Mohamed Sylla (22 February 1971 – 9 June 2010) was a Guinean 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 lea ...

who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

Club career

Sylla started his career with local team Hafia Conakry; scoring many goals at Gabonese league side

Libreville Libreville (; ) is the capital and largest city of Gabon, located on the Gabon Estuary. Libreville occupies of the northwestern province of Estuaire Province, Estuaire. Libreville is also a port on the Gabon Estuary, near the Gulf of Guinea. A ...

, he caught the eye of Dutch side Willem II. He was the first Guinean footballer to play in the Netherlands and stayed six years in

Tilburg Tilburg () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant. With a population of 22 ...

, before moving on to the lower French leagues and short spells in Scotland and Greece. He famously scored two goals for Willem II in an away game at

Twente Twente ( , Tweants dialect: ''Tweante'') is a region in the eastern Netherlands. It encompasses the most urbanised and easternmost part of the province of Overijssel. Twente is most likely named after the Tuihanti or Tvihanti, a Germanic people ...

played in the snow; it is said it was the first time he had ever seen snow.

International career

Sylla played for the Guinea national team for several years.

Death

Sylla died on 9 June 2010 in a hospital in

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

, after a long battle against

lung The lungs are the primary Organ (biology), organs of the respiratory system in many animals, including humans. In mammals and most other tetrapods, two lungs are located near the Vertebral column, backbone on either side of the heart. Their ...

and

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of ...

Personal life

His son Abdoul Karim Sylla is also a professional footballer.

External links

*
Chamois Niort profile

References

1971 births 2010 deaths Footballers from Conakry Men's association football forwards Guinean men's footballers Guinea men's international footballers Guinea men's youth international footballers 1994 African Cup of Nations players 1998 African Cup of Nations players Expatriate men's footballers in Gabon Eredivisie players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Scottish Football League players Super League Greece players Hafia FC players USM Libreville players Willem II Tilburg players FC Martigues players Ayr United F.C. players Paniliakos F.C. players Chamois Niortais FC players Istres FC players Stade Tunisien players Guinean expatriate men's footballers Guinean expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Guinean expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate men's footballers in France Guinean expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Guinean expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Guinean expatriate sportspeople in Tunisia Expatriate men's footballers in Tunisia {{Guinea-footy-bio-stub