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Moussa Sissoko
Personal information
Full name	Moussa Sissoko
Date of birth	16 August 1989 (age 20)
Place of birth	Le Blanc-Mesnil, France
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Toulouse
Number	22
Youth career
1997–2000	Espérance Aulnay
2000–2002	Red Star FC
2002–2007	Toulouse
Senior career*
National team‡
	* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 8 October 2009.; † Appearances (Goals).; ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 30 August 2009

Moussa Sissoko (born 16 August 1989 in Le Blanc-Mesnil, France) is a French football player of Malian descent. He currently plays for Toulouse in Ligue 1 and the France national team having earned his first caps in October 2009. He plays as a box-to-box midfielder capable of playing in either the holding role or as an attacker. His playing style and ability have drawn comparisons with the Malian international Mahamadou Diarra and fellow French international Patrick Vieira.^[1]^[2] He is of no relation to Malian midfielder Mohamed Sissoko, who plays for Juventus in Italy.

[edit] Career

[edit] Early career

Moussa began his football career playing for his local club Espérance Aulnay, located in Aulnay-sous-Bois, a suburbia in northeastern Paris. In 2000, he joined Red Star Paris FC, where he was youth teammates with Lille prospect Yannis Salibur. Following a two-year stint at Red Star, he made the trek down south to the Haute-Garonne department joining the department's biggest club Toulouse FC. Sissoko, initially, started off with the club's under-14 side and later played on the Championnat de France amateur team becoming one of the club's most sought after prospects. Despite garnering interest from clubs abroad during his time at the youth academy, most notably Liverpool and Bolton Wanderers of the Premier League^[3], he signed his first professional contract in January 2007 agreeing to a three-year deal.^[4] He was designated the number 22 shirt and began fully training with the first-team in preparation for the 2007–08 season.

He made his professional debut and, also his European debut, in a Champions League third qualifying round first leg match on 15 August 2007 against Liverpool. He replaced Albin Ebondo, in the 83^rd minute, and received a yellow card in the final minute. Toulouse lost the tie 0–5 on aggregate. He made his league debut during the opening match of the 2007–08 season coming on as a substitute in a 1–3 loss to Valenciennes.^[5] He made his first start the following week in the club's 1–0 upset victory over the defending champions Olympique Lyonnais playing 64 minutes. Sissoko scored his first professional goal on 1 September 2007 in a 2–0 victory over Auxerre scoring the goal in injury time, after coming on as a substitute two minutes prior.^[6] He also scored a goal in the Coupe de France against Paris FC, though Toulouse shockingly lost the match 1–2.^[7] By December 2007, Sissoko had cemented his place in the starting eleven, though Toulouse ended up finishing one spot short of relegation. Following the season, on 25 July 2008, Sissoko signed a contract extension until the year 2012.^[8]

[edit] 2008-09 season

Already a regular in the squad, for the 2008–09 season, manager Alain Casanova decided to pair the young midfielder with two newcomers, holding midfielder Étienne Capoue from the youth system and centre midfielder Étienne Didot, who arrived from Rennes. Though mainly used as a substitute early on in the season, by December, Moussa became a regular in the squad scoring his first goal against Le Mans on 7 February 2009.^[9] He also scored goals against title chasers Bordeaux^[10] and Paris Saint-Germain^[11] helping a refurbished Toulouse side finish 4^th in the league, thus qualifying for the newly-created UEFA Europa League. Sissoko also scored a notable goal in Toulouse's 8–0 thrashing of local Alsatian club FCE Schirrhein in the Coupe de France, in which he ran nearly the entire pitch with the ball at his feet, eluding several Schirrhein players, before finishing at the six-yard box.^[12]^[13] In total, Moussa made 40 appearances and scored 5 goals. Because of his great performance, he was nominated for the Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year, along with fellow teammate Étienne Capoue who also had a breakout season.

