From an iconic 96th-minute goal against Man United to playing in the Greek third tier, it has been a whirlwind career for one former Liverpool striker.
“I think it was one of my great memories when I was in Liverpool,” David N’Gog told LiverpoolFC.com in 2020.
“Especially the celebration with Pepe, who was a great team-mate, a great player, goalkeeper and a great guy.
“It was a surprise for me to see Pepe when I turned back to celebrate! Afterwards, it was just joy and you want to share with the fans and everybody.
“It was a great memory.”
For most Liverpool fans, the memory of Pepe Reina sprinting the length of the Anfield pitch to celebrate with a 20-year-old N’Gog is a particularly fond one.
The young Frenchman had struck in the sixth minute of stoppage time to cap a much-needed victory for Rafa Benitez’s side, in a game that saw both teams reduced to 10 men.
Thirteen years later, though, and N’Gog is playing amateur football in Greece, with his career after Liverpool taking a series of interesting turns.
His goal against United came in the second of three seasons as a bit-part player on Merseyside, having been brought in from Paris Saint-Germain in 2008, and by 2011 he had made the move to Bolton.
Over the next nine years, N’Gog played for seven different clubs in seven different countries, moving from Bolton to Swansea, Stade de Reims, Panionios, Ross County, Budapest Honved and Zalgiris.
From England to Lithuania, via Wales, France, Greece, Scotland and Hungary, he played 212 times across those spells, scoring 46 goals and assisting another 22.
There was even a Lithuanian Supercup triumph with Zalgiris in 2020, after which the club announced his decision to retire from professional football at the age of 31, with manager Vilma Venslovaitiene describing it as “unexpected for everyone.”
N’Gog departed professional football during lockdown, and fell off the radar until his re-emergence in October, re-signing for Athens-based side Panionios.
From our yesterday match with Keratsini.
1? Panionios (Andreas Tsipras 5')
0? Keratsini #panionios #panioniosfc pic.twitter.com/GYRs8tTeVF— Panionios GSS (@PanioniosG) October 3, 2022
Panionios currently play in the Gamma Ethniki, the third tier of Greek football, which is comprised of 81 amateur clubs split into five groups.
They currently sit top of Group 4.
It is unclear how often N’Gog will feature, and the now 33-year-old is yet to score since his return to the oldest club in Greece.
But it is another quirk in one of the most intriguing careers of any former Liverpool player – one of only four from that 2-0 win over United, along with Reina, Emiliano Insua and Lucas Leiva, who are still active today.
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