Mamadou Diallo (born August 21, 1971 in Dakar), also known as Big Mama, is a Senegalese soccer player, currently playing for Djoliba AC as a striker.

[edit] European career

Diallo has played all over the world: United States, Senegal, Morocco, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, South Africa, Mali, Germany, Turkey, Sweden and Norway. A prolific scorer wherever he played, he became a regular for the Senegal national team.

[edit] Major League Soccer

Major League Soccer signed Diallo in 2000 and allocated him to the Tampa Bay Mutiny. Diallo exploded on the MLS scene in his first season, combining well with midfield general Carlos Valderrama. Diallo scored 26 goals, the best in the league since Roy Lassiter had 27 in 1996; he was named to the MLS Best XI and was the league Scoring Champion. However, Diallo is also remembered for the incident on August 16, 2000 in a game against the MetroStars, where he collided with and stepped on Metro goalie Mike Ammann, breaking his ribs, puncturing his lung, and effectively ending his career in the process. While the referee saw the collision as unintentional contact, and while he was neither fined nor carded for the incident, there were those (including Ammann himself) that considered the contact was intentional^[1].

In 2001, with Valderrama traded in mid-season, Diallo had a down year, slipping to nine goals. His selfish reputation solidified, as his contract was restructured so that he was compensated by the number of goals scored.

The Mutiny was contracted after the season and Diallo was selected by the New England Revolution in the 2002 MLS Allocation Draft. While playing for the Revolution he lived in Canton, Mass. He only spent seven games in New England, and was sent over to the MetroStars in a six-player deal on May 24. The Metro fans were not happy to see him play for them; however, he pacified them early with a four-goal game against the Los Angeles Galaxy in only his second match with the team. But any love was short-lived, the Metros missed the playoffs.

[edit] Later career

Diallo was sold to Saudi Arabian club Al-Ahli on 7 October 2002, but was dropped in November after failing to impress.^[2] His globetrotting ways took him to the former UEFA Cup winners, the Swedish club IFK Göteborg, then Malaysian club Pahang, the Jomo Cosmos of South Africa and he is currently with Djoliba AC.

[edit] International career

Diallo won 46 caps for the Senegal national football team, scoring 21 goals, in a career which saw him represent his country at the African Cup of Nations in both 1994 and 2000.

[edit] References

1. ^ Mike Ammann Interview :: Soccerphile
2. ^ "Avalanche of Goals In Men's Tournament". The New York Times. 2002-12-10. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/10/sports/soccer-notebook-avalanche-of-goals-in-men-s-tournament.html. Retrieved 2009-08-28.