- Mohamed Sissoko
-
Mohamed Sissoko 
Sissoko playing for LiverpoolPersonal information Full name Mohamed Lamine Sissoko Gillan Date of birth 22 January 1985 Place of birth Mont-Saint-Aignan, France Height 1.89 m (6 ft 2 1⁄2 in) Playing position Defensive Midfielder Club information Current club Paris Saint-Germain Number 23 Youth career 1998–2003 Auxerre Senior career* Years Team Apps† (Gls)† 2002–2003 Auxerre 0 (0) 2003–2005 Valencia 45 (0) 2005–2008 Liverpool 51 (1) 2008–2011 Juventus 71 (3) 2011– Paris Saint-Germain 6 (1) National team‡ 2003–2010 Mali 28 (2) * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 6 November 2011.
† Appearances (Goals).
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 29 July 2011[1]Mohamed Lamine Sissoko Gillan (born 22 January 1985) is a French-born Malian footballer who is currently playing for the French Ligue 1 team Paris-Saint Germain and the Malian national team. Although he could have elected to play for France internationally, he chose to play for the country of his descent, Mali. Sissoko is a tough tackling defensive midfielder .[2]
Contents
Club career
AJ Auxerre
Sissoko appeared in the youth system of French club AJ Auxerre, although he never managed to appear with the club's first team prior to his 2003 sale to Spanish La Liga club, Valencia CF, coached by Rafael Benítez. Up until this move, Sissoko had always played as a striker for AJ Auxerre, but began adapting to his new role under his new manager.
Valencia
Following his transfer to La Liga, Sissoko remained with Valencia between 2003 and 2005. At the time, the manager of Valencia was Rafael Benítez, who eyed the Malian player as a talented youngster with obvious potential to turn into a top-notch defensive midfielder. The 2003–2004 season was a very successful year for Valencia and moderately so for the Malian player. Los Che were crowned La Liga and UEFA Cup champions, while Sissoko totaled nine matches and one goal in a friendly fixture for his new club. The following year, Benítez left to manage Liverpool and was replaced by Claudio Ranieri, which gave Sissoko the chance to firmly establish himself in the starting line-up, as the Italian manager quickly became quite fond of the newly-formed defensive midfielder. In his second season at the Estadio Mestalla, Sissoko played 21 matches in the Spanish League, and made himself known to the world by his performances in La Liga and the UEFA Champions League. In the summer of 2005, Sissoko was signed by Premier League club Liverpool. In two seasons with Valencia, Sissoko totaled 63 appearances.
Liverpool
Sissoko moved from Valencia to Liverpool in the summer of 2005 for a fee reported to be £5.3 million. Fans of Valencia were devastated when the player they affectionately refer to as "Black Gold" decided to move on. He had been expected to sign for Liverpool's rivals Everton but ultimately plumped for the opportunity to work again with former Valencia boss, Rafael Benítez. Liverpool manager Benítez showered praise upon him when he said Sissoko possessed "incredible ability for his age" and similar qualities to Frenchman Patrick Vieira.[2] His early career, like Vieira's, was marked with disciplinary problems as he tends to pick up yellow cards for late or reckless tackles.
There were fears for Sissoko's eyesight in his right eye after his retina was severely damaged after he was accidentally kicked in the head by S.L. Benfica's Petit in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League knockout round tie in February 2006. Sissoko, however, made a recovery and returned in the 6th round of the FA Cup against Birmingham City wearing a pair of goggles, where Liverpool won the game 7–0. He was awarded the MMOTY award in May 2006. He went on to play the full match as Liverpool won the 2006 FA Cup Final on penalties over West Ham.
The 2006–2007 season got off to a flying start for Sissoko with victory for Liverpool in the FA Community Shield and Sissoko taking the man of the match award. Sissoko's season had been put on hold due to an arm injury he suffered at Birmingham City in the League Cup in early November. On 29 January 2007, it was announced that Sissoko would be fully fit for Liverpool's local derby match against Everton on 3 February 2007.[3] However, he made his comeback from injury by playing against Newcastle United in a game which Liverpool lost 2–1. Sissoko's first real test after coming back from injury was in the UEFA Champions League against FC Barcelona, the current title-holders at the time. Sissoko was awarded the man of the match award by UEFA. However, for the remainder of the season, he would compete for the holding position in the centre of Liverpool's midfield with newly arrived Argentine, Javier Mascherano. He would be largely unsuccessful, and Mascherano started in the 2007 UEFA Champions League Final ahead of Sissoko. This led to people questioning whether he would leave Liverpool, with notable clubs such as Juventus F.C. and FC Barcelona reportedly interested. However, on June 28, Sissoko signed a contract to extend his Liverpool career a further four years, keeping him at Liverpool until 2011. It was later revealed that Sissoko had indeed received an offer from Juventus, but he turned them down to remain at Liverpool.[4]
On 25 August 2007, in a match against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light, Sissoko started in place of the injured Steven Gerrard in Liverpool's central midfield. In the match, Sissoko finally scored his first ever competitive goal in his club career, a long-range first-time effort from 25 yards out, assisted by Andriy Voronin.[5] It was Sissoko's first domestic league goal in his career, in his 75th appearance for the club. The goal also marked Liverpool's 7000th goal in league football.
