Pierre Womé

Cameroonian footballer

Pierre Nlend Womé (born 26 March 1979) is a Cameroonian former professional footballer who played as a left back. A journeyman, he played for 14 clubs in six countries. At international level, he made 68 FIFA official appearances scoring 1 goal for the Cameroon national team.

After spending his youth career at Fogape Yaoundé and the relatively eminent regional side Canon Yaoundé, Womé moved to Italy from Cameroon in the summer of 1996 to start his professional career. He began his senior career at Vicenza Calcio and spent almost seven years playing in Italy until moving to English Premier League side Fulham FC in August 2002. He was sold to Bologna F. C. 1909 in a co ownership deal for 6 billion lire in 1999, until Roma acquired him for 2 billion lire in the same summer that Francesco Antonioli, Amedeo Mangone and Alessandro Rinaldi joined Roma for 10 billion lire, 13 billion lire and 6 billion lire respectively. In June 2000 Bologna acquired Womé outright for a fee of 1 million lire. During his time in England at Fulham, Womé scored once in the league, in a 3–0 win over West Brom in February 2003. After playing for some notable clubs, including RCD Espanyol, Inter Milan and Werder Bremen, Womé joined 1. FC Köln in the summer of 2008 and left the team on 30 June 2010. In late February 2012, it was announced that Womé would join Coton Sport FC de Garoua in his homeland. From 2012 to 2014, Womé played for Canon Yaoundé, also of the Elite One. In January 2014, he moved to Canon Yaoundé's league rivals UMS de Loum. After not having made an appearance under two coaches, he decided to leave the city and return to Yaoundé. The club's president, Pierre Kwemo, threatened to take Womé to court for "fraud and breach of trust". In March, two months after joining the club, he agreed the termination of his contract. In September 2014, Womé signed with Championnat National side FC Chambly. In 2015, he joined French fourth tier side US Roye Noyon.

Womé was a regular starter in the left back position for Cameroon during the late 1990s and early 2000s. He was a key member of the squads that won consecutive African Cup of Nations titles in 2000 and 2002 and the Olympic gold medal in 2000. All three tournaments were won on penalty shoot outs, and Womé was a taker in all three victories. In the Olympic gold medal match, Womé scored the fifth and decisive penalty to win the title for his country. He also scored from the spot in the 2000 African Cup of Nations final, but his penalty in the following tournament was saved by Senegal's Tony Sylva. Womé also played as Cameroon's first choice left back in the 1998 and 2002 World Cups. On 8 October 2005, Womé missed a 95th minute penalty during Cameroon's final World Cup qualifier against Egypt that would have sent the Indomitable Lions to the 2006 FIFA World Cup; unfortunately for Womé he cannoned the shot off the outside of the post and Ivory Coast qualified at their expense. During a press conference several days afterward, Womé said about the penalty: “No one wanted to take that penalty. No one. Neither Samuel Eto'o nor our captain Rigobert Song, because they knew what could have happened if they missed. I have always had the courage and I went to the spot.” He also claimed that some Cameroon fans wanted to kill him. On 19 March 2007, Womé announced his retirement from international football. He later returned to the team in 2009 for a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Morocco.

In March 2017, Womé was appointed sporting director of Canon Yaoundé by the club's president Emmannuel Mve.