Salif Keïta Traoré (6 December 1946[1] – 2 September 2023), known as Keita, was a Malian footballer who played as a striker. He was also the first person to receive the African Footballer of the Year award in 1970. He was nicknamed the 'Black Panther'.[2] Which inspired the club[3]
![]() Keita with Saint-Étienne in 1968 | |||
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Salif Keita Traoré | ||
Date of birth | 6 December 1946 | ||
Place of birth | Bamako, French Sudan | ||
Date of death | 2 September 2023 | (aged 76)||
Place of death | Bamako, Mali | ||
Height | 1.76 m (5 ft 9+1⁄2 in) | ||
Position(s) | Striker | ||
Youth career | |||
1960–1963 | Stade Malien | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1963–1965 | Real Bamako | 21 | (8) |
1965–1966 | Stade Malien | 24 | (12) |
1966–1967 | Real Bamako | 26 | (15) |
1967–1972 | Saint-Étienne | 149 | (125) |
1972–1973 | Marseille | 18 | (10) |
1973–1976 | Valencia | 74 | (23) |
1976–1979 | Sporting CP | 63 | (32) |
1979–1980 | New England Tea Men | 39 | (17) |
Total | 414 | (242) | |
International career | |||
1963–1972 | Mali | 28 | (13) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Salif Keïta Traorè | |
---|---|
Delagated minister of the Prime Minister of Mali | |
In office 2007–2007 | |
Personal details | |
Born | 6 December, 1946 Bamako, French Sudan |
Died | 2 September 2023, (aged 76) Bamako,Mali |
Occupation | Footballer, politician |
Early life
editLike others in Bamako, he would grow up poor. So, he decided that he would play football in order to escape poverty. During his youth, his incredible talents led him to join Stade Malien and Real Bamako.[4]
Club career
editSalif Keïta Traoré was born in Bamako, playing in his country for Real Bamako and Stade Malien. With the former, which he represented in two different spells, he was always crowned Première Division champion. At the first CAF Champions League in 1965, Stade Malien would lose 2-1 against the Oryx of Douala of Maréchal Mbappe Leppe and the year; after that, he would lose another final against Stade d'Abidjan.[5]
In 1967, 20-year-old Keita left for France to join Saint-Étienne, where he won three consecutive Ligue 1 titles, including the double in 1968 and 1970. In his last two seasons with Les Verts combined, he scored an astonishing 71 league goals – 42 alone in the 1970–71 campaign – but the team failed to win any silverware; in 1970, he was voted African Footballer of the Year.[6] He would also act in a film later on in his life about it.[7]
Keita joined fellow league side Marseille in the 1972 summer. After the club tried to force him to assume French nationality he opposed, leaving in the ensuing off-season for Valencia in Spain.
Spanish newspapers were accused of racism when one headline read El Valencia va a por alemanes y vuelve con un negro ("Valencia goes out to buy Germans and comes back with a black man"), but he was always loved during his spell at the club, netting in his debut with the Che, a 2–1 La Liga home win against Real Oviedo,[8] and being eventually nicknamed La perla negra de Malí (The black pearl of Mali); he complained, however, that he was constantly played out of position.[9]
In 1976, after three years with Valencia, Keita signed for Sporting CP, where he replaced another legendary goalscorer, Héctor Yazalde. In two of his three seasons with the Lisbon side, he scored in double digits, winning one domestic cup. He retired at the age of 34, after a couple of years with Greater Boston area-based New England Tea Men, in the United States.
International career
editIn 1963, at the age of only 16, Keita was selected to play for Mali. He was part of the squad that appeared at the 1972 African Cup of Nations in Cameroon, helping the national team finish second.
In June 2005, Keita was elected president of the Malian Football Federation for a period of four years.[10] Late into the following year, he was selected by the Confederation of African Football as one of the best 200 African football players of the last 50 years.[11]
Personal life
editKeita's nephew, Seydou Keita, was also a footballer. He also played some years in France, and later represented, with great team and individual success, Barcelona.[12] Mohamed Sissoko, who played namely for Valencia, Liverpool and Juventus, was also his nephew; both played similar roles as central midfielders; another nephew, Sidi Yaya Keita, was also a footballer and a midfielder, who played most of his career in France with Lens.[13]
After his retirement he would return to Mali and invest in businesses and would create his own training center creating talents like Mahamadou Diarra and Seydou Keita who was his nephew. He would also be the president of the Malian Football Federation. He also became ambassador for Saint-Étienne for life.[14]
Guinean film director Cheik Doukouré used the life of Keita as a starting point for his 1994 work Le Ballon d'or.[15] In 1994, he created the first training center for professional football players in Mali, which bore his name.
