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 41)
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. 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

• Coupe de la Ligue: 2002–03 ^{[20] [1]}

Montpellier

• Ligue 1: 2011–12 ^[1]

Senegal

• Africa Cup of Nations runner-up: 2002 ^[21]

References

1. "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.

External links

• Souleymane Camara at Soccerway
• Souleymane Camara at National-Football-Teams.com