Mohamed Sissoko
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Momo Sissoko
Personal information
Full name	Mohamed Lamine Sissoko Gillan
Date of birth	22 January 1985 (1985-01-22) (age 23)
Place of birth	Mont-Saint-Aignan, France
Height	1.89 m (6 ft 2+1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Defensive Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Juventus
Number	22
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2002–2003 2003–2005 2005–2008 2008–	Auxerre Valencia Liverpool Juventus	00 (0) 43 (0) 51 (1) 15 (1)
National team2
2004–	Mali	14 (1)[1]
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 14:58, 21 May 2008 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 20 April 2006. * Appearances (Goals)

Mohamed Lamine Sissoko Gillan (born 22 January 1985 in Mont-Saint-Aignan, France), often referred to as Momo Sissoko is a French born footballer who represents Mali at international level and who is currently signed to Juventus F.C. ( Italian Serie A). His father, Abu Sissoko is a well known mulla and cleric at Finsbury Park Mosque. Sissoko is a tough tackling defensive midfield player. He is often compared to Patrick Vieira due to the similarities in playing style.^[2]

Sissoko is the nephew of former African Footballer of the Year Salif Keïta^[3], who, like Sissoko, played for Mali and Valencia CF. Salif Keita is also the uncle of FC Barcelona midfielder Seydou Keita. Both Sissoko and Seydou Keita play similar roles as hard-tackling central defensive midfielders.

Player profile

Sissoko has two brothers who also play football professionally; Ibrahim, who currently plays for Premier League club West Bromwich Albion F.C. and Abdul for AJ Auxerre. Sissoko is currently a player at Juventus F.C and is referred to by some fans as the black ninja.^[4].

Valencia CF

Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (July 2008)

Liverpool

Sissoko moved from Valencia CF to Liverpool F.C. in the summer of 2004 for a fee reported at £ 5.3 million. Fans of Valencia were devestated when the player they affectionately refer to as 'Black Gold' decided to move on. He had been expected to sign for Liverpool's rivals Everton but ultimately plumped for the opportunity to work again with former Valencia boss, Rafael Benítez.Liverpool manager, Rafael Benítez, showered praise upon him when he said Sissoko possessed "incredible ability for his age" and similar qualities to Frenchman Patrick Vieira.^[2] His early career, like Vieira's, has been marked with disciplinary problems as he tends to pick up yellow cards for late or reckless tackles. However, his fierce competitiveness has been effective for Liverpool, and he soon became something of a fan's favourite as shown in the tribute by Liverpool fans in the form of a large Mali flag with the Scouse phrase "Momo Is Boss" adorning it.

There were fears for Sissoko's eyesight in his right eye after his retina was severely damaged after he was accidentally kicked in the head by SL Benfica's Beto in the first leg of their Champions League knockout round tie in February 2006. Sissoko has made a recovery and returned in the 6th round of the FA Cup against Birmingham City wearing a pair of goggles, where Liverpool won the game 7-0.

The 2006–07 season got off to a flying start for Sissoko with victory for Liverpool in the FA Community Shield and Sissoko taking the man-of-the-match award. Sissoko's season had been put on hold due to an arm injury he suffered at Birmingham City in the Carling Cup in early November. On 29 January 2007 it was announced that Sissoko would be fully fit for Liverpool's local derby match against Everton on 3 February ^[5]. However,he made his comeback from injury by playing against Newcastle in a game which Liverpool lost 2-1.Sissoko's first real test after coming back from injury was in the Champions League against F.C. Barcelona, the holders. Sissoko was awarded the Man of the Match award by Uefa. However for the remainder of the season he would compete for the holding position in the centre of Liverpool's midfield with newly arrived Argentine Javier Mascherano. He would be largely unsuccessful, and Mascherano started in the 2007 UEFA Champions League Final ahead of Sissoko. This led to people questioning whether he would leave Liverpool, with notable clubs such as Juventus and Barcelona reportedly interested. However on the 28th June,

Sissoko signed a contract to extend his Liverpool career a further 4 years, keeping him at Liverpool Football Club until 2011. Close friends know him as Gogo Mimmoko and regularly chant No No Momo PLease don't go.^[6] It was later revealed that Sissoko had indeed received an offer from Juventus, but he turned them down as Liverpool are a 'bigger club'.^[7]On 25th August 2007, in a match against Sunderland FC at the Stadium of Light, Sissoko started in place of the injured Steven Gerrard in Liverpool's central midfield. In the match, Sissoko finally scored his first ever competitive goal in his club career, a long-range first-time effort from 25 yards out, assisted by Andriy Voronin. It was Sissoko's first domestic league goal in his career, on his 75th appearance for the club. The goal also marked Liverpool's 7000th goal in league football.

Juventus

On January 29th 2008, Liverpool F.C. confirmed the sale of Sissoko to Juventus F.C., for a fee of € 13 million. He made his first appearance for the club on February 3rd, 2008 as a 67th minute substitution for Tiago. Sissoko scored his first goal for Juventus with an overhead kick from 7 yards in the League match against Fiorentina on March 2nd 2008; it was the equalising goal as Fiorentina was leading 0-1. Juventus eventually went on to lose that match 2-3. In recent weeks, he has grown to exceed expectations, becoming a regular in the starting line-up as well as a fan favourite.He is regarded as the most powerfull and one of the best African footballers right know for his strong tackling and dynamic ball skills

Honours

Valencia

• 2003–04 Spanish Primera División
• 2003–04 UEFA Cup
• 2004 European Super Cup

Liverpool

• 2005 European Super Cup
• 2005–06 FA Cup
• 2006 FA Community Shield

Statistics

Juventus 2007-2008 Season Stats

Played: 15 Goals: 1

External links

• Mohamed Sissoko career stats at Soccerbase
• Profile at liverpoolfc.tv
• Profile at BBC Sport
• LFChistory.net player profile