Christopher Samba

Veijeany Christopher Samba (born March 28 1984 in Créteil, Val-de-Marne) is a France Congolese Association football player. Despite having been born in France, Samba represents the Congo national football team at the international level.

Football career

A 195 cm (6ft 5in) tall Defender (association football), Samba started his career with FC Rouen before spells at CS Sedan (he played 26 games for the reserve and 4 games for the first team) and Hertha Berlin.

Struggling to break into the first team he was invited by Mark Hughes to undertake a five-day trial at Blackburn Rovers F.C., eventually signing a three and a half year deal for £400,000 on January 25 2007. He made his Rovers debut against Luton Town F.C. in the FA Cup 2006-07 4th Round, as a 69th minute sub for Ryan Nelsen and his Premiership debut on January 31 against Chelsea. His first start for the club came in the home encounter against Sheffield United on February 3 2007, a game Rovers won 2–1 with an injury time free kick from Morten Gamst Pedersen. Although he already played for Hertha Berlin in the UEFA Cup, Samba was eligible to play for Blackburn in European competitions.
Samba scored his first goal at Ewood Park against West Ham on March 17 2007.

Following Samba's performances in his debut season, he established himself as a starter in the 2007-08 in English football. On 22 October 2007 Blackburn announced Samba had signed a new long-term contract keeping him at the club until the summer of 2012.

Club career statistics