Seydou Keita (footballer)

Infobox Football biography
playername = Seydou Keita


fullname = Seydou Keita
height = height|m=1.83
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1980|1|16
cityofbirth = Bamako
countryofbirth = Mali
currentclub = FC Barcelona
clubnumber = 15
position = Defensive midfielder / Centre midfielder
youthyears = ????-1997
1997-1999
youthclubs = Centre Salif Keita
Olympique Marseille
years = 1999-2000
2000-2002
2002-2007
2007-2008
2008-
clubs = Olympique Marseille
FC Lorient
RC Lens
Sevilla FC
FC Barcelona
caps(goals) = 006 0(0)
058 0(1)
156 (19)
031 0(4)
002 0(0)
pcupdate = May 24, 2008
nationalyears = 2003-
nationalteam = Mali
nationalcaps(goals) = 020 0(3)
ntupdate = November 30, 2006

Seydou Keita (born January 16, 1980 in Bamako) is a half Somalian and half Malian football midfielder currently playing for FC Barcelona. Nicknamed "Seydoubilen" or "Red Seydou," Keita is the nephew of former African Footballer of the Year Salif Keïtacite web
url = http://ciberche.net/noticias/index.php?news=6418
title = Sissoko: Quiero llegar a ser como Viera
accessdate = 2007-11-03
publisher = Ciberche] . Seydou's cousin, Mohamed Sissoko, is also a professional player. Both Seydou and Sissoko play similar roles as hard-tackling central defensive midfielders, just like Salif did.

Career

Olympique Marseille

Keita made his senior debut for Olympique Marseille in September 1999, but shortly afterwards he transferred to FC Lorient.

FC Lorient

It was at Lorient where Keita became a much-wanted footballer, scoring 1 goal in 58 appearances from defensive midfield.

RC Lens

After two years playing for Lorient, Keita moved to RC Lens, eventually working his way up to the captain's role. He started to score more goals from defensive midfield for Lens; in his four seasons at Lens he made 156 league appearances and scored 19 goals.

evilla

On July 11 2007, Lens sold their captain after Keita reached an agreement with Sevilla for the next four seasons. This was a very successful season for Keita and in 31 league games for Sevilla he scored 4 goals, putting a lot of top European clubs in the market for him. One of his four goals was a stunning strike against Real Madrid. This is where he came to the world's attention and eventually engineering a move to one of the world's biggest clubs, FC Barcelona. On November 27, 2007 in a Champions League match Keita scored his first Champions League goal for Sevilla in a remarkable 3-1 win over Arsenal thus inflicting Arsenal's first loss of the season.

Barcelona

On Monday, May 26 2008, Keita signed a 4-year contract with FC Barcelona with a €90 million buy-out clause. [ [http://www.fcbarcelona.com/web/english/noticies/futbol/temporada07-08/05/n080526104334.html Keita is now a Barça player] "fcbarcelona.cat" (accessed June 7 2008)] Barcelona are believed to have paid Keita's buy-out clause of €14 million to Sevilla FC. Keita is also the first Malian to play for FC Barcelona.

Keita made his official debut for the club in a Champions League qualifier against Wisła Kraków on August 13 2008, a game which Barcelona won 4-0. [ [http://soccernet.espn.go.com/match?id=252050&cc=5901&league=UEFA.CHAMPIONS Soccernet match stats] He then made his domestic league debut against CD Numancia on August 31 2008, subbing on in the 1-0 defeat. [http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=252793&cc=5901&league=ESP.1 Soccernet match report]

International

On the international scene, he has played numerous matches for Mali national team.He is regarded as one of the most skillful African central midfielders for his passing, control, vision, and shooting skills. He forms a midfield duo with Mahamadou Diarra of Real Madrid and sometimes his cousin Momo Sissoko of Juventus.

All-Time Club Statistics

As of August 19 2008 [ [http://soccernet.espn.go.com/players/stats?id=85001&cc=5901 Soccernet player statistics] ] [ [http://fr.sports.yahoo.com/football/seydou-keita.html Yahoo profile fr icon] ]

Honours and awards

*FIFA World Youth Championship 3rd place: 1999
*FIFA World Youth Championship Golden Ball

References

External links

*fr icon [http://www.sitercl.com/Fichejo/K/keitasey.htm Profile and Pictures of Seydou Keita on Sitercl.com]
*fr icon [http://www.sitercl.com/JOUEURS0/JOUEURS1/JO12joue.htm The other players of RC Lens]
*fr icon [http://fr.sports.yahoo.com/fo/profiles/7740.html Yahoo Sports bio]
*es icon [http://keita.nireblog.com/ Seydou Keita Blog]