Player Profile

Sinama-Pongolle could be effective on a good day for Liverpool but those were few and far between. He rose to stardom when France won the u-17 World Cup. He was top-scorer with nine goals, a record, and voted the best player of the tournament. He possessed great pace, striking accuracy and seemed certainly one for the future. No player has played as many games, 37 and scored as many goals, 11, for the French u-21 team. Following their signing in 2002 Pongolle and Anthony Le Tallec were promptly loaned back to Le Havre to gain more experience before making the next vital step in their fledgeling career. Great things were expected when they finally arrived in July 2003. The nineteen-year-old Pongolle didn't expect to feature much in his debut season but injuries to Milan Baros and Michael Owen forced Houllier's hand and Pongolle took part in 23 matches, mostly as a substitute. Houllier's side was struggling in what turned out to be his last season as Liverpool's boss.

The Frenchman's successor, Rafa Benítez, admitted that he tried to sign the young Le Havre stars for Valencia but was outbid by the Reds. The Spaniard and Liverpool fans can be thankful for the part Pongolle played in the crucial comeback win over Olympiacos that paved the way for the Istanbul adventure. He came on as a substitute at the start of the second half for Djimi Traore against the Greek side and just a couple of minutes later he had equalised. Liverpool added two late goals to proceed from the group stage in December. Unfortunately, Pongolle missed the rest of the season as he caught his studs in the turf only four minutes after coming on against Watford at Vicarage Road on 25 January 2005. He was also vital in Liverpool's comeback against Luton in the third round of the FA Cup in January 2006. Liverpool were losing 3-1 at Kenilworth Road when he got one goal back and added a second and Liverpool's fourth in the seventy-third minute. He played no further part in Liverpool's successful FA Cup run as few weeks later he was loaned to Blackburn Rovers for the rest of the 2005/06 season. Robbie Fowler had just rejoined Liverpool pushing Pongolle further down the pecking order.

Recreativo de Huelva was Pongolle's next destination and after scoring 11 goals in 28 matches for them in the 2006/07 season the Spanish team bought him following his loan spell. By the end of the 2007/08 season, he had scored 22 goals in 68 league appearances for Recreativo. Although he was only one year into a four-year contract signed in May 2007, Pongolle signed a four-year deal with Atletico Madrid in July 2008. Atletico finished fourth in his debut season with Pongolle contributing five goals in 29 league games. He struggled to win a regular place in his second season and was transferred to Portugal mid-campaign. He scored just once in an away match at Maritimo in March but also managed to put through his own goal in the same game! Pongolle went out on loan in two successive seasons to Real Zaragoza and Saint-Étienne without impressing them sufficiently. Sporting released Pongolle in the summer of 2012 and in September he joined Russian premier league club FC Rostov.

Sinama-Pongolle's initial contract with the Russian club FC Rostov was dated until the end of June 2014. He played in eleven first-team matches for Rostov between the middle of September 2012 and the end of May 2013, scoring once. Coincidentally, he also played in exactly the same number of first-team matches in the next season too, 8 in the league and 3 in the cup. But he only started in three of those eleven matches and only scored once. After becoming a free agent in 2014 Pongolle trained with Chicago Fire for three weeks before signing a contract with the MLS club in September. He played seven games then joined Lausanne Sports in Switzerland in January 2015, but a knee ligament injury meant he never made an appearance for them before being released at the end of the season. He was then without a club until November 2015 when he joined Dundee United.

Pongolle made just four appearances for Dundee United, being substituted each time. On 4th July 2016 Thai club Chainat announced that Pongolle was on his way to South East Asia to join them, a fact that was confirmed by the player himself on Twitter soon afterwards when he posted photographs of his medical. He then made a blistering start to his time with them, scoring ten goals in his opening eight games. Pongolle moved to Thailand to play for Chainat Hornbill in 2016, remaining there until the end of 2018. In January 2019 he returned to his birthplace, the Indian Ocean island of Reunion, joining Saint Pierroise. The club made history in January 2020, becoming the first overseas territory team to reach the last 32 of the Coupe de France for over thirty years. Sinama Pongolle had retired from playing by then at the end of the league campaign in November. However he did play his part in the qualifying rounds, scoring a hat-trick in a 9-1 win over Etang Sale. He went on to become a pundit with Canal+