Razak Omotoyossi

Razak Omotoyossi
Personal information
Date of birth 8 October 1985 (1985-10-08) (age 26)
Place of birth Lagos, Nigeria
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position Striker
Club information
Current club Zamalek SC
Number 23
Youth career
2002–2003 Sunshine Stars
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2004 Avrankou Omnispor
2005 JS Pobè
2006–2007 FC Sheriff[1][2] 38 (5)
2007–2008 Helsingborg 33 (16)
2008–2009 Al-Nassr[3] 9 (2)
2009–2010 FC Metz 25 (2)
2011 GAIS 13 (2)
2011 Syrianska 6 (1)
2011– Zamalek 2 (1)
National team
2004– Benin 39 (18)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Razak Omotoyossi (born 8 October 1985) is a Nigerian-born Beninese footballer who plays for Egyptian club Zamalek and also for the Benin national football team.

Omotoyossi who plays as a striker, has played in Nigeria, Moldova, Sweden, Saudi Arabia and France.

Contents

Club career

Early career

Born in Lagos, Omotoyossi started his career in his native Nigeria, but was nearly derailed when the Nigeria Football Federation[4] slammed a five-year ban on him for allegedly assaulting a referee during a Premier League game between his club, Sunshine Stars and visiting Enyimba. However, video evidence later showed that Omotoyossi was nowhere near the referee when the assault took place[5] and the ban was therefore lifted. He had though already left to play in neighbouring Benin as the ban was not sanctioned by CAF or FIFA. He later switched to Beninese citizenship the same year.

He started his professional career in Benin with AJSA JS Pobè.[6]

FC Sheriff

Omotoyossi signed for Moldovan side FC Sheriff in November 2005.

On 26 July 2006 he scored a 92nd minute equalizing goal for Sheriff against Spartak Moscow in the second qualifying round of the 2006–07 UEFA Champions League.[7]

In March 2007 he went on trial with Israeli Premier League side Hapoel Kfar Saba. He scored in a Toto Cup game, but did not sign for them as he found the challenge of the Swedish Allsvenskan more promising.[8]

Helsingborg

Omotoyossi signed for Helsingborg in summer 2007. In the role of Henrik Larsson's strike partner, Omotoyossi finished the 2007 season as joint top scorer having scored 14 goals in 23 games.[6]

In the 2007–08 UEFA Cup, he scored twice in the first two qualifying rounds. His first goal came in the First leg of the First qualifying round home win over Estonian Meistriliiga side Narva Trans on 19 July 2007, and he then scored in the Second qualifying round, Second leg, a 3-0 home win over League of Ireland Premier Division side Drogheda United. He then added a further four goals in the group stage as Helsingborg finished second in Group H. Omotoyossi had scored six goals in six matches, (3 goals against Heereveen of Netherlands, 2 against Austria Vienna and 1 against the Turkish Giants Galatasaray) making him top scorer alongside teammate Henrik Larsson and Luca Toni of Bayern Munich.His six goals were critical in Helsingborgs booking their passage to the last 32. With six goals in a total of eight games, Omotoyossi finished as joint 4th top scorer in the tournament. Despite being a top-scorer in Helsingborg, Omotoyossi was not happy in the club and made a fool of himself a number of times. One of the most memorable moments was when he in anger after being substituted off in a game, told a reporter the he had played his last game for the club and was later forced to apologize to the entire team.[9]

He also appeared that year in Italy's Guerin Sportivo as one of the world's top 50 stars for the very near future.[6] This record caught the eye of Dutch Eredivisie side SC Heerenveen, and it was rumoured that they wanted the striker as a replacement for Brazilian striker Afonso Alves who was set to leave for English side Middlesbrough.

After the January transfer window had shut, it was revealed that Omotoyossi had declined a move to Dutch Eredivisie side, FC Groningen,[5] in a deal that would have been worth $2.5M.[10]

Al-Nassr

In July 2008 Omotoyossi signed for Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia for $3M.[11]

He had a short stint at the Arabian club in which he appeared in nine games, scoring four goals in the 2008–09 season as Al-Nassr finished 5th in the Saudi Professional League.

Metz

On 9 June 2009 Omotoyoissi signed a three year contract with French Ligue 2 side Metz. He scored twice in 8 starts and 14 as a subtitute player as Metz finished fourth in the 2009–10 season, just missing out on promotion to Ligue 1.

GAIS

On 30 March 2011 Swedish club GAIS confirmed that they had signed Omotoyossi, he was signed on a short term contract until July.[12]

Syrianska FC

On 21 July 2011 Omotoyossi signed a short term contract with Syrianska FC where he only played 5 matches before leaving to Egypt's Zamalek

Zamalek SC

On 15 September 2011 Omotoyossi signed a three year contract with the Egyptian giants Zamalek In a $150,000 Deal, the international star later stated that it will be an honor for him to play for the Cairo giants and train under the command of Egyptian coaching legend Hassan Shehata.He made his debut for the team in a league match against El-Entag El-Harby.

International career

Omotoyossi has represented Benin at under-20 and full international levels.

On 10 June 2005 he scored in the Group A 1-1 draw with Australia at the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship in the Netherlands. It was Benin's first-ever goal at a world finals. "I always want to score goals, every time I go out on the pitch." he said at the time.[6][13] On 7 February 2007 he scored in a 2-1 friendly defeat to Senegal in Rouen, France.[14]

He played in the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, scoring one goal in qualification - in the 4-1 home win over Togo on 19 June 2007 as Benin finished second in Group 9 to qualify for the finals in Ghana. Then in the finals, where Benin finished last place in Group B he scored a late consolation goal as Benin lost 4-1 to Côte d'Ivoire on 25 January 2008.

He scored eight goals in eight matches in 2008 for the national team, making him joint top scorer in the African World Cup/Nations Cup qualifiers with Samuel Eto'o.[5]

He scored six goals in the Second round of qualification for the 2010 FIFA World Cup as Benin finished top in Group 3. His first two goals came on 8 June 2008 in the 4–1 win over Uganda.[15] Six days later he scored in the 2–0 away win over Niger.[16] On 7 September, his two goals in the 3–2 home win over Angola helped book Benin their place in the Third round.[17] His sixth goal came in the final group game, a 2–1 away defeat to Uganda on 12 October.[18]

In the Third and final qualification round, he scored twice as Benin finished second in Group D, just missing out on qualifying for the World Cup finals. He scored Benin's winning goal against Sudan on 5 June 2009,[19] and scored a penalty in their final group game, a 2–1 away win over Sudan on 10 November.[20]

International goals

Scores and results list Benin's goal tally first.

References

  1. ^ Moldova 2005/06
  2. ^ http://www.rsssf.com/tablesm/mold07.html
  3. ^ Benin - Razak Omotoyossi
  4. ^ „Benin Republic will shock Eagles in Ghana, says Omotoyossi“ im Guardian
  5. ^ a b c Beattie, Chris (1 August 2010). "Razak Omotoyossi: A gamble worth taking for Blackpool boss Holloway". Tribal Football. http://tribalfootball.com/razak-omotoyossi-a-gamble-worth-taking-blackpool-boss-holloway-1014661. Retrieved 1 August 2010. 
  6. ^ a b c d "Razak gets rolling". FIFA. 10 December 2007. http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/news/newsid=656648.html. Retrieved 1 August 2010. 
  7. ^ http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/fixturesresults/round=2355/match=84462/report=ev.html
  8. ^ http://www.thetidenews.com/article.aspx?qrDate=11/14/2005&qrTitle=Moldovan%20club%20signs%20Chinwo,%20Omotoyossi&qrColumn=SPORTS
  9. ^ Razak kommer inte tillbaka
  10. ^ Reeves, Simon (24 February 2008). "Omotoyossi set to move on soon". BBC Sport. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/africa/7261645.stm. Retrieved 1 August 2010. 
  11. ^ Reeves, Simon (16 July 2008). "Omotoyossi moves to Saudi Arabia". BBC Sport. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/africa/7509285.stm. Retrieved 1 August 2010. 
  12. ^ "Razak Omotoyossi är klar för GAIS" (in Swedish). gais.se. 30 March 2011. http://www.gais.se/Fotboll/gais.nsf/0/DE369A243F48B76DC12578610062CF5C. Retrieved 2011-03-30. 
  13. ^ "Benin U-20's held". BBC Sport. 10 June 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/africa/4082118.stm. Retrieved 1 August 2010. 
  14. ^ "Egypt ease past Sweden". BBC Sport. 7 February 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/africa/6340697.stm. Retrieved 1 August 2010. 
  15. ^ "Benin 4:1 Uganda report". FIFA. 8 June 2008. http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/africa/matches/round=250418/match=300036608/report.html. Retrieved 1 August 2010. 
  16. ^ "Niger 0:2 Benin report". FIFA. 14 June 2008. http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/africa/matches/round=250418/match=300036606/report.html. Retrieved 1 August 2010. 
  17. ^ "Benin through as Congo climb". FIFA. 7 September 2008. http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/newsid=874288/. Retrieved 1 August 2010. 
  18. ^ "Uganda 1:2 Benin report". FIFA. 12 October 2008. http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/africa/matches/round=250418/match=300036600/report.html. Retrieved 1 August 2010. 
  19. ^ "Benin 1:0 Sudan report". FIFA. 5 June 2009. http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/africa/matches/round=252295/match=300070365/report.html. Retrieved 1 August 2010. 
  20. ^ "Sudan 1:2 Benin report". FIFA. 10 November 2009. http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/africa/matches/round=252295/match=300070357/report.html. Retrieved 1 August 2010. 

External links
Zamalek SC – current squad