Bakary Soumare

Personal information
Full name	Bakary Soumare
Date of birth	9 November 1985 (1985-11-09) (age 24)
Place of birth	Bamako, Mali
Height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Playing position	Defender
Club information
Current club	US Boulogne
Number	18
Youth career
1999–2002	Red Storm Arrows
2002–2005	La Salle Cardinals
2005–2007	Virginia Cavaliers
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2007–2009	Chicago Fire	63	(0)
2009–	US Boulogne	10	(0)
National team‡
2009–	Mali	5	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 30 December 2009. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 30 June 2009

Bakary Soumare (born 9 November 1985 in Bamako) is a Malian international soccer player who plays professionally as a defender for US Boulogne in Ligue 1.

Contents 1 Career 1.1 Youth and College 1.2 Professional 1.3 International 2 Honors 2.1 Individual 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Career

[edit] Youth and College

Soumare was born in Mali but moved to Paris, France at a young age, and eventually moving to New York City as a teenager. He played for the Red Storm Arrows of the Super Y-League, captaining the Arrows for three years and leading them to a national title in 2002. Soumare then attended La Salle Academy, where he was a two-year letter winner, Parade All-American, two-year team captain, 2004 team MVP, 2004 League Co-MVP, and two-time All-City member. He moved to the University of Virginia in 2005, and during his freshman season with the Cavaliers he played in 20 out of 21 games.

[edit] Professional

Soumare was drafted 2nd overall by the Chicago Fire in the 2007 MLS SuperDraft.^[1] He played 1,072 minutes in his rookie campaign. However, it was in the 2008 season where Soumare cemented his role as a starting player in the Fire defense. That same year he was nominated for 2008 MLS Defender of the Year, alongside Jimmy Conrad and eventual winner Chad Marshall.^[2] He was also named to the MLS Best XI after the 2008 season.^[3]

In August 2009, Soumare was fined for being involved in a fight with manager Denis Hamlett during the half-time interval of their game against Houston Dynamo^[4].

Soumare joined French club US Boulogne on August 24, 2009 for a reported fee of €1,500,000 on a four-year deal.^[5].

[edit] International

Soumare had expressed a desire to represent the United States at the international level once he became an American citizen. At the time of that announcement he believed that he would have his citizenship by sometime in 2009.^[1] However, upon discovering he wouldn't be eligible for U.S. citizenship until at least two years later, in 2010, he made the decision to represent his nation of birth, Mali. Speaking on the difficulty of deciding which national team to represent, he said, "Sometimes things don't go the way you want them to go. In a perfect world I would be playing for the U.S. national team. Everything I am as a person and as a soccer player has been helped by America so I want to give back. That said, I'm also excited to be playing for Mali. My father is very excited. Either way I was going, there were going to be people who would be disappointed."^[1]

Soumare earned his first cap for Mali on February 12, 2009 as Mali beat Angola, 4-0, at the Bois-Guillaume in France. News accounts gave Soumare a 9 rating (out of 10) as he played in central defense for the Aigles.^[6]

[edit] Honors

[edit] Individual

• MLS Best XI: 2008

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Profile on National-Football-Teams.com

v • d • e US Boulogne – current squad 1 Bague · 2 Rabuel · 3 Lachor · 4 Agouazi · 5 Perrinelle · 6 Das Neves · 7 Moreira · 8 Ramaré · 9 Da Rocha · 10 Thil · 11 Ducatel · 12 Borne · 13 Adefemi · 14 Blayac · 15 Karuru · 16 Koné · 17 Robert · 18 Soumare · 19 Cuvillier · 20 Sané · 21 Lévêque · 22 Lecointe · 23 Dembélé · 24 Moussilou · 25 Marcq · 27 Boussaha · 28 N'Diaye · 29 Touré · 30 Bedenik · Coach: Guyot