Henri Bedimo Nsamé (born 4 June 1984) is a Cameroonian former professional footballer who played as a left-back. He represented the Cameroon national team internationally from 2009 to 2016 making 51 appearances and scoring once.
Club career
Toulouse Born in Douala, Cameroon, Bedimo was trained at the Kadji Sports Academy and Dream FC team in Cameroon and after playing six matches, he was scouted by an agent. This led Bedimo emigrated to France when he was 15 in 1999. Upon arriving at France, Bedimo went on a trial at Grenoble Foot 38 and a successful trial led him to join the club, which saw him assigned to the academy.
After spending three years at the academy and reserve at Grenoble, Bedimo joined Toulouse on a free transfer in 2003. It came after when Erick Mombaerts scouted him during his performance at Gambardella cup match. When he first joined the club, Bedimo started out at the reserve team for the rest of the 2003–04 season.
In June 2004, he signed his first professional contract with Toulouse and was promoted to the first team as a result.
In the opening game of the 2004–05 season, Bedimo made his debut for the club, coming on as an 88th-minute substitute, in a 0–0 draw against Lens. Two weeks later on 21 August 2004, he made his first starts, starting the whole game, in a 2–1 win over Paris Saint-Germain. Since the start of the 2004–05 season, Bedimo found his playing time, mostly coming from the substitute bench in the first team for Toulouse. As a result, he either faced being on the sidelines or playing for Toulouse's reserve team. At the end of the 2004–05 season, Bedimo went on to make eighteen appearances in all competitions.
At the start of the 2005–06 season, Bedimo appeared in the first two matches of the season, including his first start of the season against Nice. However, his first team opportunities at Toulouse continued to be limited throughout the 2005–06 season. Once again, it resulted in him playing for the club's reserve side. At the end of the 2005–06 season, he only made eight appearances in all competitions.
Le Havre AC With his first-team opportunities limited at Toulouse further, Bedimo decided to leave the club by joining Le Havre on a free transfer in 2006.
He made his debut for Le Havre in the opening game of the season, starting the whole game, in a 3–1 loss against Amiens. Since making his debut for the club, Bedimo established himself in the starting eleven at Le Havre, playing in the defender position. However, he received a straight red card for the first time in his career, in a 1–0 win over Istres on 13 October 2006. Bedimo then helped Le Havre keep five out the six consecutive clean sheets between 1 December 2006 and 2 February 2007. In what turned out to be his last appearance for the club, he scored an own goal, which turned out to be a winning goal, in a 2–1 loss against Montpellier on 14 May 2007. At the end of the 2006–07 season, he made twenty–four appearances in all competitions.
LB Châteauroux After the 2007–08 season, Bedimo left Le Havre for Châteauroux on a free transfer on 22 July 2007.
He made his debut for the club, starting the whole game, minutes, in a 0–0 draw against Clermont Foot in the opening game of the season. Since making his debut for Châteauroux, Bedimo quickly established himself in the starting eleven. On 21 September 2007, Bedimo scored his first goal for the club in a 1–0 win over Chamois Niortais. His second goal for Châteauroux came on 30 March 2008, in a 2–1 loss against Sedan. At the end of the 2007–08 season, he went on to make thirty–six appearances and scoring two times in all competitions.
Ahead of the 2008–09 season, Bedimo was linked a move back to his former club Grenoble, but Châteauroux managed to keep him for another season. On 3 October 2008, he scored his first goal of the season in a 2–1 loss against Boulogne. Two weeks later on 17 October 2008 against Dijon, however, Bedimo was sent–off for a second bookable offence, in a 2–0 loss. Despite this, Bedimo remained involved in a number of matches in the first team and went on to make twenty–three appearances and scoring once in all competitions.
In the 2009–10 season, Bedimo continued to establish himself in the starting eleven for Châteauroux. On 30 October 2009, he scored in a 5–4 loss against Dijon. Bedimo started in every match until his departure from the club, making twenty–three appearances and scoring once in all competitions.
RC Lens On 11 January 2010, his transfer from Châteauroux to Lens was finalised after being persuaded by his agent, Roger Boli, to join the club. The move was confirmed on 13 January 2010 as he signed a three–year contract with Lens. After returning from the African Cup of Nations tournament, Bedimo was given a number six shirt.
Bedimo made his debut for the club on 6 February 2010, in a 2–1 win over Le Mans, where he took advantage of injured Marco Ramos and led to the opening goal for Kévin Monnet-Paquet. Two weeks after his debut on 20 February 2010, he scored his first goal for Lens in a 3–0 win over Monaco. Bedimo then established himself in the first team, rotating in the left–back position and left–midfield position for the rest of the 2009–10 season. Since joining the club, Bedimo became a fan favourite for RC Lens. At the end of the 2009–10 season, he went on to make twenty–two appearances and scoring once in all competitions.
