Martin Hongla Yma II (born 16 March 1998) is a Cameroonian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder or centre-back for La Liga club Granada and the Cameroon national team.

Martin Hongla
Hongla playing for Cameroon at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations
Personal information
Full name Martin Hongla Yma II[1]
Date of birth (1998-03-16) 16 March 1998 (age 26)
Place of birth Yaoundé, Cameroon
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)[2]
Position(s) Defensive midfielder, centre-back
Team information
Current team
Granada
Number 6
Youth career
0000–2016 Nkufo Academy
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2018 Granada B 35 (1)
2017–2019 Granada 10 (0)
2018Barcelona B (loan) 6 (0)
2019Karpaty Lviv (loan) 13 (2)
2019–2022 Royal Antwerp 37 (3)
2021–2022Hellas Verona (loan) 18 (1)
2022–2024 Hellas Verona 24 (0)
2023Valladolid (loan) 16 (0)
2024– Granada 0 (0)
International career
2015 Cameroon U17 3 (1)
2017 Cameroon U20 3 (2)
2019 Cameroon U23 2 (0)
2020– Cameroon 22 (0)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Cameroon
Africa Cup of Nations
Third place 2021 Cameroon
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 6 January 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 28 March 2023

Club career edit

Born in Yaoundé, Hongla joined Granada CF in 2016, from Blaise Nkufo's Nkufo Sports Academy.[3] He was initially assigned to the reserves in Segunda División B.

Hongla made his senior debut on 21 August 2016, starting in a 1–1 home draw against Atlético Mancha Real.[4] He made his first team – and La Liga – debut on 28 January 2017, playing the full 90 minutes in a 2–0 defeat at Villarreal CF.[5]

Ahead of the 2017–18 season, Hongla was definitely promoted to the main squad, now in Segunda División.[6] On 16 January 2018, he was loaned to fellow league team FC Barcelona B, for six months.[7]

On 3 July 2019, after a six-month loan to FC Karpaty Lviv, Hongla joined Royal Antwerp FC in the Belgian First Division A.[8] On 9 July 2021, he joined Italian Serie A club Hellas Verona on loan with a conditional purchase obligation.[9]

On 31 January 2023, Hongla returned to Spain and its top tier, after agreeing to a six-month loan deal with Real Valladolid.[10]

On 12 January 2024, Hongla returned to Granada.[11][12] He reportedly signed a three-and-a-half-year contract for a transfer fee of €2.5 million.[13]

International career edit

Hongla played at the 2015 African U-17 Championship, 2017 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations qualification and the 2019 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations.[14]

He made his debut for Cameroon national team on 16 November 2020 in a Cup of Nations qualifier game against Mozambique, as a starter.[15]

Career statistics edit

As of match played 10 November 2023[16]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Granada B 2016–17 Segunda División B 23 0 23 0
2017–18 Segunda División B 12 1 12 1
Total 35 1 35 1
Granada 2016–17 La Liga 10 0 0 0 10 0
Barcelona B (loan) 2017–18 Segunda División 6 0 6 0
Karpaty Lviv (loan) 2018–19 Ukrainian Premier League 13 2 2 0 2[a] 0 17 1
Royal Antwerp 2019–20 Belgian First Division A 9 0 4 0 2[b] 0 15 0
2020–21 Belgian First Division A 28 3 1 0 8[b] 0 6[c] 0 43 3
Total 37 3 5 0 10 0 6 0 58 3
Hellas Verona (loan) 2021–22 Serie A 18 1 2 0 20 1
Hellas Verona 2022–23 Serie A 9 0 1 0 10 0
2023–24 Serie A 11 0 2 0 13 0
Total 38 1 5 0 43 0
Real Valladolid (loan) 2022–23 La Liga 16 0 16 0
Career total 155 7 12 0 10 0 8 0 185 7
  1. ^ Appearances in Relegation play-offs
  2. ^ a b Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  3. ^ Appearances in Belgian Pro League play-offs

International edit

As of match played 28 March 2023[17]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Cameroon
2020 1 0
2021 10 0
2022 10 0
2023 1 0
Total 22 0

Honours edit

Antwerp

Cameroon

References edit

  1. ^ "Martin HONGLA". Confederation of African Football. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  2. ^ "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022: List of players: Cameroon" (PDF). FIFA. 15 November 2022. p. 5. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
  3. ^ "Martin Hongla, convicción y atrevimiento" [Martin Hongla, confidence and audacity] (in Spanish). Granada Digital. 30 September 2016. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
  4. ^ "El Atlético Mancha Real debuta con un empate en Granada" [Atlético Mancha Real debut with a draw in Granada] (in Spanish). El Deporte de Jaén. 21 August 2016. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
  5. ^ "El Villarreal vuela sin Pato" [Villarreal fly without Pato] (in Spanish). Marca. 28 January 2017. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
  6. ^ "Martin Hongla tendrá ficha con el primer equipo" [Martin Hongla will have a first team place] (in Spanish). Ideal. 14 July 2017. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  7. ^ "Granada CF agree to loan of Martin Hongla". FC Barcelona. 16 January 2018. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  8. ^ "Comunicado | El Granada CF acuerda el traspaso de Hongla al Royal Antwerp FC" [Announcement | Granada CF agree the transfer of Hongla to Royal Antwerp FC] (in Spanish). Granada CF. 3 July 2019. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
  9. ^ "Benvenuto Martin! Dal Royal Antwerp arriva il centrocampista Hongla" (in Italian). Hellas Verona. 9 July 2021.
  10. ^ "Hongla fortalece la plantilla" [Hongla bolsters the squad] (in Spanish). Real Valladolid. 31 January 2023. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  11. ^ "Comunicado Oficial | Martin Hongla, nuevo jugador del Granada CF" [Official Statement | Martin Hongla, new Granada CF player] (in Spanish). Granada CF. 12 January 2024. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  12. ^ "Martin Hongla moves to Granada". Hellas Verona. 12 January 2024. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  13. ^ "Martin Hongla, quinto refuerzo" [Martin Hongla, fifth reinforcement]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 12 January 2024. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  14. ^ "Martin Hongla profile". Global Sports Archive. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  15. ^ "Mozambique v Cameroon game report". ESPN. 16 November 2020.
  16. ^ Martin Hongla at Soccerway  
  17. ^ Martin Hongla at National-Football-Teams.com  
  18. ^ "Club Brugge v Antwerp". goal.com. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  19. ^ AfricaNews (6 February 2022). "Cameroon beats Burkina Faso to end AFCON 2021 in third place". Africanews. Retrieved 6 February 2022.

External links edit