Nzuzi Bundebele Toko (born 20 November 1990) is a Congolese former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He represented the DR Congo national team. Toko holds both Swiss and DR Congo nationality; he played youth international football for the former and senior international football for the latter.
 Toko in 2014 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Nzuzi Bundebele Toko[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 20 November 1990 | ||
| Place of birth | Kinshasa, Zaire | ||
| Height | 1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)[2] | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2007–2008 | Grasshoppers II | 10 | (1) |
| 2008–2014 | Grasshoppers | 143 | (7) |
| 2014–2015 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 0 | (0) |
| 2015–2016 | Eskişehirspor | 31 | (1) |
| 2016–2018 | FC St. Gallen | 47 | (2) |
| 2018–2019 | Al-Fateh | 11 | (1) |
| 2019–2020 | IFK Göteborg | 21 | (0) |
| 2020–2022 | Würzburger Kickers | 15 | (0) |
| 2022–2023 | FC Dietikon | 10 | (5) |
| Total | 288 | (17) | |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2011–2012 | Switzerland U21 | 13 | (2) |
| 2010–2015 | DR Congo | 4 | (0) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23 February 2023 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23 February 2023 | |||
He is best known for his time playing for Grasshopper Club Zürich, with whom he won the 2012–13 Swiss Cup.
Early and personal life
editBorn in Kinshasa, Zaire, Toko moved to Switzerland at the age of four.[3]
Club career
editToko spent his early career in Switzerland for Grasshoppers II and Grasshoppers.[4][2]
On 20 May 2014, Toko signed a three-year contract with English club Brighton & Hove Albion following the conclusion of his contract at Grasshoppers.[3] [5] His agent revealed that Toko had turned down a move to Russia.[6]
On 20 January 2015, Toko agreed to mutually terminate his contract with Brighton after only eight months at the club.[7] He signed for Turkish club Eskişehirspor the next day.[8] He later played for FC St. Gallen and Al-Fateh,[2] before signing with IFK Göteborg in March 2019.[9]
Since August 2022, he played for FC Dietikon,[10] in the 2. Liga Interregional, the fifth tier of Swiss football. On 22 February 2023, he announced his retirement from football.[11] However, he also made three appearances for the club in March 2023.
International career
editToko scored on his senior international début for the DR Congo national team in a 2–0 win over Saudi Arabia in May 2010.[12] He played in two further games for DR Congo before switching allegiance to Switzerland, a 6–3 loss against Egypt in August 2010 and a 2–0 loss in Paris against Gabon in February 2011.[13]
In March 2011, he chose to play for Switzerland and represented the Swiss under-21 team in games against Saudi Arabia and Qatar.[14] He later represented the under-21 team during 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualification.[15]
In December 2012, he was named in DR Congo's 28-man provisional squad for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations.[16] Although Toko did not make the final squad, he was later called up for DR Congo's 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign. He played his first competitive game for DR Congo against Libya in March 2013.[17]
Career statistics
editSource:[2]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Other | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Grasshoppers | 2008–09 | Swiss Super League | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[a] | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 2009–10 | Swiss Super League | 18 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 1 | |
| 2010–11 | Swiss Super League | 29 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1[a] | 0 | 31 | 2 | |
| 2011–12 | Swiss Super League | 31 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 1 | |
| 2012–13 | Swiss Super League | 26 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 3 | |
| 2013–14 | Swiss Super League | 33 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 4[b] | 0 | 40 | 3 | |
| Total | 143 | 7 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 157 | 10 | ||
| Brighton & Hove Albion | 2014–15 | Football League Championship | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Eskişehirspor | 2014–15 | Süper Lig | 13 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 1 |
| 2015–16 | Süper Lig | 18 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 0 | |
| Total | 31 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 1 | ||
| St. Gallen | 2016–17 | Swiss Super League | 29 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 1 |
| 2017–18 | Swiss Super League | 18 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 1 | |
| Total | 47 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 50 | 2 | ||
| Al-Fateh | 2018–19 | Saudi Professional League | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 1 |
| IFK Göteborg | 2019 | Allsvenskan | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 0 |
| 2020 | Allsvenskan | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | |
| Total | 21 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 0 | ||
| Würzburger Kickers | 2020–21 | 2. Bundesliga | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 |
| 2021–22 | 3. Liga | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 | ||
| FC Dietikon | 2022–23 | 2. Liga Interregional | 10 | 5 | — | — | 10 | 5 | ||
| Career total | 278 | 16 | 24 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 308 | 19 | ||
- ^ a b Appearance in UEFA Europa League
- ^ Two Appearances in both UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League
References
edit- ^ "NZUZI BUNDEBELE TOKO" (in French). lequipe.fr. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
- ^ a b c d Nzuzi Toko at Soccerway. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
- ^ a b "Nzuzi Toko: Brighton sign Grasshopper Zurich midfielder". BBC Sport. 20 May 2014. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
- ^ Nzuzi Toko at National-Football-Teams.com
- ^ "Toko signs for Albion". Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. 20 May 2014. Archived from the original on 6 June 2014. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "Albion new boy turned down Russian deal". The Argus. 29 May 2014. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
- ^ "Toko Nzuzi Leaves Brighton & Hove Albion". Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. 20 January 2015. Archived from the original on 21 January 2015. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
- ^ "Eskişehirspor, Nzuzi Toko'yu transfer etti". Radikal.
- ^ "Bekräftat: IFK Göteborg värvar". Aftonbladet. 14 March 2019.
- ^ "Der FC Dietikon ist dran an den Ex-Profis Nzuzi Toko und Frank Feltscher" (in Swiss High German). 3 August 2022. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
- ^ "Ex-GC-Profi Nzuzi Toko beendet seine Karriere offiziell" (in Swiss High German). 22 February 2022. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
- ^ "En stage en Autriche - Les Léopards ont livré deux matches contre l'Arabie Saoudite". Le Potentiel (in French). 19 May 2010. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
- ^ "Football - Les Léopards bis griffés par les Panthères du Gabon en amical" (in French). Les Dépêches de Brazzaville. 10 February 2011. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
- ^ "Switzerland learn lessons on Middle East tour". UEFA. 29 March 2011. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
- ^ Nzuzi Toko – UEFA competition record (archive)
- ^ "CAN 2013 : Les 28 de la RD Congo" (in French). Afrik.com. 20 December 2012. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
- ^ Nzuzi Toko – FIFA competition record (archived)