Melvin Zinga (born 16 March 2002) is a French professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Ligue 1 club Angers.[1]

Melvin Zinga
Personal information
Date of birth (2002-03-16) 16 March 2002 (age 22)
Place of birth Montivilliers, France
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team
Angers
Number 16
Youth career
2008–2019 Le Havre
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2019–2020 Le Havre B 8 (0)
2020– Angers B 16 (0)
2023– Angers 5 (0)
International career
2017–2018 France U16 4 (0)
2018–2019 France U17 12 (0)
2019–2020 France U18 10 (0)
2021–2022 France U20 5 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 01:40, 1 May 2024 (UTC)

Club career

edit

On 11 July 2020, Zinga signed for Angers for a transfer fee of €200,000.[2][3] On 18 November 2023, he made his senior debut for the club in a 2–0 win over Houilles AC in the seventh round of the Coupe de France.[4][5] Replacing Yahia Fofana during his absence due to the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations,[6] Zinga played in his first match against a professional side on 6 January 2024, a 1–0 loss away to Brest in the Coupe de France round of 64.[7]

International career

edit

Born in France, Zinga is of partial Republic of the Congo descent and has both French and Congolese nationalities.[8] He was a France youth international. He won Lafarge Foot Avenir in 2019 and the Maurice Revello Tournament in 2022 with the under-18 and under-20 teams respectively.[9]

In August 2024, Zinga was called up to the Republic of the Congo national team.[10]

Player profile

edit

Zinga has earned the nickname "kamikaze" among his teammates for his tendency to make daring challenges.[11] In 2023, Angers goalkeeping coach Olivier Tingry said that he is "dynamic, tonic, and rather skillful with his feet", adding that "he is good on his line and has a good vision of the game".[2]

In 2019, Zinga stated that he was a fan of Spanish club Barcelona, and that his football role model was Marc-André ter Stegen.[12]

Honours

edit

France U18

France U20

References

edit
  1. ^ Melvin Zinga at Soccerway
  2. ^ a b RAGUIN, Antoine (18 November 2023). "Coupe de France - Angers Sco. Le gardien Melvin Zinga, un feu intérieur à canaliser". Ouest-France.fr (in French). Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  3. ^ "Melvin Zinga joins Angers - Get French Football News". 11 July 2020. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  4. ^ "Houilles vs. Angers - 18 November 2023 - Soccerway". us.soccerway.com. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  5. ^ "Angers Sco. Zinga titulaire, Capelle incertain face à Houilles en Coupe de France". www.oxygeneradio.com (in French). Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  6. ^ Parisot, Julien (8 January 2024). "Angers SCO - Zinga sur le remplacement de Fofana pendant la CAN : " Il m'a tapé sur l'épaule et m'a dit "maintenant, c'est à toi de jouer" "". MaLigue2 (in French). Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  7. ^ BOUTON, Jordan (8 January 2024). "Football. Angers-SCO : Pour Melvin Zinga, tout commence dans les buts angevins". Courrier de l'Ouest (in French). Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  8. ^ "Melvin Zinga". Angers SCO.
  9. ^ a b c Melvin Zinga at the French Football Federation (in French)
  10. ^ "Eliminatoires CAN 2025 : La liste du Congo pour le Soudan du Sud et l'Ouganda dévoilée".
  11. ^ QUINTARD, Théo (4 February 2022). "Angers Sco. Mâchoire cassée, sortie kamikaze : Melvin Zinga, un fort caractère qui veut s'adoucir". Ouest-France.fr (in French). Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  12. ^ "Zinga, entre modèle allemand et exemple normand". inside.fifa.com (in French). Retrieved 1 May 2024.