Alhassane Keita Otchico (born 26 June 1983), known as Keita, is a Guinean

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 most recently played as a striker for American club

Jacksonville Armada FC Jacksonville Armada FC is an American professional soccer team based in Jacksonville, Florida. They most recently played in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), the fourth tier of the American soccer pyramid, during the 2018 season while ...

Club career

Keita was born in

Conakry Conakry (; ; sus, Kɔnakiri; N’ko: ߞߐߣߊߞߙߌ߫, Fula: ''Konaakiri'' 𞤑𞤮𞤲𞤢𞥄𞤳𞤭𞤪𞤭) is the capital and largest city of Guinea. A port city, it serves as the economic, financial and cultural centre of Guinea. Its p ...

. After beginning his professional career in Morocco with

Olympique Khouribga Olympique Club de Khouribga, also called OCK, is a Moroccan football club based in Khouribga. History The club was founded in 1923 and is considered one of the oldest clubs in Morocco. The club first entered the first division of the Moroccan ...

, he moved to Switzerland in 2001 joining

FC Zürich Fussballclub Zürich, commonly abbreviated to FC Zürich or simply FCZ, is a Swiss football club based in Zürich. The club was founded in 1896 and has won the Swiss Super League 13 times and the Swiss Cup 10 times. The most recent titles a ...

; during his five-season stay he scored goals at an extraordinary rate, including 20 in 2005–06 as the club emerged champions and the player was crowned league top scorer. Keita started the 2006–07 campaign still in

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

, netting four in as many games, but signed with

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

n side

Ittihad FC Al-Ittihad Saudi Arabian Club ( ar, نادي الإتحاد العربي السعودي), referred to as Al-Ittihad, is a professional football club based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, founded in 1927. The club has spent its entire history in the to ...

, in

Jeddah Jeddah ( ), also spelled Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; ar, , Jidda, ), is a city in the Hejaz region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the country's commercial center. Established in the 6th century BC as a fishing village, Jeddah's pro ...

. In late June 2008 he joined Spain's

RCD Mallorca Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, S.A.D. (, ca, Reial Club Deportiu Mallorca , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or just Mallorca is a Spanish professional football club based in Palma on the island of Majorca in ...

on a five-year link, being irregularly used in his first year – he did manage, however, to score twice as a second-half substitute in a 2–0

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

home win over

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid () or Valladolid, is a professional football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León, Spain that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish league system. The club colo ...

. In July 2009, Keita was initially banned for four months after it was found out he signed with

Umm-Salal Sports Club Umm Salal Sport Club ( ar, نادي أم صلال الرياضي) is a Qatari professional football club based in Umm Salal, that competes in the Qatar Stars League, the highest tier of Qatari football. It used to be known as Al-Tadamun Sport Cl ...

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

after he had already committed to Mallorca. As the appeals begun, though, he was able to start the new season with the team, appearing in several matches from the bench; in late January 2010, the situation was resolved favorably to the Spaniards. Keita was loaned to Valladolid in the

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

, initially in a

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

-long move. However, in late January 2011, he cancelled his loan agreement, terminated his contract with Mallorca and joined

Al-Shabab Riyadh Al-Shabab Football Club ( ar, نادي الشباب), or The Youth Football Club, in English, is a Saudi Arabian professional football club based in Riyadh. It was founded in 1947, and was at first named ''Shabab Al Riyadh''. (), meaning Riyadh ...

from Saudi Arabia until 2013. In August 2011, Keita left Saudi Arabia for

Emirates Club Emirates Club ( ar, نادي الإمارات) is a professional football club based in the city of Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. They play in the UAE Pro League after being promoted from the UAE First Division League. They play their h ...

in the

UAE Arabian Gulf League The UAE Pro League ( ar, دوري المحترفين الإماراتي), known for sponsorship reasons as the ADNOC Pro League, is the top professional football league in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The first team to win the title was Al O ...

, following a short spell. The same month in the following year, he moved to

Dubai CSC Dubai Cultural Sports Club () was a football (soccer), football club based in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. In 2017 merged with Al Shabab (Dubai), Al Shabab to join Al-Ahli to rebrand the club into Shabab Al-Ahli Dubai FC. History The clu ...

. In early January 2015, Keita moved clubs and countries again, signing with

from the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

. He left two years later, as their all-time leading scorer. In July 2017, Keita joined

Prince Mohammad bin Salman League The First Division League (FDL for short), also called the Yelo league for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of professional football in Saudi Arabia. The First Division League is ranked below the Saudi Professional League and above the Sa ...

Al-Watani Al-Watani ( ar, الوطني) is a Saudi Arabian football team based in Tabuk. The club was established in 1959. Al-Watani has achieved promotion to the Saudi Premier League as the champion of the Saudi First Division during the 2006–07 seaso ...

. On 28 March of the following year, he returned to the Armada.

International career

Keita was part of the Guinean squad at the

2004 Africa Cup of Nations 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 ...

as they reached the competition's quarter-finals, with an exit against

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...

. He did not play in the tournament, however.

Club statistics

Honours

FC Zürich *

Swiss Cup The Swiss Cup (; ; ; ) is a football cup tournament that has been organised annually since 1925–26 by the Swiss Football Association. Since 1999 the winner earns the chance to qualify for the UEFA Europa League or the UEFA Europa Conference L ...

: 2004–05 * Super League/Nationalliga A: 2005–06

References

External links

Real Mallorca bio
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Keita, Alhassane 1983 births Living people Guinean Muslims Guinean twins Twin sportspeople Sportspeople from Conakry Guinean footballers Association football forwards Horoya AC players Olympique Club de Khouribga players FC Zürich players Ittihad FC players RCD Mallorca players Real Valladolid players Al-Shabab FC (Riyadh) players Emirates Club players Dubai CSC players FC St. Gallen players Al-Watani Club players Jacksonville Armada FC players Botola players Swiss Super League players Saudi Professional League players La Liga players Segunda División players UAE Pro League players North American Soccer League players Guinea international footballers 2004 African Cup of Nations players Guinean expatriate footballers Guinean expatriate sportspeople in Morocco Guinean expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Guinean expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Guinean expatriate sportspeople in Spain Guinean expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates Guinean expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate footballers in Morocco Expatriate footballers in Switzerland Expatriate footballers in Saudi Arabia Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in the United Arab Emirates Expatriate soccer players in the United States