Mathias Chago

Mathias Dellgoue Chago de Confiance (born 6 March 1983), commonly known simply as Chago, is a Cameroonian retired footballer who is also a Croatian citizen as of January 2006. He last played for Lokomotiva. Formerly a player of Olympic Mvolye, Racing FC Bafoussam, NK Metalac, Dinamo Zagreb and Lokomotiva, Chago represents Cameroon at the international level, debuting in a first–team against Ivory Coast in a friendly match that was played on 13 June 2009.

Club Career

Early career in Cameroon

Chago started his football career at a youth club Olympic Mvolye. There he played for two seasons before joining the MTN Elite one side Racing FC Bafoussam in 2000, where he until 2003.

Metalac Osijek

At the age of 19, Chago and two other Cameroonian players ran away to Croatia, hoping to succeed in professional football there in order to feed his family of ten brothers and sisters back in Cameroon. The manager that brought them left them broke on the streets of Zagreb. Without any money to return to Cameroon, the players didn't have any choice but to stay in Croatia. Soon after the players were contacted by Croatian football icon Miroslav Blazevic, who gave them his own flat to sleep at, also providing players with training sessions at the Maksimir football centre. The players had to hide from the Croatian police since they didn't have the visas which were required for their prolonged stay in Croatia.

During one of the training sessions Croatian manager Boro Ivkovic (to who Chago also refers as his "dad") spotted Chago's talents and immediately brought him to Osijek. His new manager linked him with a Croatian second division club NK Metalac. Chago impressed everyone in his new club and was signed on a long–term deal.

This page also has a version in other languages :  Матиас Чаго (russian)