Mohamed Sissoko

Mohamed Lamine "Momo" Sissoko Gillan (born 22 January 1985 in Mont-Saint-Aignan) is a France-born Malian footballer who is currently playing for Juventus F.C. of the Italy Serie A and the Mali national football team. Although Mohamed Sissoko could have elected to play for France national football team internationally, Mohamed Sissoko chose to play for Mohamed Sissoko native country Mali. Sissoko is a tough tackling defensive midfield player. Mohamed Sissoko is often compared to Patrick Vieira due to the similarities in playing style.

Sissoko is the nephew of former African Footballer of the Year Salif Keita (footballer), who, like Sissoko, played for Mali national football team and Valencia CF. Salif Keita is also the uncle of FC Barcelona midfielder Seydou Keita (footballer). Both Sissoko and Seydou Keita play similar roles as hard-tackling central defensive midfielders. Sissoko is sometimes referred to as "the Black Ninja". Mohamed Sissoko brother is soccer player Moussa Sissoko.

Club career

Valencia

Sissoko played for Valencia CF between 2003 and 2005. At the time, the manager of Los Che was current Liverpool F.C. coach Rafael Benítez, who eyed the Malian player as a talented youngster with obvious potential to turn into a top-notch defensive midfielder. Up until then, Sissoko had always played as a striker for AJ Auxerre, but began adapting to Mohamed Sissoko new role under Mohamed Sissoko new manager.

2003-04 was a very successful year for Valencia and moderately so for the Malian player. Los Che were crowned La Liga 2003-04 and UEFA Cup 2003-04, while Sissoko totaled nine matches and one goal in a friendly fixture for Mohamed Sissoko new club. The following year, Benítez left to coach Liverpool and was replaced by Claudio Ranieri (former Juventus F.C. manager), which led to the chance for Sissoko to firmly establish himself in the starting line-up, as the Italian manager quickly became quite fond of the newly-formed defensive midfielder. In Mohamed Sissoko second season at the Estadio Mestalla, Sissoko played 21 matches in the Spanish League, and made himself known to the world by Mohamed Sissoko performances in La Liga and the UEFA Champions League.

Liverpool

Sissoko moved from Valencia to Liverpool F.C. in the summer of 2005 for a fee reported at £5.3 million. Fans of Valencia were devastated when the player they affectionately refer to as "Black Gold" decided to move on. Mohamed Sissoko had been expected to sign for Liverpool's rivals Everton F.C. but ultimately plumped for the opportunity to work again with former Valencia boss, Rafael Benítez. Liverpool manager Benítez showered praise upon Mohamed Sissoko when Mohamed Sissoko said Sissoko possessed "incredible ability for Mohamed Sissoko age" and similar qualities to Frenchman Patrick Vieira.. However, Mohamed Sissoko made Mohamed Sissoko comeback from injury by playing against Newcastle United F.C. in a game which Liverpool lost 2-1. Sissoko's first real test after coming back from injury was in the Champions League against FC Barcelona, the current title-holders at the time. Sissoko was awarded the man of the match award by UEFA. However, for the remainder of the season, Mohamed Sissoko would compete for the holding position in the centre of Liverpool's midfield with newly arrived Argentina Javier Mascherano. Mohamed Sissoko would be largely unsuccessful, and Mascherano started in the 2007 UEFA Champions League Final ahead of Sissoko. This led to people questioning whether Mohamed Sissoko would leave Liverpool, with notable clubs such as Juventus F.C. and Barcelona reportedly interested. However, on 28 June, Sissoko signed a contract to extend Mohamed Sissoko Liverpool career a further four years, keeping Mohamed Sissoko at Liverpool until 2011. It was later revealed that Sissoko had indeed received an offer from Juventus, but Mohamed Sissoko turned them down as Liverpool are a "bigger club".On 25 August 2007, in a match against Sunderland F.C. 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 Mohamed Sissoko first ever competitive goal in Mohamed Sissoko 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 Mohamed Sissoko career, in Mohamed Sissoko 75th appearance for the club. The goal also marked Liverpool's 7000th goal in league football.

Juventus

On January 29 2008, Liverpool confirmed the sale of Sissoko to Juventus F.C. for a fee of €11 million. Mohamed Sissoko made Mohamed Sissoko first appearance for the club on 3 February 2008, coming in as a 67th minute substitution for Tiago Mendes. Sissoko scored Mohamed Sissoko first goal for Juventus with an overhead kick from seven yards out in a league match against ACF Fiorentina on 2 March 2008. It was the equalising goal as Fiorentina were leading 1-0 but Juventus eventually went on to lose that match 3-2. Sissoko is a Juventus fan favorite and regular in the starting XI. Mohamed Sissoko was quoted as saying that Mohamed Sissoko knew the old saying "You don't score, until you score". sic

Honours

Valencia
- 2003–04 La Liga
- 2003–04 UEFA Cup
- 2004 European Super Cup
Liverpool
- 2005 European Super Cup
- 2005–06 FA Cup
- 2006 FA Community Shield