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Ken Sema

Kenneth Nlata Sema (born 30 September 1993) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a left midfielder for EFL Championship club Watford and the Sweden national team.

Ken Sema
Personal information
Full name Kenneth Nlata Sema[1]
Date of birth (1993-09-30) 30 September 1993 (age 31)
Place of birth Norrköping, Sweden
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Wing-back
Team information
Current team
 Watford
Number 12
Youth career
0000–2013 IFK Norrköping
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013 IFK Norrköping 0 (0)
2013 → IF Sylvia (loan) 22 (4)
2014–2015 Ljungskile SK 60 (11)
2016–2018 Östersunds FK 58 (8)
2018– Watford 158 (11)
2019–2020 → Udinese (loan) 32 (2)
International career‡
2016 Sweden Olympic 4 (1)
2017– Sweden 22 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 5 November 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 21:51, 16 October 2024 (UTC)

Club career

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Early career

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Sema got promoted to the IFK Norrköping first team as a 19-year old in 2013. However, he spent the entire season on loan to IF Sylvia[2] and did not get his contract renewed after it expired at the end of the season.[3]

In 2014, he signed for second-tier team Ljungskile SK.[4]

Östersunds FK

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In January 2016, Sema signed for Östersunds FK in the Allsvenskan,[5] where he would have his major breakthrough. Sema won the 2016–17 Svenska Cupen with Östersund, assisting three of their four goals in the final,[6] and later played a major role in their 2017–18 UEFA Europa League campaign. On 22 February 2018, Sema scored a goal in a 2–1 win against Arsenal in the round of 32. Despite this, Östersund were eliminated from the Europa League after losing 2–4 on aggregate.[7]

Watford

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On 4 July 2018, Östersunds FK chairman Daniel Kindberg revealed that Sema was close to signing for Premier League club Watford on a five-year contract.[8] The next day, Watford confirmed the signing.[9] He scored his first goal against Bournemouth in January 2019 in a 3-3 draw.[10] He was integral in helping Watford get promoted back to the premier league in the 20/21 Season and scored six goals and got six assists.[11] On 6 February 2024 Sema made his 150th appearance for Watford in their FA Cup 4th Round Replay defeat to Southampton.

Loan to Udinese

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On 22 August 2019, Udinese Calcio signed Sema on a season-long loan from Watford.[12] He made his Serie A debut for Udinese on 25 August 2019 in a 1–0 win against A.C. Milan.[13]

International career

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In 2016, Sema was a part of the Sweden Olympic team that played in Brazil, and scored his first U23 goal in a match against South Korea Olympic. In January 2017, he debuted for the Sweden senior team in a friendly 6–0 win over Slovakia.[14]

Sema was an unused substitute in the two-legged playoff against Italy in November 2017, which Sweden won, and therefore qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Despite featuring in commercials with the rest of the Sweden squad before the World Cup, Sema was eventually left out of the World Cup squad.[15][16]

Sema made his competitive international debut in a UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying game against the Faroe Islands national football team which Sweden won 3–0.[17]

Playing Style

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Sema is known for his hard work, a trait that has made him very popular with Watford fans. He likes to dribble past opponents to get into good crossing positions. He is mainly a winger but has occasionally been used at left back or wing back, due to his ability to work hard and track back defensively. He is affectionately known as King Ken by Watford fans.

Personal life

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Sema was born in Sweden to Congolese parents, and his brother Maic Sema is also a footballer.[18] He speaks with a stammer, and after a video went viral of him doing a post match interview with Watford TV, he was praised as a role model for children and adults with speech impediments.[19][20]