Juventus
Sissoko remained at Liverpool for the first portion of the 2007–08 season, but transferred to Italian giants Juventus in January 2008, where he would team up with former coach Claudio Ranieri, who at the time was at the helm of Juventus. On 29 January 2008, Liverpool confirmed the sale of Sissoko to Juventus for a fee of €11 million. He made his first appearance for the club on 3 February 2008, coming in as a 67th minute substitution for Tiago in a Serie A fixture versus Cagliari Calcio. Sissoko scored his first goal for Juventus on 2 March 2008, the equalizer against bitter rivals Fiorentina. During the first half of the 2008–09 season, he regularly featured in the starting line-up, forming a partnership with youngster Claudio Marchisio as the centre midfield pair in Claudio Ranieri's 4–4–2 formation. However, Sissoko's 2008–09 season ended early after he broke his foot in March 2009 ruling him out for the rest of that season and into the start of the 2009-10 season.[6]
Sissoko's injury woes continued throughout the rest of the 2009-10 season and into 2010-11 season as Sissoko found himself constantly battling various injuries throughout the two seasons, including thigh strains, a leg strain, Achilles tendon inflammation, and finally season-ending knee surgery in March 2011. [7] [8]
Paris Saint Germain
On 28 July 2011, Sissoko moved to Ligue 1 side, Paris Saint-Germain for a transfer fee of €7 million + €1 million should Paris Saint-Germain qualify for the Group Stage of the UEFA Champions League before September 2013.[9] Sissoko scored his first goal for PSG and in Ligue 1 on 6 November, when he headed in a cross from Nenê,[10] against Bordeaux at the Stade Chaban Delmas. The game ended in a 1-1 draw and prevented PSG from winning their seventh straight league game.[11]
International career
Born in Mont-Saint-Aignan, France, Sissoko was eligible to play for the French national football team. However, Momo opted to play international football for his ancestral country, Mali. Sissoko obtained his first international call-up in 2004, and has appeared for his country in all African Cup of Nations qualifiers and tournaments since then. He has also featured in FIFA World Cup qualifiers for both 2006 and 2010. Sissoko has formed a very solid midfield for his country along with Real Madrid hardman Mahamadou Diarra, and Barcelona ace, Seydou Keita. Sissoko has made 26 official appearances for Mali, and has scored 2 goals.
Personal life
Sissoko is the nephew of former African Footballer of the Year Salif Keïta,[12] who, like Sissoko, played for Mali and Valencia CF. Salif Keita is also the uncle of FC Barcelona midfielder Seydou Keita. Both Sissoko and Seydou Keita play similar roles as hard-tackling central defensive midfielders. Sissoko is sometimes referred to as "the Black Ninja" for his tenacious tackling and work rate. He has no relation to football player Moussa Sissoko, but is the elder brother of Abdou Sissoko.
Career statistics
Club performance League Cup League Cup Continental Total Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals France League Coupe de France Coupe de la Ligue Europe Total 2002–03 Auxerre Ligue 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Spain League Copa del Rey Copa de la Liga Europe Total 2003–04 Valencia La Liga 21 0 4 0 9 1 34 1 2004–05 24 0 0 0 5 0 29 0 Total Spain 45 0 4 0 14 1 63 1 England League FA Cup League Cup Europe Total 2005–06 Liverpool Premier League 26 0 6 0 0 0 11 0 43 0 2006–07 16 0 0 0 2 0 9 0 27 0 2007–08 9 1 0 0 2 0 3 0 14 1 Total England 51 1 6 0 4 0 23 0 84 1 Italy League Coppa Italia League Cup Europe Total 2007–08 Juventus Serie A 15 1 0 0 0 0 15 1 2008–09 21 2 3 0 8 0 32 2 2009–10 17 0 1 0 6 0 24 0 2010–11 18 0 1 0 10 0 29 0 Total Italy 71 3 5 0 24 0 100 3 Career total 167 4 15 0 4 0 61 1 247 5 - Also played two FIFA Club World Cup-, and one Community Shield-game for Liverpool.
