Charles Teamboueon

Charles Teamboueon was a legend in New Caledonian football circles, highlighted by his performance playing for the French team at the 1968 Olympics. In 1965 he was named director of La Conception, a school in the suburb of Mont-Dore near Noumea. He also became player-coach of La Frégate de Saint-Louis where he experienced immediate success, winning the premier division in 1965, a second division side at the time. In the same year he first plated for the New Caledonia national team, scoring four goals in his first match against German champions Stuttgart in a 5-1 victory. In 1966 Teamboueon played for Les Cagous in the final of the Pacific Games, where they lost to Tahiti in the final.

In 1966 Teamboueon left New Caledonia to play for Gazélec d’Ajaccio, on the island of Corsica, helping them win the South-East League in 1967 and the French Amateur title in 1968. This led to his selection for the 1968 Olympics. In 1969 he again played for New Caledonia at the Pacific Games, leading them to the gold medal, again over Tahiti. Due to knee problems, Teamboueon ended his playing career in 1972. He worked in France for 27 years and returned to New Caledonia in 2005 where he became coach of AS Mont-Dore alongside Claude Casimir, with the two leading them to the final of the Coupe de Calédonie.