[edit] 2009-10 season

Sissoko opened the 2009–10 campaign scoring in the club's second league match of the season against Saint-Étienne in a 3–1 victory.^[14] On 19 September 2009, he scored in the club's 2–0 win against Le Mans^[15] and, the following week, scored the opening goal in the club's 1–2 loss to Lyon.^[16] On 1 October 2009, Sissoko scored his first career European goal in a UEFA Europa League match against Belgian club Brugge. The match ended in a 2–2 draw.^[17]

[edit] International career

Sissoko has been active with France on the youth level. He has received caps with the U-16s, U-17s, and the U-18s.^[18] With the under-16s, Sissoko made 3 appearances scoring no goals. Move an age group up, his playing time increased as France were attempting to qualify for the 2006 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship. Despite making 10 appearances and scoring two goals, Sissoko and the team, composed of players such as David N'Gog, Gabriel Obertan, Adel Taarabt, and Grégory Sertic on the roster, failed to qualify for the tournament, due to their second place finish in the Elite Round. With the under-18s, he made 9 appearances, but failed to get on the score-sheet and due to his increased playing time with Toulouse only played in the under-19s in the 2008 UEFA U-19 Championship qualification matches, where France again suffered elimination in the Elite Round.

Sissoko earned his first call up to the under-21 team for their friendly match against Bosnia and Herzegovina on 9 September 2008. He has amassed 12 caps and scored one goal, against England, since his debut. On 3 August, he earned his first call up to the senior team to participate in a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification match against the Faroe Islands.^[19]

On 6 October 2009, Sissoko was named to the senior squad for the second time to participate in the team's final World Cup qualification matches against the Faroe Islands and Austria. He earned his first cap in the match against the Faroe Islands appearing as a substitute for Jérémy Toulalan in the second half. France won the match 5–0.^[20] With France's spot in the playoffs already secured, Sissoko made his first career start in the match against Austria, which France won 3–1.^[21]

[edit] Career statistics

As of 7 November 2009

Club	Season	League			Cup^[22]			Europe^[23]			Total
Club	Season	Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists
Toulouse FC	2007-08	30	1	2	2	1	0	4	0	0	36	2	2
	2008-09	35	4	2	5	1	0	0	0	0	40	5	2
	2009-10	12	6	1	0	0	0	3	1	0	14	6	1
Total		77	11	5	7	2	0	7	1	0	91	14	5
Career total		77	11	5	7	2	0	7	1	0	91	14	5

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Moussa Sissoko French league stats at lfp.fr (French)
Moussa Sissoko Toulouse FC Profile

[0] Spurs set to beat Liverpool and Everton to sign French starlet Moussa Sissoko

[1] INTERVIEW MOUSSA SISSOKO "Mon but était de signer à Toulouse"

[2] INTERVIEW MOUSSA SISSOKO "Mon but était de signer à Toulouse"

[3] Je veux d’abord faire mes preuves en France

[4] Valenciennes v. Toulouse Match Report

[5] Toulouse v. Auxerre Match Report

[6] Toulouse v. Paris Match Report

[7] Emana part au Betis Seville, Sissoko prolonge

[8] Toulouse v. Le Mans Match Report

[9] Toulouse v. Bordeaux Match Report

[10] Toulouse v. PSG Match Report

[11] Schirrhein v. Toulouse Match Report

[12] ut de sissoko TFC Toulouse

[13] Toulouse v. Saint-Etienne Match Report

[14] Toulouse v. Le Mans Match Report

[15] Lyon v. Toulouse Match Report

[16] Toulouse FC 2 - 2 Club Brugge KV

[17] La fiche de Moussa SISSOKO

[18] Gignac et Sissoko chez les Bleus

[19] France 5 - 0 Faroe Islands

[20] France warm up for playoffs wth 3-1 Austria win

[21] Includes Coupe de France, Coupe de la Ligue, Trophée des Champions,

[22] Includes UEFA Supercup

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