Honours
- Valencia
- 2003–04 Spanish Primera División
- 2003–04 UEFA Cup
- 2004 European Super Cup
- Liverpool
- 2005 European Super Cup
- 2005–06 FA Cup
- 2006 FA Community Shield
- Juventus
- 2008–2009 Serie A (Runner-up)
References
- ^ "Sissoko national stats". National football teams.com. http://www.national-football-teams.com/v2/player.php?id=4322. Retrieved 29 July 2011.
- ^ a b "#22 Mohamed Sissoko: Midfielder". Soccernet. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/players/profile?id=36654&cc=5901. Retrieved 2007-01-16.
- ^ "MOMO BACK IN CONTENTION FOR DERBY". LiverpoolFC.tv. 2007-01-29. http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N154828070129-1415.htm. Retrieved 2007-01-29.
- ^ "Size Does Matter To Sissoko". Vital Football. 2007-09-02. http://www.liverpool.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=81567. Retrieved 2007-09-03.
- ^ "Sunderland 0–2 Liverpool". BBC. 25 August 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/6952883.stm. Retrieved 9 November 2009.
- ^ "Sissoko suffers injury setback". BBC. 2009-03-08. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/africa/7931298.stm. Retrieved 2011-09-12.
- ^ "Collateral Damage: Juve’s Injury List 2009-2010". The Offside Juventus. http://juventus.theoffside.com/team-news/collateral-damage-juves-injury-list-2009-2010.html. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
- ^ "Juve blow as Sissoko out for season". ESPN Soccernet. 2011-03-02. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/888082/juventus-blow-as-mohamed-sissoko-out-for-season?cc=5739. Retrieved 2011-09-12.
- ^ "Sissoko moves to Paris Saint Germain". Juventus FC. 2011-07-28. http://www.juventus.com/wps/portal/en/news/cessione%20sissoko%20eng%20news%2028july2011/. Retrieved 2011-09-12.
- ^ http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/ligue1/story/bordeaux-1-1-psg-ligue-1-match-day-sissoko-equalizer-match-report-110611
- ^ http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=320275&cc=5901
- ^ "Sissoko: Quiero llegar a ser como Viera". Ciberche. Archived from the original on 2008-01-21. http://web.archive.org/web/20080121180431/http://ciberche.net/noticias/index.php?news=6418. Retrieved 2007-11-03.
- ^ "Sissoko stats". ESPN Soccernet. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/player/_/id/36654/mohamed-sissoko?cc=5739. Retrieved 29 July 2011.
- ^ "Mohamed Sissoko stats". Transfermarkt. http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/en/mohamed-sissoko/leistungsdaten-detail/spieler_6119.html. Retrieved 29 July 2011.
External links
- Mohamed Sissoko career stats at Soccerbase
- Profile at BBC Sport
- LFChistory.net player profile
- Mohamed Sissoko – FIFA competition record
- Transfermarkt profile
- PSG profile
Paris Saint-Germain F.C. – current squad 1 Douchez · 2 Ceará · 3 Sakho (c) · 4 Biševac · 5 Tiéné · 6 Camara · 7 Ménez · 8 Luyindula · 9 Hoarau · 10 Nenê · 11 Erdinç · 12 Bodmer · 14 Matuidi · 15 Lugano · 16 Aréola · 18 Arnaud · 19 Gameiro · 20 Chantôme · 22 Armand · 23 Sissoko · 25 Bahebeck · 26 Jallet · 27 Pastore · 28 Landre · 29 Kebano · 30 Sirigu · Manager: Kombouaré
Categories:- Malian footballers
- French footballers
- Mali international footballers
- AJ Auxerre players
- Valencia CF footballers
- Liverpool F.C. players
- Juventus F.C. players
- Paris Saint-Germain F.C. players
- La Liga footballers
- Premier League players
- Serie A footballers
- Ligue 1 players
- Expatriate footballers in Spain
- Expatriate footballers in England
- Expatriate footballers in Italy
- Association football midfielders
- Footballers at the 2004 Summer Olympics
- Olympic footballers of Mali
- 2004 African Cup of Nations players
- 2008 Africa Cup of Nations players
- People from Mont-Saint-Aignan
- 2010 Africa Cup of Nations players
- People from Seine-Maritime
- French people of Malian descent
- 1985 births
- Living people
- Malian expatriates in the United Kingdom
- French people of Black African descent
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