Thievy and Gijón: the scorer debut of an extravagant player

The visit to El Molinón-Quini is a classic in the history of Espanyol since their first match in the 1928-29 Cup final deiciseisavos, which ended with a parakeet triumph in the famous Water Final. Up to 104 times both teams have faced each other, with memorable encounters and passing protagonistsLike Thievy Bifouma, who scored his first goal in the top flight ten seasons ago at this stadium.

It happened on December 17, 2011, with Espanyol accelerating towards the European positions. Although he had already made his debut the previous year after joining the parakeet team through the Draft that he started Ramon Planes, now FC Barcelona sports director, the 2011-12 campaign was Thievy's. Mauricio Pochettino gave him ownership from the beginning of the course. Until that day 17, the Frenchman had participated in 11 matches, seven of them at the start. But he still hadn't managed to score a goal.

It was in Gijón when two minutes later the striker hit a strong shot from outside the area that surprised goalkeeper Juan Pablo. That was the only goal of the course for the footballer, who ended up being discarded by Pochettino, so he had to play in Las Palmas the following year. From that moment on, the forward was more in the news for his altercations away from the pitch than for his performance. Cristian Gómez, in the program Perico Que Vola, recently commented that “he parked his car outside so that Aguirre would not see that he had bought another.” With the Mexican coach, in the 13-14 campaign, Thievy barely played but scored three goals as a revulsive. From there he began a nomadic career.

Almería, Granada, Stade Reims and Bastia (France), Osmanlispor, Sivasspor, Ancaragücü and Malatyaspor (Turkey) They were their next destinations until they reached the Chinese Shenzhen, although with problems when registering for the competition. In his entire career he has participated in 272 games and scored 46 goals. With the Congolese national team, he has scored 13 goals in 28 games. A career that Thievy would not have expected when he landed by chance at Espanyol. An extravagant player who will never forget Gijón.