From Premier League and World Cup final to Carlisle, via Market Drayton: Pascal Chimbonda ready for FA Cup It was a long way from the Premier League and spells at Wigan Athletic, Tottenham Hotspur (twice), Sunderland and Blackburn Rovers - never mind being on the bench for France during the 2006 World Cup final. On Sunday Carlisle travel to Sunderland which could, in theory, be one of Chimbonda's final three matches in professional football (followed by league games against Leyton Orient and Colchester United). Ominously the club have already warned that players will have to leave to balance the books this month. "We will see," Chimbonda says. Jan 18 is two more weeks and if I can carry on with Carlisle then I will stay and I will be happy to do that. I want to stay, so why not? Things move so quickly in football. At the moment it's Carlisle so I will take it with them. They gave me the opportunity to play so if they offer me something then I will stay, yes. Not so long ago things were not moving at all for the right-back. It was a long time that I did not play for and that was difficult. I was at Doncaster and left and wanted to play in America with Chicago but things did not happen the way I wanted. I had lost a lot of chances to play in England and abroad and the season had already started to I had to work on my own. Chimbonda knew Lee Ebden, manager of Market Drayton (four promotions away from the Football League and average attendance of 100), for whom he played in a pre-season friendly against Notts County. He was prepared to sign for them although he was also offered a contract by another non-League club, Colwyn Bay, managed by former Chelsea defender Frank Sinclair. "I wanted to keep myself fit, to have some games so I said 'yes" to Market Drayton," he says. They gave me the chance. However the appointment of Graham Kavanagh as Carlisle manager changed things as Chimbonda called his former Wigan team-mate to ask for a chance. I didn't have a club. Kav got the Carlisle job and I rang him and said, 'It would be good to come and play for you. When I was at Wigan we played together and he did not forget about me from what I did there. It's why he called me back straight away and we spoke. He opened his arms for me so I have to say thank you for that. Still, it must feel a long way from the Premier League - never mind the 74,000 capacity Olympic Stadium in Berlin where France lost on penalties to Italy - to Brunton Park? "Playing for Carlisle in League One is a good level," Chimbonda says. We play against teams who have been in the Premier League before. This league is tough. Still, how did the Carlisle players react? "They asked questions about the World Cup, about Spurs, about what it's like playing at the highest level," Chimbonda says. But I never lost confidence. I know how to play football and I brought all my experience here and all my knowledge and wanted to carry on. It's not tricky, not at all. I still want to show what I can do and I do believe that my football talks for me. The campaign has been an expected battle for Carlisle, who sit 15th, six places and three points above the relegation places, with Sunday's cup encounter a lucrative relief - and a return for Chimbonda (and Kavanagh, also a former Sunderland player, along with midfielder Paul Thirlwell). "It's a great match for the club and also a good one for me, personally, being against Sunderland," Chimbonda says. But against Sunderland it will be a bit different than if I was facing Wigan or Spurs or Blackburn. I was only there for six months. Indeed, Chimbonda made just 13 appearances for Sunderland, where he was signed by Roy Keane in 2008 as part of an astonishing £17 million deal that also took Steed Malbranque and Teemu Taino to the Stadium of Light. "Sunderland wanted to build a good team and it didn't work but I think that was only because it was not given enough time," Chimbonda says. Keane was sacked - "he's not fierce," Chimbonda says. "You have to know the person, he was a big character and I got on well with him" - and Ricky Sbragia took over with Harry Redknapp, Tottenham's new manager, deciding to take the defender back to White Hart Lane. Chimbonda is no stranger to controversy. He handed in a transfer request in the dressing room after Wigan's final game of the season in 2006 and one reason why he was initially sold by Spurs was because he walked straight down the tunnel at Wembley without acknowledging the then manager Juande Ramos after being substituted in the 2008 League Cup final against Chelsea. Spurs won that final and, in all, Chimbonda has been at clubs involved in three League Cup finals - playing and losing to Manchester United with Wigan in 2006 and being at Spurs when they also lost to United in 2009. "I've not got a very good record in the FA Cup," Chimbonda says. Sunday will be a tough, tough game but it will be good for the club to face a Premier League team. I will enjoy going back and playing on the pitch I played on before. I want to stay in football, coaching and work with the young players. I don't mind where that takes me but I would love to stay in England because here is where my career has been.