Ariza Makukula

Ariza Makukula (born 4 March 1981) is a Portuguese footballer of Congolese descent who plays for Manisaspor in Turkey, as a centre forward.

Club career

The son of Kuyangana Makukula, a former Congolese footballer who played seven years in Portugal for four different clubs, namely Vitória de Setúbal^[1] and a Portuguese mother,^[2] Makukula was born in Kinshasa, he started playing professionally in Spain for CD Leganés and UD Salamanca, scoring 20 goals with the latter in the 2001–02 Segunda División – second-best in the competition.

The following summer, Makukula moved to France, playing with FC Nantes, splitting the season between the first team and the reserves. He was subsequently loaned to Real Valladolid, scoring eight times but suffering relegation from La Liga.

Makukula was then bought by another Spanish side, Sevilla FC. He appeared sparingly in his first season, and in no games whatsoever in the following, after the Andalusians purchased Luís Fabiano, Frédéric Kanouté and Javier Saviola. He subsequently served two loans, with Gimnàstic de Tarragona^[3] and C.S. Marítimo, the latter in his adopted nation.

After seven Portuguese first division goals in only 13 matches, Makukula transferred to S.L. Benfica for €3.5 million, for four 1/2 years, in late January 2008.^[4] On 14 February, he scored the game's only goal in a home win against 1. FC Nuremberg, for the season's UEFA Cup.

Makukula was not used at all by Benfica in the first part of the 2008–09 season. On 16 January 2009, he signed for Bolton Wanderers, on loan until the end of the season with a view to a permanent move costing around £4.5 million in the summer.^[5] He made his club debut a day later against Manchester United, playing 64 minutes in a 0–1 home loss.^[6]

On 11 August 2009, Makukula was loaned again, now to Süper Lig club Kayserispor, in Turkey.^[7] He ended the season as the competition's top scorer, with eight goals more than the next player as his club finished eighth. In the very last minutes of the 2010 summer transfer window, he signed a three-year deal with another side in the country, Vestel Manisaspor, for €2 million.^[8]

International career

Makukula chose to represent Portugal internationally. He started playing for the U-21s, appearing in the 2002 UEFA European Football Championship.

As a senior, he tried to switch to DR Congo, but a FIFA amended rule regarding international careers came out in 2005, stating that change in nationality representation should occur before a player's 21st birthday and if they have not yet gained their first full cap, so Makukula was denied in his intentions (he was 23 at time of rule, which was abolished in 2009).^[9] On 17 October 2007, after solid performances with Marítimo, he was called-up to the Portuguese squad, for a UEFA Euro 2008 qualifier against Kazakhstan, after Nuno Gomes suffered an injury: in the 84th minute of the game, he scored the 2–1 away winner.

Although not part of 24-men Portuguese 2010 FIFA World Cup provisional squad,^[10][11] he was named in a backup list of six players,^[12] although he did not make the final cut.

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	17 October 2007	Almaty Central Stadium, Almaty, Kazakhstan	Kazakhstan	0–1	1–2	Euro 2008 qualifying

Club statistics

References

External links

• Stats and profile at Zerozero
• Stats at ForaDeJogo (Portuguese)
• PortuGOAL profile
• BDFutbol profile
• Ariza Makukula career stats at Soccerbase
• Ariza Makukula at National-Football-Teams.com

v t e Portugal squad – 2002 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship 1 Leite 2 Briguel 3 Faísca 4 Tonel 5 Ribeiro 6 Ednilson 7 C. Costa 8 Viana 9 Postiga 10 P. Costa 11 Teixeira 12 M. Santos 13 B. Alves 14 Alhandra 15 Makukula 16 Tiago 17 P. Mendes 18 Semedo 19 Neca 20 Miguel 21 P. Ferreira 22 Ivo Coach: Oliveira