Career statistics

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Club

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As of match played 5 November 2024
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] League cup[b] Continental Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
IFK Norrköping 2013 Allsvenskan 0 0 0 0 — — 0 0
IF Sylvia (loan) 2013 Division 1 Södra 22 4 0 0 — — 22 4
Ljungskile SK 2014 Superettan 30 7 6 0 — — 36 7
2015 Superettan 30 4 4 3 — — 34 7
Total 60 11 10 3 — 0 0 70 14
Östersunds FK 2016 Allsvenskan 23 4 3 0 — 0 0 26 4
2017 Allsvenskan 24 4 5 0 — 13[c] 1 42 5
2018 Allsvenskan 11 0 0 0 — 0 0 11 0
Total 58 8 8 0 — 13 1 79 9
Watford 2018–19 Premier League 17 1 3 0 2 0 — 22 1
2019–20 Premier League 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 0
2020–21 Championship 41 5 1 0 1 1 — 43 6
2021–22 Premier League 18 0 1 0 2 0 — 21 0
2022–23 Championship 40 4 0 0 1 0 — 41 4
2023–24 Championship 29 1 2 0 1 0 — 32 1
2024–25 Championship 13 0 0 0 3 0 — 16 0
Total 158 11 7 0 10 1 — 175 12
Udinese (loan) 2019–20 Serie A 32 2 1 0 — — 33 2
Career total 312 36 25 3 10 1 13 1 359 41
  1. ^ Includes Svenska Cupen, Coppa Italia, FA Cup
  2. ^ Includes EFL Cup
  3. ^ Appearances in UEFA Europa League

International

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As of match played on 14 October 2024
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Sweden 2017 1 0
2018 5 0
2019 1 0
2020 2 0
2021 4 0
2022 1 0
2023 4 0
2024 4 1
Total 22 1
Scores and results list Sweden's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Sema goal.
List of international goals scored by Ken Sema
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 11 October 2024 Tehelné pole, Bratislava, Slovakia   Slovakia 2–0 2–2 2024–25 UEFA Nations League

Honours

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Östersund[21][22]

References

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  1. ^ "Comunicato Ufficiale N. 216" [Official Press Release No. 216] (PDF). Lega Serie A. 10 March 2020. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 May 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
  2. ^ Stråhle, Ulf (3 April 2013). "Nio IFK-spelare i Sylvias trupp".
  3. ^ "Sema om nobben: "Klart jag var sur"". www.expressen.se.
  4. ^ "Sema och Björlund klara". Archived from the original on 12 May 2014.
  5. ^ "Ken Sema bekräftar övergången till ÖFK: "Jag är klar"". 5 January 2016.
  6. ^ "Östersund vann Svenska Cupen". www.aftonbladet.se. 13 April 2017.
  7. ^ "Arsenal 1-2 Oestersunds FK - UEFA Europa League 2017/2018 Live". WhoScored.com.
  8. ^ Gray, Harry (4 July 2018). "Ostersund confirm Sema's Watford switch". Watford Observer.
  9. ^ "Official: Sema Signs On". Watford F.C. Archived from the original on 26 July 2018. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
  10. ^ "Bournemouth and Watford in six-goal thriller". BBC Sport. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  11. ^ "Ken Sema | Football Stats | Watford | Season 2020/2021 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  12. ^ "Watford winger Sema completes Udinese loan switch". Evening Standard. 22 August 2019. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  13. ^ "Vinst mot Milan för Sema i Serie A-debuten". DN.SE (in Swedish). 25 August 2019. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  14. ^ "Sweden 6 – 0 Slovakia – Football". The Guardian.
  15. ^ "Sveriges trupp till fotbolls-VM 2018 – här är alla som får åka till Ryssland". aftonbladet.se. 15 May 2018.
  16. ^ "Märkliga Ica-bilderna: "Har blivit reaktioner"". expressen.se.
  17. ^ "Sema om EM-jakten: "Måste jobba hårt för det" – Corren". 18 November 2019.
  18. ^ Sjöö, Patrick (5 February 2016). "ÖFK:s nyförvärv Ken Sema i stor intervju – hyllar föräldrarna: "De flyttade till Sverige för att ge sina barn ett bra liv"".
  19. ^ Kemble, Jamie (21 February 2023). "Leeds United's Luke Ayling sends 'love' to Watford star Ken Sema after inspirational interview clip emerges". Yorkshire Evening. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  20. ^ Browning, Oliver (21 February 2023). "Watford star Ken Sema battles through stammer to give post-match interview". Independent. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  21. ^ Ken Sema at the Swedish Football Association (in Swedish) (archived)
  22. ^ Ken Sema at Soccerway
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