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Moustapha Salifou

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Moustapha Salifou
Salifou pictured in 2007
Personal information
Full name Moustapha Salifou[1]
Date of birth (1983-06-01) 1 June 1983 (age 41)[1]
Place of birth Lomé, Togo
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[2]
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Free Agent
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998–2002 AC Merlan
2002–2006 Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 33 (1)
2005–2006 → Stade Brestois (loan) 7 (0)
2006–2007 FC Wil 23 (2)
2007–2011 Aston Villa 4 (0)
2011–2012 1. FC Saarbrücken 11 (1)
International career‡
2000– Togo 59 (6)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18:17, 24 October 2011 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 20:24, 15 June 2011 (UTC)

Moustapha Salifou (born 1 June 1983) is a Togolese footballer who plays as a midfielder.

Club career

Born in Lomé, Salifou started his career in his native Togo with AC Merlan.[3] The midfielder had fleeting stints with Swiss side FC Wil, French team Stade Brest 29 and German team Rot-Weiß Oberhausen, prior to moving to England. On 31 August 2007, Salifou signed a one-year deal with Aston Villa, joining for a nominal fee after a successful trial. Martin O'Neill commented that "He has great determination to succeed at this level and may well prove to be an excellent asset".[4] Salifou encountered problems acquiring a work permit though, and was forced to train with his old club in Switzerland.

It was reported on 25 September 2007 that the work permit had been granted and that Salifou was to join up with the squad within a week,[5] however, he did not join up with his new club until 18 October 2007.[6] Salifou made his debut for Aston Villa Reserves on 22 October 2007 creating two of the goals in a 6–0 win over Chelsea reserves. Salifou made his debut for the first team on 12 January 2008 as a 90th minute substitute in a 3–1 win against Reading. Despite not having played a game, his name was chanted loudly to the tune of Daddy Cool by the Holte End. He was later rewarded with a one-year extension to his contract.[7] Salifou made his second appearance for the club on the 15 March 2008, coming on as a late substitute in the 2–0 away defeat at Portsmouth, as well as appearing in the 4–0 defeat to Manchester United. On 6 November 2008, Martin O'Neill decided to change his starting eleven for Villa's UEFA Cup match against Slavia Prague. Salifou started and played the full ninety minutes. During this time salifou was being linked with a move away from Aston villa, clubs such as Juventus and Calcio Catania.

Despite rarely featuring for the club at all during the 2009–10 season, Salifou was named in caretaker manager Kevin MacDonald's 22-man Premier League squad for 2010–11.[8] He failed to make an impact during this season too, and underwent a trial at AS Monaco in January 2011.[9] With the arrival of Jean Makoun to Villa in January 2011, Salifou found himself without a squad number for a period after the number 17 shirt was given to Makoun. However, he was later given the number 37. Throughout this time Salifou was praised for his time with the reserves,often passing on his experience to the Villa youngsters. On 27 May 2011, Aston Villa announced that Salifou was one of a number of players who was released by the club after their contracts expired.[10]

Salifou remained a free agent until November 2011, when he signed a two-year deal with 1. FC Saarbrücken. He took the number 16 shirt on arrival at the German club.[11] He made his début for the team as an 80th-minute substitute for Marcel Ziemer in a 3–1 win over Kickers Offenbach on 26 November 2011.[12] He scored his first goal for Saarbrücken in a 5–2 win over former club Rot-Weiß Oberhausen on 10 December.[13] He was released by Saarbrücken at the end of the season. Salifou is now looking for a club.

International career

He is a member of the Togo national team, and was called up to the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He played in all three of Togo's group games in that World Cup against South Korea, Switzerland and France.[14]

The midfielder earned glowing reports after a positive performance at the 2006 World Cup, which alerted the attention of many French league clubs, and prompted the nickname the 'Togolese Zidane' or 'the great of the figure of eight' from his compatriot Emmanuel Adebayor, due to Salifou's playmaking nature.[15]

On 8 January 2010, the bus containing the Togo squad for the Africa Cup of Nations was subjected to an attack from gunmen; Salifou was on the bus during the attack, but was said to be 'shaken but okay' after the incident.[16]

References

  1. ^ a b Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2008). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2008–09. Mainstream Publishing. p. 366. ISBN 978-1-84596-324-8.
  2. ^ "Premier League Player Profile". Premier League. Retrieved 11 March 2011.
  3. ^ "Salifou, Moustapha". National Football Teams. Retrieved 15 June 2011.
  4. ^ "Aston Villa complete Salifou move". BBC Sport. 31 August 2007. Retrieved 31 August 2007.
  5. ^ "Villa sigining Salifou gets permit". BBC Sport. 25 September 2007. Retrieved 25 September 2007.
  6. ^ "Salifou finally arrives at Villa". BBC Sport. 18 October 2007. Retrieved 16 March 2008.
  7. ^ "Salifou Contract Extension". Aston Villa F.C. Retrieved 16 March 2008.
  8. ^ http://www.avfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10265~2141616,00.html
  9. ^ http://www.mercato365.com/infos-clubs/monaco/article_489778_Monaco-Salifou-teste.shtml
  10. ^ "Farewell to Reo-Coker and Carew as released list announced". Aston Villa F.C. 27 May 2011. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
  11. ^ http://www.liga3-online.de/saarbrucken-verpflichtet-moustapha-salifou/
  12. ^ . Transfermarkt.co.uk. 26 November 2011 http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/en/1-fc-saarbruecken-kickers-offenbach/index/spielbericht_1122109.html. Retrieved 19 January 2012. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  13. ^ . Transfermarkt.co.uk. 10 December 2011 http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/en/1-fc-saarbruecken-rot-weiss-oberhausen/index/spielbericht_1122132.html. Retrieved 19 January 2012. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  14. ^ "Villa take Salifou". Ireland On-line. 31 August 2007. Retrieved 31 August 2007.
  15. ^ "Not Zizou- I'm Salifou". Aston Villa F.C. Retrieved 21 February 2008.
  16. ^ "Togo football stars tell of gun attack". BBC Sport. 8 January 2010. Retrieved 9 January 2010.

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