From 2007, Keita acted as delegated minister of the Prime Minister of Mali.[16]
Salif Keïta died on 2 September 2023, at the age of 76.[17]
Career statistics
editClub
editClub | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Total | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Real Bamako | 1963–64 | |||||||||
1964–65 | 21 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1+ | 3 | 22+ | 11 | ||
Total | 21 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1+ | 3 | 22+ | 11 | ||
Stade Malien | 1965–66 | Malian Première Division | 24 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 5+ | 14 | 29+ | 26 |
Real Bamako | 1966–67 | Malian Première Division | 26 | 15 | 26 | 15 | ||||
Saint-Étienne | 1967–68 | Division 1 | 18 | 12 | 18 | 12 | ||||
1968–69 | Division 1 | 33 | 21 | 2[a] | 1 | 35 | 22 | |||
1969–70 | Division 1 | 31 | 21 | 4[a] | 1 | 35 | 22 | |||
1970–71 | Division 1 | 38 | 42 | 2[a] | 0 | 40 | 42 | |||
1971–72 | Division 1 | 29 | 29 | 2[b] | 0 | 32 | 29 | |||
Total | 149 | 125 | 10 | 2 | 159 | 127 | ||||
Marseille | 1972–73 | Division 1 | 18 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 10 | ||
Valencia | 1973–74 | La Liga | 30 | 7 | — | 30 | 7 | |||
1974–75 | La Liga | 22 | 11 | — | 22 | 11 | ||||
1975–76 | La Liga | 22 | 5 | — | 22 | 5 | ||||
Total | 74 | 23 | — | 74 | 23 | |||||
Sporting CP | 1976–77 | Primeira Divisão | 24 | 15 | — | 24 | 15 | |||
1977–78 | Primeira Divisão | 21 | 7 | 2[b] | 0 | 23 | 7 | |||
1978–79 | Primeira Divisão | 18 | 10 | 2[c] | 0 | 20 | 10 | |||
Total | 63 | 32 | 4 | 0 | 67 | 32 | ||||
New England Tea Men | 1979 | NASL | 21 | 6 | — | 21 | 6 | |||
1980 | NASL | 18 | 11 | — | 18 | 11 | ||||
Total | 39 | 17 | — | 39 | 17 | |||||
Career total | 414 | 242 | 20+ | 19 | 434 | 261 |
- ^ a b c Appearances in European Cup
- ^ a b Appearances in UEFA Cup
- ^ Appearances in European Cup Winners' Cup
Honours
editReal Bamako
- Malian Cup: 1963–64, 1965–66, 1966–67
- African Cup of Champions Clubs: runner-up 1966
Stade Malien
- African Cup of Champions Clubs: runner-up 1965
Saint-Étienne
- Ligue 1: 1967–68, 1968–69, 1969–70; runner-up 1970–71
- Coupe de France: 1967–68, 1969–70
- Trophée des Champions: 1967, 1968, 1969
Sporting CP
- Primeira Liga: Runner-up 1976–77
- Taça de Portugal: 1977–78; runner-up 1978–79
Mali
- African Games: runner-up 1965
- Africa Cup of Nations: runner-up 1972
Individual
- African Cup of Champions Clubs: Best goalscorer 1965, 1966
- African Footballer of the Year: 1970
Decorations
- FIFA Order of Merit: 1996
References
edit- ^ "Africa". Africana Publishing Corporation. 2 September 1968. Archived from the original on 5 September 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2023 – via Google Books.
- ^ "How Mali's 'Black Panther' became a football icon". BBC Sport. 7 September 2023. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
- ^ Malian football legend Salif Keita, Saint-Etienne’s ‘Black Panther’, dies at 76 • FRANCE 24, retrieved 17 December 2023
- ^ "Salif Keita – The Ball 2010". Retrieved 17 December 2023.
- ^ "12 décembre 1946 : Naissance de Salif Keita". www.poteaux-carres.com (in French). Retrieved 17 December 2023.
- ^ "Kanoute wins top African accolade". BBC Sport. 1 February 2008. Archived from the original on 26 October 2018. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
- ^ "Salif Keita, Malian footballer who played for Marseille and Saint-Etienne, dies at 76". Le Monde.fr. 2 September 2023. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
- ^ "2–1: Dos geniales goles de Keita dieron el triunfo al Valencia" [2–1: Two wonder goals by Keita gave Valencia win]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 2 September 1973. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
- ^ "'La perla negra de Mali' no cuajó en el Valencia" ['The black pearl from Mali' did not make it in Valencia]. Diario AS (in Spanish). 25 September 2006. Archived from the original on 21 January 2008. Retrieved 3 November 2007.
- ^ Raphael Ebanga-Mballa La Part Du Lion: L'Encyclopedie de L'Histoire Du Football Du Cameroun – 2009 – Page 177 "Salif Keïta a été élu en juin 2005, président de la Fédération malienne de football (FEMAFOOT) pour un mandat de 4 ans."
- ^ Οι 200 κορυφαίοι Αφρικανοί [The 200 Top Africans] (in Greek). Sport 24. 25 October 2006. Archived from the original on 3 July 2018. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
- ^ "Seydou Keita se ha forjado un nombre" [Seydou Keita has made a name for himself] (in Spanish). FIFA. 30 November 2007. Archived from the original on 1 December 2007. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
- ^ "Keita, un apellido de largo recorrido" [Keita, a long-distance surname]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 25 May 2008. Archived from the original on 26 October 2018. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
- ^ Philémon (3 September 2023). "Football - Mali: A look back at the career of Salif Keita - At a glance". Sport News Africa. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
- ^ Le Ballon d'or Archived 16 August 2015 at the Wayback Machine; at Internet Movie Database
- ^ Politique africaine N-104. Partis politiques d'Afrique – Retours 2007 – Page 74 "... du leader étudiant et journaliste Tiébélé Dramé (ministre des Affaires étrangères) ou encore du footballeur Salif Keïta (ministre délégué auprès du Premier ministre). C'est en grande partie la forme consensuelle privilégiée au cours de cette ..."
- ^ Pham, Jonathan (2 September 2023). "Salif Keita, Légende De Saint-etienne, Est Mort À 76 Ans". RMC Sport. Archived from the original on 2 September 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
- ^ "Salif Keïta » Club matches". worldfootball.net. Archived from the original on 7 December 2022. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
- ^ Salif Keïta at National-Football-Teams.com
- ^ "African Club Competitions 1964/65". www.rsssf.org. Archived from the original on 5 July 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
- ^ "African Club Competitions 1966". www.rsssf.org. Archived from the original on 1 August 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
External links
edit- OM profile (in French)
- Salif Keïta at BDFutbol
- Salif Keïta at ForaDeJogo (archived)
- NASL stats
- Salif Keïta at National-Football-Teams.com