : Clinton Mata prêté une saison à Genk sans option d'achat". RTBF Sport (in French). 11 August 2017.
  10. ^ "IJzersterk Genk speelt Zulte Waregem van de mat in finale Play-offs en mag volgend jaar Europa in". Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). 27 May 2018.
  11. ^ Maebe, Guillaume (29 September 2018). "Club Brugge heeft niet één, maar twee geheime wapens tegen Atlético in Champions League". www.nieuwsblad.be (in Dutch).
  12. ^ "Club Brugge wint kampioenenmatch voor 16e titel toepasselijk met 16-0". sporza.be (in Dutch). 17 May 2020.
  13. ^ Mark Gleeson (26 July 2014). "Angola extend their pool of talent ahead of Afcon qualifiers". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
  14. ^ "Club Brugge awarded Belgian Pro League title as season ended early". Sky Sports. 15 May 2020. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  15. ^ "Lang nets as Club Brugge seal Belgian title". Football Oranje. 20 May 2021.
  16. ^ "Club Brugge vs. Gent 3-2". Soccerway. 17 July 2021.
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