Kalifa Cissé (born 9 January 1984) 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 le ...

who played as a

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

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 s ...

. Born in France, he played for the Mali national team. Cissé is a member of the coaching staff of his former club,

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

's.

Club career

Early career

Born in

Dreux Dreux () is a commune in the Eure-et-Loir department in northern France. Geography Dreux lies on the small river Blaise, a tributary of the Eure, about 35 km north of Chartres. Dreux station has rail connections to Argentan, Paris and Granvi ...

, France, Cissé started his career as a trainee at French club

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

, and moved on to Portuguese

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

side

Estoril Estoril () is a town in the Municipality of Cascais, Portugal, on the Portuguese Riviera. It is a tourist destination, with luxury hotels, beaches, and the Casino Estoril. It has been home to numerous royal families and celebrities, and has host ...

. He made only six league appearances and the club was relegated at the end of the season but he caught the attention of Boavista, for whom he signed in 2005.

Reading

His performances in the top division of Portuguese football alerted Reading to his potential and on 16 May 2007, he sealed a move on a three-year contract, for a fee of just under €1 million. He made his Premier League debut for Reading against

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

on 15 August and was

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

in the 72nd minute for a second bookable offence. He scored his first Reading goal on 29 December 2007 in a 6–4 defeat to

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

. In his second season at Reading, Cissé became a fan favourite. In the Championship, he scored a crucial goal against eventual champions

Wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; plural, : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been reco ...

as well as a goal that was voted the club's best of the season against

. He was used more sparingly in his third season at the club, making only nineteen league and cup appearances. He scored once, in a 2–0 win at

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

on 5 December 2009.

Bristol City

In July 2010, Cissé joined

on a two-year deal for an undisclosed fee. The move brought him into contact once again with City manager

Steve Coppell Stephen James Coppell (born 9 July 1955) is an English professional football manager and former player. As a player, he was a highly regarded right winger known for his speed and work rate. He won domestic honours with Manchester United and rep ...

, who signed Cissé for Reading.

New England Revolution

Cissé signed with the

New England Revolution The New England Revolution is an American professional soccer club based in the Greater Boston area that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), in the Eastern Conference of the league. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having compet ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

ahead of the 2013 MLS season. On 6 August 2013, wanting to return to England, Cissé mutually terminated his contract with New England Revolution.

Derby County

Cissé went on trial with

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

in August 2013. After refusing a contract from the club, he went on trial at Championship side

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

in October 2013. He played the full 90 minutes of a 2–1 under-21s match defeat against

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. The ...

on 4 November and 5 days later, he signed for the club on a non-contract basis. The same day, he made his league debut for the club against Sheffield Wednesday. He played instead of the suspended

John Eustace John Mark Eustace (born 3 November 1979) is an English professional association football, football Coach (sports), coach and former Football player, player who is head coach of club Birmingham City F.C., Birmingham City. During his playing car ...

, having received international clearance the previous evening. The Rams ran out 3–0 winners and head coach

Steve McClaren Stephen McClaren (born 3 May 1961) is an English former professional footballer and coach who currently serves as an assistant coach for Premier League club Manchester United, in his second spell at the club. McClaren began his coaching care ...

praised his performance. On 18 November, he signed a two-month contract as a reward for his performance. First-team coach Paul Simpson said that the short-term contract was an incentive for Cissé to impress Derby or any other club who might be interested, should his deal not be extended. He missed the club's next match against

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest division of English club football. Formed in 1899 as B ...

on 23 November after collapsing shortly after the match against Sheffield Wednesday. He was rushed to hospital and treated for an infected toe.

Bangkok United

Central Coast Mariners

In June 2018, Cissé joined

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

club

Central Coast Mariners Central Coast Mariners Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Gosford, on the Central Coast of New South Wales. It competes in the A-League Men, under licence from the Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The Ma ...

on a one-year contract. He made his debut on 1 August 2018 in the Round of 32 of the

FFA Cup The Australia Cup, formerly known as the FFA Cup until the 2021 season, is the national football knockout cup competition in Australia. This annual competition is organised by Football Australia, formerly known as Football Federation Australia ...

against

Adelaide United Adelaide United Football Club is a professional Association Football, soccer club based in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club participates in the A-League Men under North American professional sports league organization#Systems ar ...

where they lost 3–0. Cissé retired on 30 January 2019, taking up a coaching position with the

Central Coast Mariners Academy The Central Coast Mariners Academy (CCMA) is the youth system of Central Coast Mariners FC based in , Australia. The academy teams play the Y-League and the National Premier Leagues, the highest level of youth football in Australia. Senior p ...

International career

Although born in France, Cissé played for the Mali U20 team in the

2003 FIFA World Youth Championship The 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship took place in United Arab Emirates between 27 November and 19 December 2003. U20 Brazil claimed their fourth title. The 2003 championship was the 14th contested. The tournament was originally planned to be ...

, his debut coming v Argentina. He received his first call up to the

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 ...

senior team on 20 March 2008 for the 2010 World Cup Qualifier v Sudan, which he won 3–0. Cissé also appeared against Liberia on 9 October 2010, in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier, as well as in friendlies against Congo (17 November 2010), Ivory Coast (8 February 2011) and Tunisia (10 August 2011).

Personal life

Cissé was born in France to a family with Malian origins, and two of his younger brothers – Salif and

Ibrahima Ibrahima is a male given name, a form of Ibrahim common in parts of Western Africa. Notable people with the name include: * Ibrahima Aya (born 1967), Malian writer * Ibrahima Bakayoko (born 1976), Ivorian footballer * Ibrahima Bangoura (born 19 ...

– also embraced a professional footballing career.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cisse, Kalifa 1984 births Living people Sportspeople from Dreux Malian men's footballers Mali men's international footballers Mali men's under-20 international footballers French men's footballers French sportspeople of Malian descent Men's association football central defenders Men's association football midfielders Boavista F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players Derby County F.C. players G.D. Estoril Praia players Reading F.C. players Kalifa Cisse Central Coast Mariners FC players Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Thailand Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Malian expatriate men's footballers French expatriate men's footballers Major League Soccer players New England Revolution players Citizens of Mali through descent Premier League players Primeira Liga players English Football League players Kalifa Cisse A-League Men players Bristol City F.C. non-playing staff Footballers from Centre-Val de Loire