Salif Keita

1963/64 Pionniers de Ouolofobougou (MLI)

1964/65 AS Real Bamako (MLI) 21 matches, 8 goals

1965/66 Stade Malien (MLI) 24 matches, 12 goals

1966/67 AS Real Bamako (MLI) 26 matches, 15 goals

1967/72 Saint-Etienne (FRA) 185 matches, 140 goals

(French Championship: 151 matches, 125 goals)

(French Cup: 22 matches, 13 goals)

(Champions Challenge: 2 matches)

(European Champion Clubs' Cup: 8 matches, 2 goals)

(UEFA Cup: 2 matches)

1972/73 Olympique de Marseille (FRA) 23 matches, 12 goals

(French Championship: 18 games, 10 goals)

(French Cup: 5 games, 2 goals)

1973/76 Valencia CF (ESP) 83 games, 26 goals

(Spanish Championship: 74 games, 23 goals)

(Spanish Cup: 9 games, 3 goals)

1976/79 Sporting Portugal (POR) 77 games, 34 goals

(Portuguese Championship: 63 games, 32 goals)

(Portuguese Cup: 10 games, 2 goals)

(Cup Winners' Cup: 2 games)

(UEFA Cup: 2 games)

1979/80 New England Tea Men (USA) 39 games, 17 goals

With the National Team :

26 caps, 11 goals

(Friendly matches: 4 caps, 2 goals)

(African Cup of Nations qualification: 10 caps, 4 goals)

(African Cup of Nations: 3 caps)

(Olympic Games qualification: 2 caps, 2 goals)

(African Games qualification: 2 caps)

(African Games: 5 caps, 3 goals)

1st selection: March 15, 1964 against Ivory Coast (1-1)

Last selection: March 5, 1972 against Congo (2-3)

Salif Keita Traoré

Born December 6, 1946 in Bamako (MLI)

Died September 2, 2023 in Bamako (MLI)

Malian, left winger, striker, 1m76

Nicknames: "Domingo", The Black Panther

Salif Keita was born on December 6, 1946 in Bamako, Mali. In a country where French is spoken, he began playing football in the street. The son of a modest truck driver, he had the desire to succeed in life from a young age.

At 16, he joined the Ouolofobougou Pioneers club, where he made his professional debut in 1963. In his first professional season, he impressed and joined the Malian national team at 17 for a match on March 15, 1964 against Côte d'Ivoire, a 1-1 draw.

Playing for the country's clubs, he reached the African Champions League final twice, in 1964 and then in 1966. Two disappointments, but solid foundations for his future. Winner of the Mali Cup in 1967, he was finally spotted by ASSE, who recruited him.

It was Charles Dagher who did everything to bring him back to France. He saw in the African player, the key piece to bring a little more offensive danger to ASSE. Very fast, able to play left winger and striker, he was also a player who sacrificed himself on the field, his only fault still being a small lack of finishing and efficiency. Charles Dagher, a supporter of the club, sent letters to the president of the club, who offered the player a trial.

Salif Keita, happy, did not hesitate to leave his country, and left Mali clandestinely, then left for Liberia to take a plane, without informing the club of his arrival. It was 2 days early that he landed at Orly airport, he took a taxi giving as his arrival address "the Stade de Geoffroy Guichard, in Saint-Etienne". To finish the anecdote, it was 500 km away and the taxi ride cost the club 1060 francs, a small fortune for the time.

Very technically comfortable, he is a fast, lively and agile striker. At 1.76m, he fits perfectly into the squad of the Batteux era, alongside another legend of French football: Rachid Mekloufi. With Salif Keita, the club dominates the French championship.

For his first match, he played against AS Monaco on November 19, 1967 in Monaco, in 7 minutes of play, he scored in an easy 3-0 victory. In the "Greens" club, he scored 140 goals in 185 matches! Mind-blowing statistics when you know that he played as a winger or striker.

His time at the club is perfect, he also obtains the African Golden Ball in 1970, and 2 years later, in 1972, he finishes European Silver Shoe with 42 goals, behind Gerd Müller. Whether with Mali or ASSE, he carried his teams, for example reaching the African Cup of Nations final in 1972. The player was then at the top of his game.

After 5 years spent at Sainte-Etienne, the player decided in 1972 to join Olympique de Marseille at the age of 26. During his first match with OM, he played against Sainte-Etienne, and scored twice. Despite a great duo that he formed with Josip Skoblar, the competition with Magnusson would get the better of the player. 12 goals in 23 matches with Marseille and it was already the end of the adventure in the south of France.

Still having a huge side, he decided to cross the border and join Spain. He put down his suitcases in the club of FC Valencia where he would stay for 3 years. During his first season in Spain, he was under the orders of Alfredo Di Stefano. The results were good even if the statistics were no longer in the same standards: 26 goals in 83 matches.

He then went to Portugal, to the club Sporting Portugal, there, he won the Portuguese Cup 1978 before leaving for the United States and the NASL league. In the club New England Tea Men, he played one season, for 17 goals in 39 matches at 34 years old before retiring.

- African Golden Ball in 1970

- European Silver Shoe in 1972 (42 goals) (Saint-Etienne)

- Voted best foreign player in the French Championship in 1968

- Received the FIFA Order of Merit in 1996

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