Aboubacar Sidiki "Titi" Camara (born 17 November 1972) is a Guinean former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a striker. He was also the coach of the Guinean national team, which he captained and played for. He was also the Guinea sports minister, before being replaced in October 2012. He is best known for his stint with

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

in the 1999–2000 season, where he scored 10 goals in 37 games in all competitions, memorably scoring the winner in a game against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

at Highbury.

Club career

Early career

Camara played for

Saint-Étienne Saint-Étienne (; frp, Sant-Etiève; oc, Sant Estève, ) is a city and the prefecture of the Loire department in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. Saint-Étienne is the t ...

Lens A lens is a transmissive optical device which focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements''), ...

and

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

in France, (playing in the

1999 UEFA Cup Final The 1999 UEFA Cup Final was an association football match played on 12 May 1999 at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow to determine the winners of the 1998–99 UEFA Cup. The match was contested by Parma of Italy and Marseille of France. Parma won the ...

for the latter) before being transferred to

Liverpool

A cult hero and crowd favourite at

Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892. ...

, Camara is best remembered for playing at Anfield against West Ham in October 1999, the morning after the death of his father, scoring the winning goal and then dropping to his knees in front of the Anfield Road stand with tears flowing. He also managed to score in three successive Premier League games for the Reds in late autumn of 1999. On 13 February, he scored the winner at

Highbury Highbury is a district in North London and part of the London Borough of Islington in Greater London that was owned by Ranulf brother of Ilger and included all the areas north and east of Canonbury and Holloway Roads. The manor house was situ ...

, leading Liverpool to a 1–0 win over

. Despite his short spell at Liverpool, he was voted in 91st position in the 2006 poll "100 Players Who Shook The Kop", which was conducted by the official Liverpool Football Club web site. Camara's placing made him the second highest placed African player, behind

Bruce Grobbelaar Bruce David Grobbelaar (born 6 October 1957) is a Zimbabwean former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, most prominently for English team Liverpool between 1981 and 1994, and for the Zimbabwean national team. He is remembered fo ...

West Ham United

Signed by manager

Harry Redknapp Henry James Redknapp (born 2 March 1947) is an English former football manager and player. He has previously managed AFC Bournemouth, West Ham United, Portsmouth, Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur, Queens Park Rangers and Birmingham City. In his ...

on 21 December 2000 for a fee of £1.5 million which, depending on other factors, could have risen to £2.6 million, Camara announced, "I've come to West Ham to play, play, play – and score, score, score. If it was a question of money, I could have stayed at Liverpool and picked it up. I need to play, and if I don't it is totally pointless." Making his West Ham debut on 23 December 2000 in a 2–1 away defeat to

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

, Camara went on to play only fourteen games, in all competitions, without scoring at all.

Al-Ittihad

In January 2003 Camara was sent out on loan to

Al-Ittihad Al-Ittihad (Arabic: الاتحاد "The Union"), sometimes transliterated as Al-Etihad or Al-Ettihad may refer to: Sports Football Libya *Al-Ittihad Club (Tripoli), a football club based in Bab Ben Gashier * Al Ittihad Gheryan, a football club bas ...

for the remainder of the 2002–03 season.

Al-Siliya

Following West Ham's relegation in 2003 from the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

Camara left the club for Al-Siliya after his contract was terminated by mutual consent.

International career

Titi Camara was a stalwart of the

Guinea Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...

team from the early 1990s until the early 2000s. He is regarded as a key protagonist in Guinea's return to respectability in African football and played for his country at the

2004 African Nations Cup The 2004 African Cup of Nations, known as the NOKIA African Cup of Nations, Tunisia 2004 for sponsorship reasons (also referred to as AFCON 2004 or CAN 2004) is the 24th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's footb ...

, where he scored 3 goals in the Group Stage, which meant he finished just one goal behind the leading scores of the tournament.

Coaching career

In December 2005, he was linked with the vacant manager's job with the Guinea national team. On 13 May 2009, Captain

Moussa Dadis Camara Captain Moussa Dadis Camara (; born 1 January 1964), now called Moïse Dadis Camara (),''Le Populaire'', , N°3232, 31 August 2010, p. 2 is an ex-officer of the Guinean army who served as the President of Guinea from 23 December 2008 to 15 Janu ...

, the President of

publicly announced that he wanted him to manage the national team. At the end of May 2009, Camara was named the National Technical Director (NTC). On 9 June 2009, Camara was named the head coach of the Syli National to succeed

Robert Nouzaret Robert Nouzaret (born 29 September 1943) is a French football manager and former player. Managerial career On 31 August 2011, Nouzaret resigned as DR Congo coach following a difference in opinion with the football federation over the Frenchman ...

. Camara was serving in dual capacities of NTC and head coach of the Syli National. On 15 September 2009, three months following his nomination as head coach of the Syli National, Camara was replaced by

Mamadi Souaré Mamadi Souaré (born 10 January 1971), sometimes known as Passarella, is a Guinean professional football manager and former player who played as a right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose prim ...

, a former Captain of the Syli National, following poor results, lack of cooperation/understanding with certain conspicuous members of the Guinean Football Federation (FGF), and absence of "cordial" relations with certain key elements of the Syli National.

Breach of contract

In September 2003, alleging

breach of contract Breach of contract is a legal cause of action and a type of civil wrong, in which a binding agreement or bargained-for exchange is not honored by one or more of the parties to the contract by non-performance or interference with the other party ...

, Camara sued West Ham United. In 2006, West Ham successfully defended the High Court breach of contract claim brought by Camara.

Minister of Sports

On 28 December 2010, Camara was made Sports Minister of Guinea by newly elected president

Alpha Condé Alpha Condé (N'Ko: ; born 4 March 1938) is a Guinean politician who served as the fourth president of Guinea from 2010 to 2021. Condé spent decades in opposition to a succession of regimes in Guinea, unsuccessfully running against President La ...

, making him the country's first ex-sportsman to hold a government post. He was forced out of his post on 5 October 2012 in a government reshuffle.Les dessous du limogeage de Titi Camara
Guinée58.com, 7 October 2012

References

External links

* *
Thisisanfield.com Forgotten HeroPlayer profile at Liverpool FC

LFChistory.net player profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Camara, Titi 1972 births Living people Sportspeople from Conakry Association football forwards Guinean footballers Guinean expatriate footballers Guinea international footballers 1994 African Cup of Nations players 1998 African Cup of Nations players 2004 African Cup of Nations players AS Saint-Étienne players RC Lens players Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in England Olympique de Marseille players Ligue 1 players Liverpool F.C. players West Ham United F.C. players Ittihad FC players Amiens SC players Premier League players Al-Sailiya SC players Guinean football managers Guinea national football team managers Sports ministers of Guinea Saudi Professional League players Qatar Stars League players