- Ondoa has returned to Latvian football via Riga FC with whom he trained for a week before putting pen to paper
- The club will be in the preliminaries of the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League
Latvian champions Riga FC have completed the signing of experience Cameroonian goalkeeper Fabrice Ebogo Ondoa Joseph on a one-year contract beginning from this summer.
The switch amounting to a return to Latvian football was completed this Friday, barely days after he announced his departure from Nimes Olympique in the French third tier championship.
Though they currently lead the domestic championship, coach Viktors Morozs has been keen on strengthening his goalkeeping department and took advantage of the availability of Ondoa who will walk through the entrance of the club with knowledge from Barcelona B, Sevilla, KV Ostende and the Indomitable Lions.
Fabrice Ondoa unveiled at Riga
Ondoa joins Riga as a free agent with hopes of finally revamping his career and get regular game time at the club participating in the preliminary rounds of the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League.
The 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) returns to familiar territory having previously played in the same championship in the colours of FK Auda for over a season.
The 4-1 win against Valmiera on match day 20 of the Latvian championship consolidated the club’s top place in the title race going into their next fixture on the July 1 against Liepāja on the road.
Though Riga appears to be more competitive many are still of the opinion that Ondoa could have secured a contract at a more exposed club with greater quality.
Born in Yaoundé, Ondoa began his football journey at the Samuel Eto’o Academy before joining FC Barcelona’s youth academy in 2009. He progressed through the ranks and was seen as a worthy successor to Cameroon’s great goalkeepers like Joseph-Antoine Bell and Carlos Kameni.
His impressive performances caught attention during the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), where he played a crucial role in Cameroon’s victory, earning him the tournament’s best goalkeeper title. Unfortunately things went downhill after that tournament, not until 2024 where he got called up for the 2023 Africa cup of nations under Rigobert Song.
Away from International football, his club stints have seen him spend time with Barcelona B but didn’t make any senior appearances before signing with Gimnàstic de Tarragona in Spain’s second division, making his senior debut for their farm team, CF Pobla de Mafumet.
He was then loaned to Sevilla Atlético, where he made his professional debut in a win against Real Zaragoza before joining Deportivo Alavés in La Liga but did not feature in any official matches
The 2017 AFCON best goalkeeper had a loan spell with NK Istra 1961 in Croatia after which he played for Auda in the 2022-2023 season
He could make his Riga debut as soon as July 1 against Liepāja on the road.
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