Souleymane Camara

Souleymane Camara
Camara playing for Montpellier in 2013
Personal information
Full name Souleymane Camara
Date of birth (1982-12-22) 22 December 1982 (age 42)
Place of birth Dakar, Senegal
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
2000–2001 Monaco
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2001–2005 Monaco 59 (7)
2004 → Guingamp (loan) 13 (2)
2005–2008 Nice 31 (1)
2007–2008 → Montpellier (loan) 37 (11)
2008–2020 Montpellier 347 (59)
Total 487 (80)
International career
2002–2012 Senegal 35 (7)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Souleymane Camara (born 22 December 1982) is a Senegalese former professional footballer who played as a forward. He is a former Senegal international and has represented his nation at the 2002 FIFA World Cup and three Africa Cup of Nations tournaments in 2002, 2006, and 2012.[1] As of 2021, he holds the record of the most appearances for French club Montpellier, with 433, and is the club's second-highest goalscorer, with 76 goals.[2]

Club career

Camara was influential in Montpellier winning their first ever Ligue 1 title in 2012, scoring 9 goals, including one goal in a crucial 2–0 victory over Rennes with two matches left in the season.[3][4][1]

On 5 August 2017, Camara scored the only goal in Montpellier's 1–0 win against Caen on matchday 1 of the 2017–18 season. It was his 48th Ligue 1 goal for Montpellier and made him Montpellier's record scorer in Ligue 1, breaking Laurent Blanc's 26-year-old record of 47 Division 1 goals scored for Montpellier in four seasons.[5]

In March 2019 he became the first player to score in 15 different seasons in France's Ligue 1 in the 21st century.[6] In May 2019 he extended his contract with Montpellier for a further season.[7]

In May 2020, it was announced that Camara would not extend his contract with Montpellier, and would retire at the end of the season.[8] By the end of his Montpellier career, Camara played a club-record 433 games in all competitions during his 13-year stay with 76 goals scored – a record bettered only by Blanc.[1]

Career Statistics

Club

As of match played 8 March 2020[9][10][11]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Coupe de France Coupe de la Ligue Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Monaco 2001-02 Ligue 1 21 2 — — — — 21 2
2002-03 22 4 — — — — 22 4
2003-04 4 0 — — 1[a] 0 — 5 0
2004-05 10 1 — — 3[a] 0 — 13 1
2005-06 2 0 — — 0 0 — 2 0
Total 59 7 — — 4 0 — 63 7
Guingamp (loan) 2003-04 Ligue 1 13 2 — — — — 13 2
Nice 2005-06 Ligue 1 16 1 — — — — 16 1
2006-07 15 0 — — — — 15 0
Total 31 1 — — — — 31 1
Montpellier (loan) 2007-08 Ligue 2 37 11 — — — — 37 11
Montpellier 2008-09 Ligue 2 27 6 — — — — 27 6
2009-10 Ligue 1 38 9 — 1 0 — — 39 9
2010-11 36 4 1 0 2 0 2[b] 0 — 41 4
2011-12 33 9 2 0 0 0 — — 35 9
2012-13 33 10 2 1 3 0 5[a] 1 1[c] 0 44 12
2013-14 33 4 3 0 0 0 — — 36 4
2014-15 37 3 1 0 1 0 — — 39 3
2015-16 33 7 2 0 1 1 — — 36 8
2016-17 28 1 1 0 2 0 — — 31 1
2017-18 24 2 3 0 3 3 — — 30 5
2018-19 12 3 0 0 1 0 — — 13 3
2019-20 13 0 2 0 1 0 — — 16 0
Total 347 58 17 1 15 4 7 1 1 0 387 64
Career Total 487 79 17 1 15 4 11 1 1 0 531 85
  1. ^ a b c Appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League
  2. ^ Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League
  3. ^ Appearance(s) in Trophée des Champions

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year[12]
National team Year Apps Goals
Senegal 2001 2 0
2002 10 3
2003 4 1
2004 2 0
2005 2 1
2006 5 1
2010 4 0
2011 3 1
2012 5 0
Total 37 7
Scores and results list Senegal's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Camara goal.
List of international goals scored by Souleymane Camara
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition Ref.
1 26 January 2002 Stade Modibo Kéïta, Bamako, Mali  Zambia 1-0 1-0 2002 African Cup of Nations [13]
2 14 May 2002 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia  Saudi Arabia 1-1 2-3 Friendly [14]
3 12 October 2002 Stade Léopold Sédar Senghor, Dakar, Senegal  Nigeria 1-2 2-2 Friendly [15]
4 31 May 2003 Stade Léopold Sédar Senghor, Dakar, Senegal  Cape Verde 1-1 2-1 Friendly [16]
5 12 November 2005 EPRU Stadium, Gqeberha, South Africa  South Africa 1-0 3-2 Friendly [17]
6 31 January 2006 Port Said Stadium, Port Said, Egypt  Nigeria 1-0 1-2 2006 African Cup of Nations [18]
7 11 November 2011 Mantes-la-Ville, France  Guinea 2-0 4-1 Friendly [19]

Honours

Monaco

Montpellier

Senegal

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Souleymane Camara: Senegal striker ends 13-year spell at Montpellier". Goal. 19 May 2020. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  2. ^ "Statistique des Pailladins | MHSC Foot , billetterie Montpellier Hérault, mhsc match, match Montpellier, led publicitaire, panneau publicitaire led". www.mhscfoot.com. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  3. ^ "Rennes vs. Montpellier 0 - 2". Soccerway. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  4. ^ "How Montpellier beat PSG to win the French title". BBC. 22 May 2012. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  5. ^ "Montpellier win it for Nicollin". www.ligue1.com. 5 August 2017.
  6. ^ Okeleji, Oluwashina (18 March 2019). "Senegal's Camara first player to score in 15 Ligue 1 seasons". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
  7. ^ Okeleji, Oluwashina (7 May 2019). "Senegal's Souleymane Camara extends Montpellier deal again". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
  8. ^ "Montpellier : Souleymane Camara va arrêter sa carrière". L’équipe (in French). Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  9. ^ S. CAMARA at Soccerway. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
  10. ^ Souleymane Camara at BDFutbol. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
  11. ^ "Souleymane Camara". Flashscore. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
  12. ^ "Souleymane Camara". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
  13. ^ "Senegal vs. Zambia". National Football Teams. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
  14. ^ "Saudi Arabia vs. Senegal". National Football Teams. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
  15. ^ "Senegal vs. Nigeria". National Football Teams. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
  16. ^ "Senegal vs. Cape Verde". National Football Teams. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
  17. ^ "South Africa vs. Senegal". National Football Teams. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
  18. ^ "Nigeria vs. Senegal". National Football Teams. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
  19. ^ "Guinea vs. Senegal". National Football Teams. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
  20. ^ "Monaco, tête couronnée". eurosport.fr. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  21. ^ Copnall, James (11 February 2002). "Cameroon 0 – 0 Senegal (aet: Cameroon won 3 – 2 on penalties)". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 April 2020.