Mohamed Sissoko

Mohamed Sissoko

Sissoko in 2012
Personal information
Full name	Mohamed Lamine Sissoko Gillan
Date of birth	(1985-01-22) 22 January 1985
Place of birth	Mont-Saint-Aignan, France
Height	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Levante
Number	22
Youth career
	Troyes
1998–2002	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)
2011–2013	Paris Saint-Germain	28	(2)
2013	→ Fiorentina (loan)	5	(0)
2014–	Levante	0	(0)
National team‡
2004	Mali U23
2004–	Mali	34	(2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 10 January 2013. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 31 July 2013[2]

Mohamed Lamine "Momo" Sissoko Gillan (born 22 January 1985) is a professional footballer who currently plays for Spanish La Liga side Levante UD. Sissoko also plays for 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.^[3]

Club career

AJ Auxerre

Sissoko played as a striker in the youth system of French club AJ Auxerre.

Valencia

In 2003 Sissoko made a free transfer to Spanish club Valencia CF, managed by Rafael Benítez.^[4] Valencia won the 2003-04 La Liga title and in the same year became UEFA Cup champions, during which Sissoko played nine matches. The following year, Benítez left to manage Liverpool and was replaced by Claudio Ranieri.

Liverpool

Sissoko moved from Valencia to Liverpool for £5.6 million in the summer of 2005. His first appearance was against Kaunas on 26 July 2005 in the UEFA Champions League qualifiers.^[5] Sissoko was part of the FA Cup winning side in 2006 and played an integral role for the team. In the summer of 2007, Sissoko rejected offers from Barcelona, CSKA Moskava and Juventus to stay at Merseyside. His only goal for Liverpool came on 25 August 2007, a low shot from twenty yards out against Sunderland FC in a 2-0 away win.^[6] The following summer, Sissoko joined Juventus.

Juventus

In January 2008 Sissoko transferred to Italian club Juventus, where he would team up with former coach Claudio Ranieri, for a fee of €11 million. He made his first appearance for the club in 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 equaliser against 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. His 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.^[7]

Sissoko's injury problems continued throughout the rest of the 2009-10 season and into 2010-11 season as he suffered thigh strains, a leg strain, Achilles tendon inflammation, and finally season-ending knee surgery in March 2011.^[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 in November, when he headed in a cross from Nenê,^[10] in a 1–1 draw against Bordeaux at the Stade Chaban Delmas.^[11] In April 2012 Sissoko captained the squad against rivals Olympique de Marseille in Le Classique, but was sent off in the 86th minute for two bookable offences in a game that finished 2–1 to the Parisian club.^[12] On 30 January 2013 Sissoko join Fiorentina on loan.^[13] On 3 September 2013 Sissoko left Paris Saint-Germain by mutual consent.^[14]

Levante

On 30 January 2014, Sissoko joined the La Liga side Levante on a six-month deal after spending nearly five months without a club.^[15]

International career

Born in Mont-Saint-Aignan, France, Sissoko was eligible to play for the French national football team but 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 made 34 official appearances for Mali, and has scored 2 goals.

Personal life

Sissoko is the nephew of former African Footballer of the Year Salif Keïta,^[16] who, like Sissoko, played for Mali and Valencia CF. Salif Keita is also the uncle of former 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.

Sissoko has said "I am proud of being a Muslim and I follow Ramadan even during the football tournament," on the Dubai-based Arab TV network, Al Arabiya.^[17]

Career statistics

As of 4 November 2012^[18][19]

• Also played two FIFA Club World Cup-, and one Community Shield-game for Liverpool.

Honours

Valencia

• La Liga (1): 2003–04
• UEFA Cup (1): 2003–04
• UEFA Super Cup (1): 2004

Liverpool

• FA Cup (1): 2005–06
• FA Community Shield (1): 2006
• UEFA Super Cup (1): 2005

Paris Saint-Germain

• Ligue 1 (1): 2012–13

References

External links

• Official web site of Momo Sissoko
• Mohamed Sissoko career stats at Soccerbase
• Profile at BBC Sport
• LFChistory.net player profile
• Mohamed Sissoko – FIFA competition record
• Transfermarkt profile
• PSG profile

Mali squads v t e Mali squad – 2004 African Cup of Nations Fourth Place 1 Mahamadou Sidibè 2 Diamoutèné 3 Diawara 4 A. Coulibaly 5 Thiam 6 Diarra 7 Mamady Sidibé 8 B. Touré 9 Abouta 10 S. Coulibaly 11 D. Sidibé 12 Keita 13 Kone 14 D. Coulibaly 15 Demba 16 Bathily 17 S. Traoré 18 Sissoko 19 Kanouté 20 D. Traoré 21 M. Traoré 22 Tangara Coach: Stambouli v t e Mali men's football squad – 2004 Summer Olympics 1 Tangara 2 Berthe 3 Tamboura 4 Kébé 5 Koné 6 B. Diallo 7 N'Diaye 8 A. Traoré 9 Sidibé 10 Doucoure 11 Abouta 12 D. Diakite 13 D. Traoré 14 Sissoko 15 S. Diakité 16 Bathily 17 M. Diallo 18 Coulibaly Coach: Cheick Oumar Kone v t e Mali squad – 2008 Africa Cup of Nations 1 Mahamadou Sidibè 2 Koné 3 Tamboura 4 A. Coulibaly 5 Diamoutene 6 Diarra 7 Mamady Sidibé 8 B. Touré 9 A. Sidibé 10 D. Traoré 11 D. Sidibé 12 Keita 13 Diallo 14 Diakite 15 Kanté 16 Diakite 17 S. Traoré 18 Dembélé 19 Kanouté 20 M. Sissoko 21 Dissa 22 O. Sissoko 23 M. Coulibaly Coach: Jodar v t e Mali squad – 2010 Africa Cup of Nations 1 Sidibè 2 Berthé 3 Tamboura 4 Sow 5 Diamoutene 6 Diarra 7 N'Diaye 8 Diallo 9 Bagayoko 10 Maiga 11 Samassa 12 Keita 13 Soumaré 14 A. Traoré 15 B. Traoré 16 Diakité 17 M. Traoré 18 M. Sissoko 19 Kanouté 20 Fané 21 Yatabaré 22 O. Sissoko 23 Maïga Coach: Keshi v t e Mali squad – 2013 Africa Cup of Nations Third Place 1 Mamadou Samassa 2 Diawara 3 Tamboura 4 A. Coulibaly 5 I. Coulibaly 6 Sissoko 7 Fantamady 8 K. Traoré 9 Diabaté 10 Maïga 11 Diarra 12 Keita (c) 13 Wague 14 Yatabaré 15 Mahamadou Samassa 16 So. Diakité 17 M. Traoré 18 Sow 19 S. Coulibaly 20 Sa. Diakité 21 N'Diaye 22 Yirango 23 O. Coulibaly Coach: Carteron