Ibrahim Tall

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Personal information
Ibrahim Tall
Full name	Ibrahim Tall
Date of birth	June 23, 1981 (age 25)
Place of birth	Aubervilliers, Paris, France
Position	Defender (versatile)
Club information
Current club	Heart of Midlothian
Number	5
Professional clubs*
Years	Club	Apps (goals)
1999-2002 2002-2005 2005-	Louhans-Cuiseaux Sochaux Hearts	32 (0) 67 (0) 15 (0)
National team
	Senegal
* Professional club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 08:02, 4 December 2006 (UTC).

Ibrahim Tall (born 23 June 1981, in Aubervilliers, Paris) is a Senegalese international footballer. He currently plays for Scottish Premier League club Heart of Midlothian. He is a versatile defender capable of playing either right back or centre half.

Tall started his career with Louhans-Cuiseaux before moving to Sochaux in 2002. He soon became a regular for the Montbéliard club, making over 70 first team appearances and participating in their runs to the 2004 UEFA Cup quarter finals and the 2003 French League Cup final.

Tall moved to Hearts in August 2005 in controversial circumstances, with tabloids speculating that he was signed by club owner Vladimir Romanov, against the wishes of then head coach George Burley. Commenting on the signings of Tall and Brazilian Samuel Camazzola, Burley himself would only admit that the situation was "not ideal".^[1] Tall then appeared to become the victim of internal club politics as, despite his reported £8,000 per week salary, he spent the first 7 months of his Hearts career either sitting on the bench or in the stand.

An injury to Jose Goncalves and the omission from the team of Andy Webster, due to a contract dispute with the club, eventually allowed Tall to make his competitive debut, as a substitute, in the 2-0 victory over Kilmarnock on 15th April.^[2] After this, he formed a solid defensive partnership with club captain Steven Pressley during the final weeks of 2005-06 and ended a strange season on a positive note, when he collected his first senior medal as Hearts defeated Gretna in the Scottish Cup final.^[3]

On 26th July, Tall scored his first competitive goal for Hearts, in the club's first game in Europe's elite Champions League. His strike against Bosnians NK Široki Brijeg helped his side to a 3-0 aggregate victory.

Tall has appeared over twenty times for the Senegal national side. Despite his French birth and upbringing, he qualifies to represent the African state through his parents' Senegalese lineage. ^[4]