Mamadou Diallo (born 28 August 1971) is a Senegalese former 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 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) ** Sm ...

. He played in twelve countries across four continents: United States, Senegal, Morocco, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, South Africa, Mali, Germany, Turkey, Sweden and Norway. A prolific scorer almost everywhere he played, he became a regular for the Senegal national team.

Club career

Diallo was born in

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.94 million in 2 ...

, Senegal.

Major League Soccer

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 ...

signed Diallo in 2000 and allocated him to the

Tampa Bay Mutiny Tampa Bay Mutiny was a professional soccer team based in Tampa, Florida. They were a charter member of Major League Soccer (MLS) and played from 1996 to 2001. They played their home games at Tampa Stadium and then at Raymond James Stadium. The ...

. Diallo exploded on the MLS scene in his first season, combining well with midfield general

Carlos Valderrama Carlos Alberto Valderrama Palacio (Colombian Spanish: ; born 2 September 1961), also known as ''El Pibe'' ("The Kid"), is a Colombian former professional footballer and sports commentator for Fútbol de Primera, who played as an attacking mid ...

. Diallo scored 26 goals, the best in the league since

Roy Lassiter Roy Lee Lassiter (born March 9, 1969) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a forward. He played the first few years of his professional career in Costa Rica. He returned to the United States to play in Major League So ...

had 27 in 1996; he was named to the

MLS Best XI The MLS Best XI is an annual acknowledgment of the best eleven players in Major League Soccer. Winners *Players in bold were awarded the Landon Donovan MVP Award for that season. Most appearances by a player The following players have appeared ...

and was the league Scoring Champion. However, Diallo is also remembered for the incident on 16 August 2000 in a game against the MetroStars, where he collided with and stepped on Metro goalie

Mike Ammann Mike Ammann (born February 8, 1971) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a goalkeeper in England and Major League Soccer. Youth Ammann was born in Orange, California. The younger brother of Bob Ammann, he played for t ...

, breaking his ribs and puncturing his lung. The referee saw the collision as unintentional contact, and he was neither fined nor carded for the incident. However, there were those (including Ammann himself) that considered the contact was intentional. In 2001, with Valderrama traded in mid-season, Diallo had a down year, slipping to nine goals. The Mutiny was contracted after the season and Diallo was selected by 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 ...

in the 2002 MLS Allocation Draft. He only spent seven games in New England, and was sent over to the MetroStars in a six-player deal on 24 May. He had a four-goal game against the

Los Angeles Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began pla ...

in only his second match with the team, but his scoring tapered off and the Metros missed the playoffs.

Later career

Diallo moved to Saudi Arabian club Al-Ahli on 7 October 2002, but was dropped in November after failing to impress. His globetrotting ways took him to the former UEFA Cup winners, the Swedish club

IFK Göteborg Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Göteborg (officially IFK Göteborg Fotboll), commonly known as IFK Göteborg, IFK (especially locally) or simply Göteborg, is a Swedish professional football club based in Gothenburg. Founded in 1904, it is the ...

, then Malaysian club

Pahang Pahang (;Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , Pahang Hulu Malay: ''Paha'', Pahang Hilir Malay: ''Pahaeng'', Ulu Tembeling Malay: ''Pahaq)'' officially Pahang Darul Makmur with the Arabic honorific ''Darul Makmur'' (Jawi: , "The Abode of Tranquility") is a ...

, then Jomo Cosmos of South Africa and finally with

Djoliba AC Djoliba Athletic Club is a Malian football club and one of the two biggest teams in Mali alongside the Stade Malien. The team is based in the capital city of Bamako. It has its headquarters and three training stadia at Complex Sportif Hér� ...

until he retired.

International career

Diallo won 46 caps for

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

, scoring 21 goals, in a career which saw him represent his country at the African Cup of Nations in 1994. He played for

at the 2007 Beach Soccer World Cup, scoring one goal and receiving one red card.

References

External links