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 plays for FC Meyrin. He is a versatile defender capable of playing either
right back
In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring.
Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...
or
centre back
In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring.
Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either ...
.
Club career
Early career
Tall was born in
Aubervilliers
Aubervilliers () is a commune in the Seine-Saint-Denis department, Île-de-France region, northeastern suburbs of Paris, France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Albertivillariens'' or ''Albertivillariennes''.
Geography
Localisati ...
, Paris. He started his career with
CS Louhans-Cuiseaux
Louhans-Cuiseaux Football Club is a football club located in Louhans, France.
History
The club was founded in 1970 as ''Club Sportif Louhans Cuiseaux 71'' after the merger of ''Club Sportif Louhannais'' (founded in 1916) and ''Club de Cuiseaux' ...
Montbéliard
Montbéliard (; traditional ) is a town in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France, about from the border with Switzerland. It is one of the two subprefectures of the department.
History
Montbéliard is ...
club, making over 70 first team appearances and helping them to win the 2004 Coupe de la Ligue. He also participated in the Montbéliard club's runs to the 2004
UEFA Cup
A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...
Tall moved to Hearts in August 2005 in controversial circumstances, with tabloids speculating that he was signed by club owner
Vladimir Romanov
Vladimir Nikolayevich Romanov ( rus, Владимир Николаевич Романов, p=vlɐˈdʲimʲɪr nʲɪkɐˈlaɪvʲɪtɕ rɐˈmanəf, lt, Vladimiras Romanovas; born 15 June 1947)
, against the wishes of then head coach
George Burley
George Elder Burley (born 3 June 1956) is a Scottish former football player and manager. He had a professional career spanning 21 years as a player, making 628 league appearances and earning 11 Scotland caps. His most successful spell came whi ...
. Commenting on the signings of Tall and Brazilian Samuel Camazzola, Burley himself would only admit that the situation was "not ideal". Tall then appeared to become the victim of internal club politics as, despite his reported £8,000 per week salary, he spent the first 7 months of his Hearts career either sitting on the bench or in the stand.
An injury to José Gonçalves and the omission from the team of Andy Webster, due to a contract dispute with the club, eventually allowed Tall to make his competitive debut, as a substitute, in the 2–0 victory over Kilmarnock on 15 April. After this, he formed a solid defensive partnership with club captain Steven Pressley during the final weeks of the 2005–06 season and ended it on a positive note, when he collected his first senior medal as Hearts defeated Gretna in the
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
* Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event
** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...
.
On 26 July, Tall scored his first competitive goal for Hearts, in the club's first game in Europe's elite club competition, the
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...
NK Široki Brijeg
Nogometni klub Široki Brijeg ( en, Široki Brijeg Football Club) is a professional association football club from the city of Široki Brijeg, that is situated in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Currently, Široki Brijeg plays in the Premier League of ...
helped his side to a 3–0 aggregate victory.
On 15 May 2008, it was announced that Tall had left Hearts.
Return to France
On 10 June 2008 Tall returned to France with newly promoted
FC Nantes
Football Club de Nantes (; Gallo: ''Naunnt''), commonly referred to as FC Nantes or simply Nantes (), is a French professional football club based in Nantes in Pays de la Loire. The club was founded on 21 April 1943, during World War II, as a ...
, signing a two-year contract with the Ligue 1 side.
Later career
On 31 July 2010, he signed a two-year contract with Larissa. After one and half years with the Greek club, Tall left on a free transfer and joined Swiss side
FC Lausanne-Sport
FC Lausanne–Sport (also referred to as LS) is a Swiss football club based in Lausanne in the canton of Vaud. Founded in 1896, Lausanne Sport played in the Swiss Super League in their most recent 2021-22 season, the highest tier of football i ...
in February 2012. Tall made 22 (1 as sub) appearances in the 2012–13 season but appeared to have been released for the 2013–14 season.
International career
Tall has appeared over twenty times for the Senegal national team. Despite his French birth and upbringing, he qualifies to represent the African state through his parents' Senegalese lineage.Euro Crunch just the ticket for Tall ''Scotsman.com Sport'', 4 October 2006. Retrieved 4 October 2006