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Momo Sissoko
Sissoko, playing for Liverpool against Real Betis Sevilla
Personal information
Full name	Mohamed Lamine Sissoko
Date of birth	22 January 1985 (1985-01-22) (age 22)
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	Liverpool
Number	22
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2002-2003 2003-2005 2005-	Auxerre Valencia Liverpool	00 (0) 45 (0) 51 (1)
National team2
2004-	Mali	12 (1)[1]
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22:59, 8 December 2007 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 20 April 2006. * Appearances (Goals)

Mohamed Lamine Sissoko Gillan (born 27 January 1985 in Mont-Saint-Aignan, France), often referred to as Momo Sissoko . He is a French-Malian football player who plays for Liverpool F.C. (in the English Premier League) and for the Mali national football team. Sissoko is a tough tackling defensive midfield player. He is often compared to Patrick Vieira due to his playing style.^[2]

Sissoko is the nephew of Mali and Valencia CF former African Footballer of the Year Salif Keïta.^[3]

Contents 1 Player profile 1.1 Liverpool 2 Honours 3 Statistics 4 References and notes 5 External links

Sissoko, started his professional career in 2002 with AJ Auxerre in France, but failed to establish himself in the first team. After just one season, at the age of eighteen, he moved to Valencia CF in Spain. At this time Sissoko was considered a striker, but his new manager Rafael Benítez saw the potential for him to be converted into an energetic midfielder — the position he is now famous for playing.^[4]

Sissoko was born in France and represented France at the U21 level, but opted to play internationally for Mali, the country of his parents, taking advantage of a new FIFA rule that allowed players with dual citizenship to play for a country other than the ones they represented as youth players. "It was a very difficult decision for me, the fact that I chose Mali is something that I hold very close to my heart..." Sissoko said, "Choosing Mali was the decision that I took. It's an honour for me and I made my choice. It's something I don't think about a lot now."^[4] He made his international debut on 19 November 2003 in a friendly game against Morocco.

Sissoko was a key part of the Malian team that reached the semi-finals of the 2004 African Cup of Nations, playing all five games and scoring one goal. Sissoko was also part of the Malian 2004 Olympic football team who exited in the quarter finals having finished atop Group A, but lost to Italy in the next round.

In 2004, Sissoko created controversy whilst at Valencia, when he was late returning to training from a World Cup qualifying match against Senegal. He told Claudio Ranieri, the Valencia manager, that he had played in a friendly match for Mali against Kenya. But the Spanish media later discovered that the match never took place, and Sissoko was visiting his father, who had been admitted to hospital. Ranieri forgave Sissoko, saying, "He was young and he made a mistake."^[5]

Sissoko has two brothers who also play football professionally; Ibrahim, currently plays for , Championship club West Bromwich Albion F.C. and Abdul for AJ Auxerre.^[6]

Sissoko moved from Valencia CF to Liverpool F.C. in the summer of 2005 for a fee reported to be € 8m. 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.

Sissoko is seen by some in the game as a future midfield star of European football. 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 ^[7]. 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.^[8] It was later revealed that Sissoko had indeed received an offer from Juventus, but he turned them down as Liverpool are a 'bigger club'.^[9]

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.

Sissoko has publicly expressed interest in leaving Liverpool in the January transfer window.^[10]

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

Club Performance

Club	Season	Premiership		FA Cup		League Cup		Europe		Others		Total
		App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals
Liverpool FC	2007-08	2	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	3	1
	2006-07	16	0	0	0	2	0	9	0	1	0	28	0
	2005-06	26	0	6	0	0	0	11	0	2	0	45	0
Club	Season	Primera Div		Spanish Cup		---------		Europe		Others		Total
		App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals
Valencia CF	2004-05	24	0	0	0	-	-	5	0	0	0	29	0
	2003-04	21	0	4	0	-	-	9	1	0	0	34	1
Total			89	1	10	0	2	0	34	1	3	0	136	1

Interview with accomplished football writer: Mohammed Bhana http://mobhana.com/?page_id=54

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

v • d • e Liverpool F.C. – current squad
3 Finnan • 4 Hyypiä • 5 Agger • 6 Riise • 7 Kewell • 8 Gerrard • 9 Torres • 10 Voronin • 11 Benayoun • 12 F. Aurelio • 14 Alonso • 15 Crouch • 16 Pennant • 17 Arbeloa • 18 Kuyt • 19 Babel • 20 Mascherano • 21 Lucas • 22 Sissoko • 23 Carragher • 25 Reina • 30 Itandje • 33 Leto • 34 Spearing • 35 Putterill • 38 Lindfield • 39 Darby • 40 Martin • 42 El Zhar • 46 Hobbs • 48 Insúa • Manager: Benítez

Persondata
NAME	Sissoko, Mohamed Lamine
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Sissoko, Momo
SHORT DESCRIPTION	footballer
DATE OF BIRTH	1985-1-22
PLACE OF BIRTH	Mont-Saint-Aignan , France
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH