Moussa Sow (born 19 January 1986) is a 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 ...

who plays 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) ** Sm ...

. Born in France, he represented

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 � ...

at international level, scoring 18 goals in 50 appearances. He was known for his

bicycle kick In association football, a bicycle kick, also known as an overhead kick, scissors kick, is an acrobatic strike where a player kicks an airborne ball rearward in midair. It is achieved by throwing the body backward up into the air and, before d ...

goals and emotional reactions such as crying when he failed to score, or when the team has lost. He started his professional career at

Stade Rennais Stade Rennais Football Club (), commonly referred to as Stade Rennais FC, Stade Rennais, Rennes, or simply SRFC, is a French professional football club based in Rennes, Brittany. They compete in Ligue 1, the top tier of French football, and pl ...

in 2004 as an 18-year-old. In his first couple of seasons, Sow made his mark mostly in cup competitions, scoring a brace for

Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...

against Corte on 6 January 2006 in the

Coupe de France The Coupe de France, formerly known as the Coupe Charles Simon, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is open to all amateur and profession ...

and one in an away game against

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Pref ...

in the

Coupe de la Ligue The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in Football in France, French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was est ...

. He was loaned out to Sedan in 2007, scoring six goals in 30 appearances for the club. Upon his return to Rennes, he was the club's first-choice striker for two seasons before joining

on a free transfer In June 2010, where he made an immediate impact. He finished the

2010–11 Ligue 1 The 2010–11 Ligue 1 season (known as ''Ligue 1 Orange'' for sponsorship reasons) was the 73rd since its establishment. Entering the season, Marseille were the defending champions. The fixtures were announced on 21 May 2010 and the season began ...

as the league's top scorer with 25 goals and made the Team of the Year. He joined Fenerbahçe in 2012. At Fenerbahçe, he was known for his

goals and emotional reactions such as crying when he failed to score, or when the team has lost.

Club career

Lille

After his contract with

came to an end, the 24-year–old forward signed a three-year deal with

Lille OSC Lille Olympique Sporting Club (), commonly referred to as LOSC, LOSC Lille or simply Lille, is a French professional football club based in Lille, Hauts-de-France that competes in Ligue 1, the top flight of French football. Lille has played its ...

on 28 June 2010. Sow scored on his debut for Lille in a 1–1 draw away to his former club Rennes. But Moussa Sow did not score again in the league until a 90th-minute goal on 19 September gave Lille all three points in a tough home contest against

Auxerre Auxerre ( , ) is the capital of the Yonne department and the fourth-largest city in Burgundy. Auxerre's population today is about 35,000; the urban area (''aire d'attraction'') comprises roughly 113,000 inhabitants. Residents of Auxerre are r ...

. Sow scored his first hat-trick for Lille on 13 November 2010, the goals came in a 5–2 away victory to

Caen Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,Gervinho Gervais Yao Kouassi (born 27 May 1987), known as Gervinho, is an Ivorian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Greek Super League club Aris and the Ivory Coast national team. Gervinho began his career at ASEC Abidjan and Toumod ...

and

Franck Beria Franck can refer to: People * Franck (name) Other * Franck (company), Croatian coffee and snacks company * Franck (crater), Lunar crater named after James Franck See also * Franc (disambiguation) * Franks * Frank (disambiguation) * Frankie ...

grabbing 90th-minute goals to seal the win. Less than a month later on 5 December 2010, Sow netted another hat-trick this time against

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginn ...

. His goals helped Lille to a 6–3 win and firmly placed his side into contention for the

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

crown. Lille went into the winter break in sole position of first place, as Sow fired in their only goal in a 1–1 draw with Saint Étienne on 22 December 2010. Sow scored his 22nd goal of the Ligue 1 campaign in a 2–2 draw with

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...

on 21 May 2011. The result ensured that Lille would secure their first Ligue 1 title since 1954. Sow scored his third hat-trick, on the final day of the season, as Lille tied the knot on their championship season with an emphatic 3–2 victory over former club Rennes. Sow was the top scorer 2010–11 season with 25 league goals and also contributed with three assists.

Fenerbahçe

On 27 January 2012, Fenerbahçe acquired Sow for €10 million. He signed a 4.5-year contract which would have kept him at the club until the end of 2015–16 season. Sow made his debut against local rivals

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul, Turkey, located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and Şişli, on the west by Kağıthane and Şişli, on the south by Beyoğlu, and ...

on 5 February 2012, scoring a goal in the second minute of

injury time Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

. On 18 March he scored the first goal of the

derby match A sports rivalry is intense competition between athletic teams or athletes, affecting participants, management, and supporters all to varying degrees. The intensity of the rivalry can range anywhere from a light hearted banter to serious violen ...

with a

against

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other de ...

. He continued his good run of form by scoring a late equaliser against

Kayserispor Kayseri Spor Kulübü, commonly known as Kayserispor, is a Turkish professional football club based in Kayseri. They play their home matches at the Kadir Has Stadium in red and yellow kits. The team has won one Turkish Cup in 2008 and also fini ...

to earn a draw for his team in

quarter-finals A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

of the

Turkish Cup The Turkish Cup ( Turkish: ''Türkiye Kupası'') is a football cup competition in Turkish football, run by the Turkish Football Federation since 1962. During a brief sponsorship period with Fortis, its sponsored name was ''Fortis Türkiye Kupası ...

on 12 April 2012, helping his team to reach the semi-finals through a

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

. Sow also scored the second goal for his team against rivals

Trabzonspor Trabzonspor Kulübü is a Turkish sports club located in the city of Trabzon. Formed in 1967 through a merger of several local clubs, the men's football team has won seven Süper Lig championships. Trabzonspor also have a women's football team, ...

on 15 April 2012. Over the course of the 2011–12 season Sow played 12 league matches and scored 7 goals. Sow earned his first trophy with Fener in the

final on 16 May as the club ripped apart

Bursaspor Bursaspor Kulübü Derneği (), commonly known as Bursaspor, is a Turkish sports club located in the city of Bursa. Formed in 1963, the club colours are green and white, with home kits usually featuring both colours in a striped pattern. In th ...

by a score of 4–0. In the 2012–13 season Sow scored 13 goals in 22 league matches and three goals in European matches. On 3 March 2013, he scored twice against Beşiktaş followed by a goal each in the following league matches, a 4–1 victory against Bursaspor and a 2–1 win against.

Antalyaspor Antalyaspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional football club located in the city of Antalya. The club's colours are red and white. They play their home matches at the Antalya Stadium. In Turkey, the club won the First League twice in 1982 and 1 ...

. On 22 May 2013, he scored the solitary goal as Fenerbahçe defeated Trabzonspor to secure the club's second straight 2012–13 Turkish Cup, consolation for falling short to city rivals Galatasaray in the league campaign. On 21 September 2013, Fenerbahçe were victorious in a 4–0 win against

Elazığspor Elazığspor is a Turkish professional football club located in Elazığ and currently competes in the TFF Third League. They previously played their home games at Elazığ Atatürk Stadium in Elazığ, which had a maximum capacity of 13,923. T ...

while Sow completed his first hat-trick for the club during this match. Sow cried after leaving Fenerbahçe and stated that he will forever be only a Fenerbahçe fan.

Al Ahli

On 29 August 2015, Al Ahli acquired Sow for €16 million.

Return to Fenerbahçe on loan

On 31 August 2016, Sow wanted to return to Fenerbahçe and returned to Fenerbahçe on a season long loan deal from Al Ahli. In November 2016, Fenerbahçe began selling shirts with Sow's name and number turned upside as tribute to his repeated times of his amazing bicycle kick goals, the latter of whom he scored a hat-trick against. On 8 December 2016, Sow scored another bicycle kick, this time in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

in a 1–0 away victory against

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the club changed to various names before settling on being called after its ...

Loan to Bursaspor

In January 2018, Sow joined

on loan from Al Ahli until the end of 2017–18 season.

Gazişehir Gaziantep

On 28 January 2019, Sow signed for Gazişehir Gaziantep on a one-and-a-half-year contract.

International career

On 5 September 2010, Sow scored his first goal for

in a 4–0 defeat of the

Democratic Republic of Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

during qualifying for the

2012 Africa Cup of Nations The 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 28th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa organized by the Confederation of African Football ( ...

. He scored three more times in the qualifying phase as well as once in a 2–1 defeat to

Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea ( es, Guinea Ecuatorial; french: Guinée équatoriale; pt, Guiné Equatorial), officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea ( es, link=no, República de Guinea Ecuatorial, french: link=no, République de Guinée équatoria ...

at the tournament finals. At the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Sow scored Senegal's winning goal as they defeated

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

2–1 in the team's opening match. In May 2018 he was named in Senegal's 23-man squad for the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...

in Russia. He retired from international football in August 2018.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Senegal's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Sow goal. (includes two unofficial goals)''

Honours

Lille *

: 2010–11 *

: 2010–11 Fenerbahce *

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

: 2013–14 * Türkiye Kupası: 2011–12, 2012–13 * Süper Kupa:

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

Al-Ahli Dubai *

UAE Pro-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 ...

: 2015–16 France U19 *

UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship The UEFA European Under-19 Championship, or simply UEFA Under-19 Championship or the UEFA Euro U-19, is an annual football competition contested by the European men's under-19 national teams of the member associations of UEFA. Spain and England ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

Individual *

CAF Team of the Year The CAF Team of the Year is an annual football award given by the Confederation of African Football during the CAF Awards. In 2007, the CAF did not choose the team of the year, but rather the best ten players of the last fifty years. The ten pla ...

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

top goalscorer: 2010–11 *

Team of the Season: 2010–11

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sow, Moussa 1986 births Living people Footballers from Yvelines People from Mantes-la-Jolie Senegalese footballers Senegal international footballers French footballers France youth international footballers France under-21 international footballers French sportspeople of Senegalese descent Stade Rennais F.C. players CS Sedan Ardennes players Amiens SC players Lille OSC players Fenerbahçe S.K. footballers Al Ahli Club (Dubai) players Shabab Al-Ahli Club players Bursaspor footballers Ümraniyespor footballers Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Süper Lig players UAE Pro League players INF Clairefontaine players Association football forwards 2012 Africa Cup of Nations players Senegalese expatriate footballers French expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Turkey Expatriate footballers in the United Arab Emirates 2015 Africa Cup of Nations players 2017 Africa Cup of Nations players 2018 FIFA World Cup players