In the 2010–11 season, Bedimo quickly established himself in the starting eleven for RC Lens, playing in the left–back position. On two occasions, he played in the left–midfield position for the club. Bedimo then set up the club's second goal of the game, in a 2–2 draw against Monaco on 21 August 2010. Three weeks later on 11 September 2010, he, once again, set up Lens’ only goal of the game, as the club lost 4–1 against rivals, Lille. However, the club was relegated to Ligue 2 after two seasons following a 1–1 draw with Monaco on 15 May 2011. Despite facing injuries that threatened him on the sidelines during the 2010–11 season, Bedimo made thirty–seven appearances in all competitions.
Montpellier
It was announced on 7 June 2011 that Bedimo joined Montpellier, signing a four–year contract with the club. He was previously linked with a move to Rennes but opted to join Montpellier instead. Upon joining the club, he was given a number five shirt.
Bedimo made his debut for Montpellier, starting the whole game, in a 3–1 win over Auxerre in the opening game of the season. This was followed up by keeping the next two clean sheets against Lille and Stade Rennais. In another follow–up, he scored his first goal in a 2–1 loss against Lyon on 27 August 2011. Three weeks later on 17 September 2011, Bedimo set up a goal for Olivier Giroud, who scored twice, in a 2–2 draw against Brest. Since joining the club, he quickly established himself in the starting eleven, playing in the left-back position. His performance then earned November's Player of the Month by the club's supporters. In the first half of the season, after which they lay second in the table, three points behind big-spending Paris Saint-Germain, who reportedly paid €6 million more for one player than Montpellier's entire €36m budget. Throughout January and mid–February, Bedimo was involved in Montpellier's run of four wins in January and February without conceding a goal took them top, at least until PSG played their game in hand. After missing one match suspension in the last game of the season, Bedimo's contributions helped Montpellier win their first league title in the club's history after beating Auxerre 2–1 in the last game of the season. At the end of the 2011–12 season, having made forty–one appearances and scoring once in all competitions, he was named Trophées UNFP du football's Team of the Year of 2012.
At the start of the 2012–13 season, Bedimo started in the first six matches in the left–back position, as Montpellier made a bad start to the season, losing three times. He was also in the starting eleven for Montpellier's debut in Champions League football, a 2–1 loss at home to Arsenal in the group stage, However, Bedimo was sidelined for three weeks, due to a combination of injury and suspension. On 20 October 2012, he returned to the starting line–up, as the club lost 2–1 against Stade Rennais. Since returning from the sidelines, he started in the next six matches for Montpellier before being dropped to the substitute bench in favour of Abdelhamid El Kaoutari. By mid–December, Bedimo managed to regain his place in the left–back position for the rest of the 2012–13 season. He then helped the club keep three consecutive clean sheets between 16 February 2013 and 1 March 2013. Despite missing one match through suspension later in the season, he went on to make forty–two appearances in all competitions, as the 2012–13 season saw the club unsuccessfully defended the league title.
Lyon
On 1 August 2013, Bedimo joined fellow French team Lyon for a fee of €2 million plus bonuses on a three-year deal. Upon joining the club, he was given a number three shirt.
Bedimo made his Lyon debut in the opening game of the season against Nice, where he started the whole game and helped the side keep a clean sheet, in a 4–0 win. He then played in both legs of the UEFA Champions League Play–Off Round against Real Sociedad, as the club lost 4–0 on aggregate, eliminating them from the tournament. Into the first three months to the 2013–14 season, Bedimo became a first team regular for the side, playing in the left–back position. This lasted until he was sidelined, due to injury and suspension. Afterwards, Bedimo returned to the starting line–up against Monaco on 27 October 2013 and set up Lyon's only goal of the game, losing 2–1. Since returning to the first team, he continued to regain his first team place, mostly playing in the left–back position and once in the left–midfield position. His performance in November earned him the club's Player of the Month. Bedimo then set up two goals in two matches between 8 December 2013 and 15 December 2013 against SC Bastia and Marseille. He then helped Lyon keep three consecutive clean sheets in the league between 11 January 2014 and 26 January 2014 against Sochaux, Reims and Évian. Bedimo, once again, helped the club keep another three consecutive clean sheets between 23 February 2014 and 2 March 2014 against Lille, Chornomorets Odesa and Montpellier. This was followed up by scoring his first goal for Lyon, in a 2–1 win against Bordeaux. However, he suffered ankle injury that kept him out for a week. Following his return, Bedimo then continued to provide assists, which was ten, a target he successfully achieved by the end of the season. Bedimo also started in the Coupe de la Ligue Final against Paris Saint-Germain, playing in the left–back position, as the club lost 2–1. In the last game of the season against Nice, he helped Lyon qualify for European football by finishing fifth place in the league after beating the opposition team 1–0. At the end of the 2013–14 season, Bedimo made fifty–one appearances and scoring once in all competitions. Following this, Le Figaro praised his performance and was included for the newspaper's Team of the Season.