Apoula Edel

Born in Cameroon, he played for the Armenia national team.

Apoula Edel

Personal information
Full name	Apoula Edima Bete Edel
Date of birth	(1986-06-17) 17 June 1986 (age 37)
Place of birth	Yaoundé, Cameroon
Height	1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s)	Goalkeeper
Youth career
1998–2001	Puissance Avenir
2001–2002	FC PWD Kumba
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2002–2005	Pyunik	58	(1)
2006–2007	Rapid București	9	(0)
2006	→ KAA Gent (loan)	0	(0)
2007–2011	Paris Saint-Germain	47	(0)
2011–2013	Hapoel Tel Aviv	64	(1)
2014	Atlético de Kolkata	9	(0)
2015	Hapoel Tel Aviv	8	(0)
2015	Chennaiyin	13	(0)
2016	FC Pune City	13	(0)
Total		222	(2)
International career
	Armenia U-19	3	(0)
2003–2004	Armenia U-21	12	(0)
2004–2005	Armenia	6	(0)
Medal record Indian Super League 2015
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Early career

Apoula Edel was born in Yaoundé, Cameroon and moved to Armenia in 2002. He signed a contract with Pyunik FC in March 2003. In 2005, he joined Rapid București along with Carl Lombé, by unilaterally terminating his contract without just reason. Pyunik FC submitted the case to FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber. The DRC passed a decision on 4 April 2007 and sent the decision to the parties on 3 August, in which Edel was ordered to pay Pyunik US$15,000. He also claimed he was forced to naturalise during the court trial as an excuse to leave the country in 2005. The parties submitted the appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and CAS partially upheld the DRC decision, and increased the fee to US$60,000 in 2008.

Paris Saint-Germain

After being released by Rapid București, French club PSG signed Edel on a free transfer. Following his signing for the club, Edel was a second choice goalkeeper behind Mickaël Landreau, Jérôme Alonzo and Grégory Coupet. On 16 November 2007, he played his first game with PSG in a friendly game against Guinea, not as a goalkeeper but as a forward, after an injury to Loris Arnaud. In his second season for PSG, Edel made his debut in a Coupe de France against AS Nancy, with PSG winning 2–1. Edel made his UEFA Cup debut against Wolfsburg. Under Le Guen, Edel made just 4 appearances. After Le Guen was sacked as PSG manager, Antoine Kombouaré succeeded him. Under Kombouaré, Edel started to get more playing time and established himself as a first choice goalkeeper after Grégory Coupet suffered an injury to his malleolar on 28 November 2009 which kept him out of the season. On 16 December 2009, Edel made his league debut for PSG in a 1–1 draw Lens. On 21 January 2010, Edel scored an own goal in a 1–0 defeat to Monaco which turned out to be the winner.^{[citation needed]} Edel played as PSG won the 2010 Coupe de France Final. After Coupet recovered from injury, Edel was once again second choice goalkeeper but it was short lived after due to Coupet's poor performance and discouragement in the early season. On 29 November 2010, Edel made a blunder in a match against Lyon as PSG missed the chance to go to the top of Ligue 1. Edel performance was defended by Kombouaré saying "I have nothing against Edel, I even have a thought for him. He is the most disappointed because his mistake cost us the win. Now we will support him and it will be up to him to erase that mistake.There is a lot of frustration, because we showed big mental strength and a lot of technical qualities too"

Towards the end of the season, Coupet regained his first choice goalkeeper when he play against Lyon on 17 April 2011. Afterwards, Edel was still the first choice goalkeeper for two more matches, before Coupet regained the spot again until the season finished.

As his contract was set to expire at the end of the season, reports claimed that Edel could be on his way out of the club in the summer, with speculation regarding a possible replacement doing the rounds, but chairman Robin Leproux says Edel (along with Ludovic Giuly and Mamadou Sakho) would be staying put.

Eventually, Edel declined to stay at PSG after his contract was finished, and he joined an Israeli club Hapoel Tel Aviv on a free transfer as a replacement for Vincent Enyeama, who joined Lille.

Atlético de Kolkata

In August 2014, Edel was drafted by Atlético de Kolkata of the Indian Super League. He put up a number of good saves in final, as the franchise became the champions of the inaugural season. He also won the Maruti Suzuki Swift Moment of the match award.

Edel, who was born and raised in Cameroon, has dual nationality and had decided to play international football for Armenia under the French coach Bernard Casoni.

As of 11 March 2019