Geremi Sorele Njitap Fotso (born 20 December 1978), known simply as Geremi, is a Cameroonian former footballer. He was a versatile player able to play at right back, right midfield or defensive midfielder, known for his power, pace, combative style and free-kick ability. The most successful periods of Geremi's club career came at Real Madrid and Chelsea, winning the UEFA Champions League with the first and domestic honours with the latter. Geremi earned 118 caps for Cameroon from 1996 to 2010, scoring 13 goals. He was a member of their squad for seven Africa Cup of Nations tournaments, winning in 2000 and 2002, as well as the World Cup in 2002 and 2010 and a gold medal at the 2000 Olympics. Club career Early career Geremi was born in Bafoussam, Cameroon. Raised into a footballing family, Geremi was encouraged to remain focused on school by his father, a former player. But as duties for his club and national teams pulled him away from his studies, he eventually decided to pursue his playing career. Geremi gave up on studying for his university entrance exams and began playing professionally. Geremi began his career with a local side in Bafoussam, Racing FC, in 1995. A first-division club in the Cameroon's MTN Elite One, Racing had won the league championship the year before 16-year-old Geremi arrived and won the league cup, the Cameroonian Cup, in his only season as a professional at the club. Cerro Porteño In 1996, Geremi received an offer from Cerro Porteño, which he took, after being scouted whilst playing for the Cameroon U21 national team in Brazil. Before Geremi arrived at Cerro Porteño, agent Pedro Aldave picked between Samuel Eto'o and Geremi to go to Paraguay and join the Asunción club. Geremi was 18 when he arrived at the club. In 1997, Geremi was teammates with compatriot Cyrille Florent Bella, the Uruguayan Ricardo Bitancort, Brazilian Felippe Ximenes, and Paraguayans Diego Gavilan, Jorge Martín Núñez, Paulo da Silva, Aldo Bobadilla and Roberto Fernandez in Cerro Porteno's team. Geremi was the star of the title decider in Paraguay's 1997 Apertura Tournament, which Cerro Porteño lost. He only disputed one tournament with Cerro Porteño during six months at the club, reportedly not adapting to Paraguayan football before emprending to travel to Turkey. Six months was enough for him to jump to European football. Geremi mentioned that in Paraguay he was too far from