France Born in
Douala, Kameni was first spotted when, aged 16, he became the youngest footballer to win an
Olympic gold medal, in
2000. This earned him a transfer to French club
Le Havre AC but he was unable to break into the first team, and remained a reserve for the duration of his spell, also being loaned to
AS Saint-Étienne and also failing to gain any playing time there. In 2001 he was linked with a move to
Juventus FC, but nothing came of it. Kameni almost joined
Premier League's
Wolverhampton Wanderers on a season-long loan for the
2003–04 season, but the deal collapsed after he was not granted a United Kingdom work permit.
Espanyol 20-year-old Kameni signed with Spanish side
RCD Espanyol in July 2004 for
US$600,000, and became first choice in his second year,
winning the
Copa del Rey as backup to
Gorka Iraizoz, who started in
La Liga. In the
2006–07 campaign, the opposite: Kameni was the starter, and Iraizoz was picked for the
Catalans'
UEFA Cup runner-up run. Early in 2006, the club suspended two fans for racist abuse towards the player. In
2008–09, a tense season for Espanyol, which ranked in the bottom three for a lengthy period, Kameni had two incidents: first, he had a near-physical confrontation with a fan (who first insulted the player) after a training session in January, then fought with teammate
Grégory Béranger again in training, in May. He still featured in 37 out of 38 league games, being essential to his team's survival, and also broke his compatriot
Thomas N'Kono's record of minutes without conceding a goal, setting it at 498.
Málaga After two more seasons as starter, Kameni was demoted to third choice for
2011–12, with Argentine
Mauricio Pochettino still as Espanyol's manager. On 13 January 2012 he moved to
Málaga CF, making his league debut on 25 March after
replacing injured
Willy Caballero during the first half of a 2–1 away win against his former team, and keeping a
clean sheet during his time on the pitch. Kameni became the starter after Caballero left for
Manchester City. On 26 September 2015, in a game where
Real Madrid registered 31 shots, he put on a
Player of the match performance in a 0–0 draw at the
Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. The following matchday, he became the first club goalkeeper to provide an
assist in the Spanish top flight, as
Charles scored the second of his three goals in the 3–1 home victory over
Real Sociedad. On 2 March 2016, Kameni scored a bizarre
own goal in a 1–2 home loss to
Valencia CF. Three days later, at
Deportivo de La Coruña, he had to be replaced shortly before
half-time due to injury, as the match went on to end 3–3. On 19 November 2016, Kameni denied hosts
FC Barcelona on several occasions, in a 0–0 draw.
Fenerbahçe In July 2017, Kameni signed a three-year deal with Turkish club
Fenerbahçe SK. He made his
Süper Lig debut on 17 September, being
booked late into a 4–1 away defeat of
Alanyaspor. Kameni left by mutual consent on 28 August 2019.
Later career In April 2021, the 37-year-old Kameni came out of retirement to join
Alex Song at Djiboutian club
Arta/Solar7. He changed teams and countries again in August 2022, signing for
UE Santa Coloma in the Andorran
Primera Divisió. Kameni returned to Spain on 28 October 2023, on a contract at
Primera Federación side
Antequera CF. He left the following January. ==International career==