Bachirou Salou (born 15 September 1970 in Lomé) is a retired

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 ...

who played as a centre forward in the German

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

. He possessed double nationality and is living in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

together with his family, where he bought a house. Bachirou Salou has

Nago ''Nagu'', Kunigami: ''Naguu'' is a city located in the northern part of Okinawa Island, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. As of December 2012, the city has an estimated population of 61,659 and a population density of 288 persons per km2. Its tota ...

- Benino roots.

Rafiou Moutairou Rafiou Moutairou is a retired Togolese football player. He finished in 3rd place in the 1983 African Footballer of the Year polling while playing for OC Agaza in Lomé. Rafiou Moutairo is the half brother from Bachirou Salou. Moutairou played ...

and

Tadjou Salou Tadjou Salou (24 December 1974 – 2 April 2007) was a Togolese footballer player who played as a defender. Career Born in Lomé, Salou played club football for Modèle de Lomé, OC Agaza, Club Africain, Servette, Étoile Carouge, AS Douanes ...

are his siblings.

Club career

Borussia Mönchengladbach

Born in

Lomé Lomé is the capital and largest city of Togo. It has an urban population of 837,437

, Salou was spotted at the age of 19 by former

Czechoslovakian , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

international Anton Ondruš, who was on holiday in

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

and saw the player appear for Panthère Sportive . Knowing that the Club Borussia Mönchengladbach was looking for a striker, he conveyed him. Shortly afterwards Salou was invited to Germany. In 1990 he began to play as a striker for Borussia Mönchengladbach, where he quickly became a fan favourite. In his time at Mönchengladbach, Salou helped the team win the 1995 DFB- Pokal, scoring 14 goals in 97 competitive games. In the 1993–94 season he netted five times in only nine contests.

Duisburg

In 1995 Salou moved to 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 ...

with

MSV Duisburg Meidericher Spielverein 02 e. V. Duisburg, commonly known as simply MSV Duisburg (), is a German association football club based in Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia. Nicknamed ''Die Zebras'' for their traditional striped jerseys, the club was on ...

, winning promotion in his first year and experiencing his best years in the country overall, as he added 18 goals in the next two top flight seasons combined. His steady performances earned him many offers.

FC Bayern München Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...

, Fenerbahce S.K. and Borussia Dortmund were some of these clubs. After all he chose to stay in Germany and transferred to former Champions League winner

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund (), BVB (), or simply Dortmund (), is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its men's professional fo ...

. He also became a fan favourite in

. The legendary DFB Cup final in 1997–98 season against

made Salou become a living legend in Duisburg. To this day, he is celebrated in Duisburg. Salou was perpetuate as a living legend in the stadium of MSV Duisburg with his picture.

Frankfurt and Hansa Rostock

After another solid year with

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The team is currently playing in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the Germa ...

, Salou joined

FC Hansa Rostock FC Hansa Rostock () is a German association football club based in the city of Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The club is also called as "the cog" because of its club crest. They have emerged as one of the most successful clubs from the forme ...

in January 2001.

Later career

After a brief time in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, with K.A.S Eupen, Salou returned to Germany in January 2004 and signed with Alemannia Aachen. He played 15 years in both major levels of German football, totalling exactly 300 games and 62 goals.

International career

Salou gained 38

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

for

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...

during a nine-year span, making his international debut at age 19. He retired from football the year before the nation reached its first ever

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

Personal life

Nowadays Salou lives near Mönchengladbach, during the World cup in year 2006 he worked as team manager for the Togolese National team. He is also related to

and

. After retiring, Salou became involved with the initiative ''Go for Children – Momentum for Change!'', as an ambassador. His son Mamoudou Salou, who was born in 1989, also plays soccer as a striker for SV Uedesheim.Interview in: RevierSport 58/2012, S. 30

Honours

;Borussia Mönchengladbach *

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considered ...

: 1994–95; Runner-up 1991–92 ;MSV Duisburg *

Runner-up: 1997–98 ;Alemannia Aachen *

Runner-up: 2003–04

References

External links

*
Eintracht archives
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Salou, Bachirou 1970 births Living people Footballers from Lomé Togolese emigrants to Germany Togolese men's footballers Men's association football forwards Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Borussia Mönchengladbach players MSV Duisburg players Borussia Dortmund players Eintracht Frankfurt players FC Hansa Rostock players Alemannia Aachen players Challenger Pro League players K.A.S. Eupen players Togo men's international footballers 1998 African Cup of Nations players 2000 African Cup of Nations players Togolese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Cameroon Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Togolese expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Togolese expatriate sportspeople in Germany Togolese expatriate sportspeople in Cameroon