This article needs additional citations for verification. (January 2018) |
Modeste Mbami (9 October 1982 – 7 January 2023) was a Cameroonian professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Mbami played for clubs in France, Saudi Arabia, and Cameroon, most notably Paris Saint-Germain and Marseille, both of which in Ligue 1.
 Mbami playing for Marseille | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 9 October 1982 | |||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Yaoundé, Cameroon | |||||||||||||
| Date of death | 7 January 2023 (aged 40) | |||||||||||||
| Place of death | Le Havre, France | |||||||||||||
| Height | 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)[1] | |||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | |||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||
| 1999–2000 | Dynamo Douala | |||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||
| 2000–2003 | Sedan | 68 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2003–2006 | Paris Saint-Germain | 83 | (1) | |||||||||||
| 2006–2009 | Marseille | 77 | (1) | |||||||||||
| 2009–2011 | Almería | 58 | (1) | |||||||||||
| 2011–2012 | Dalian Aerbin | 0 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2011 | → Changchun Yatai (loan) | 15 | (3) | |||||||||||
| 2012–2013 | Al-Ittihad | 20 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2014 | Millonarios | 14 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2014–2016 | Le Havre[3] | 8 | (0) | |||||||||||
| Total | 343 | (6) | ||||||||||||
| International career | ||||||||||||||
| 2000–2009 | Cameroon[2] | 37 | (3) | |||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | ||||||||||||||
Club career
editBorn in Yaoundé, Mbami started his career in his home country playing for Dynamo Douala but was quickly spotted by foreign clubs.
Mbami joined Sedan during the summer of 2000. Despite his young age, Mbami played ten matches in his first season in Division 1 and helped his club to finish fifth. He rapidly became a team regular and played 60 matches in the two following seasons. In 2003, the club was relegated to Ligue 2 and Mbami decided to sign a five-year contract with Paris Saint-Germain for €5 million after his agent Willie McKay halted advanced discussions with Wolverhampton Wanderers.
During his first season with Paris Saint-Germain, Mbami was associated with another young defensive midfielder, Lorik Cana. Despite their lack of experience, they played a big part in the club's good season, where Paris Saint-Germain finished second in Ligue 1 and won the Coupe de France. The club's 2004–05 season was less successful, in which Mbami bami was struggling with an injury. The 2005–06 season saw Mbami help Paris Saint-Germain to another Coupe de France title, while the club finished 9th in the league.
In August 2006, after three years at Paris Saint-Germain, Mbami was transferred to arch-rivals Marseille, signing a three-year contract, and thus renewing his midfield partnership with Lorik Cana, who had signed for Marseille the season before.
Mbami left Marseille after his contract expired in the summer of 2009 and has since had trials at English Premier League clubs Portsmouth, Bolton Wanderers, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Wigan Athletic.[4] After his contract ended with Marseille he moved on 30 September 2009 for a trial with the Spanish club UD Almería, later Almería completed the purchase of the midfielder, the Cameroon player signed a contract with the Spanish club.
In July 2011, Mbami and Juanito were released by Almería. Then he joined China League One club Dalian Aerbin and was loaned to Chinese Super League side Changchun Yatai immediately. Mbami returned to Dalian Aerbin in 2012. However, he could not play for Dalian Aerbin in the 2012 league season due to the foreign players restricted rule. Mbami transferred to Saudi Premier League side Al-Ittihad in July 2012.
In 2014 he moved to Colombia joining Millonarios, from the capital city Bogotá. Mbami was hired to play as a defensive midfielder and signed a contract for the 2014–15 season.
International career
editMbami won the Olympic football games with his country in 2000 in Sydney, also scoring the golden goal against Brazil during the quarter-finals. He was also in the team when Cameroon reached the finals of the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2003 and was part of the 2004 African Cup of Nations team which finished top of its group in the first round of competition, before failing to secure qualification for the semi-finals.[citation needed]
Mbami was also in the Cameroon national team that failed to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup as it finished second in its qualification group behind the Ivory Coast.[citation needed]
Personal life
editMbami acquired French nationality by naturalization on 26 December 2005.[5]
Coaching career
editThis section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (January 2023) |
In November 2019 he turned down a coaching job with the Cameroon national team.[6]
Death
editOn 7 January 2023, Paris Saint-Germain announced that Mbami had died of a heart attack, at the age of 40.[7][8]
Career statistics
edit- Scores and results list Cameroon's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Mbami goal.
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 17 May 2002 | Parken Stadium, Copenhagen, Denmark |  Denmark |
1–2 | Friendly | |
| 2 | 29 January 2004 | Stade Taïeb El Mhiri, Sfax, Tunisia |  Zimbabwe |
5–3 | 2004 African Cup of Nations | |
| 3 |
Honours
editParis Saint-Germain
- Coupe de France: 2004, 2006[10][11]
Ittihad FC
Cameroon
- Olympic Games: 2000
- Confederations Cup: runner-up 2003
References
edit- ^ "Mbami, Modeste Mbami - Footballer". www.bdfutbol.com. Archived from the original on 28 September 2022. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
- ^ "Mbami, Modeste". nationalfootballteams.com. Retrieved 21 January 2012.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Modeste M'bami – French league stats at LFP – also available in French (archived)
- ^ "Football News - all the latest breaking football stories - Mirror Online". www.mirror.co.uk. Archived from the original on 18 May 2019. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
- ^ "JORF n° 0300 du 27 décembre 2005 - Légifrance" (PDF). legifrance.gouv.fr (in French). p. 20038. Archived from the original on 6 January 2024. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
- ^ "Modeste Mbami : Ex-midfielder turns down Cameroon team manager role". BBC Sport. 24 November 2019. Archived from the original on 25 November 2019. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
- ^ "Modeste M'Bami, former Cameroon and PSG star, dies at 40 after heart attack". The Guardian. Reuters. 7 January 2023. Archived from the original on 20 May 2024. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
- ^ "Modeste Mbami passes away". Paris Saint-Germain F.C. 7 January 2023. Archived from the original on 7 January 2023. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
- ^ "Cameroon - Details of International Matches 2000-2009". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 8 March 2023. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
- ^ "Résultat et résumé Paris-SG - Châteauroux, Coupe de France, Finale, Samedi 29 Mai 2004". lequipe.fr. Archived from the original on 15 January 2023. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
- ^ "Marseille 1-2 Paris SG". leballonrond.fr. Archived from the original on 2 November 2023. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
External links
edit- Modeste M'bami at L'Équipe Football (in French)
- Career stats[permanent dead link] (in Chinese)
- Modeste M'bami at ESPN FC