Modeste M'bami (9 October 1982 – 7 January 2023) was a Cameroonian 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 le ...

who played as a

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 ...

. M'bami played for clubs in France, Saudi Arabia, and Cameroon, most notably

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 ...

and

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

, both of which in

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 ...

Club career

Born in

Yaoundé Yaoundé (; , ) is the capital of Cameroon and, with a population of more than 2.8 million, the second-largest city in the country after the port city Douala. It lies in the Centre Region of the nation at an elevation of about 750 metres (2,50 ...

, M'bami started his career in his home country playing for Dynamo Douala but was quickly spotted by foreign clubs. M'bami joined Sedan during the summer of 2000. Despite his young age, M'bami played ten matches in his first season in the Division 1 and helped his club to finish fifth. He rapidly became a team regular and played 60 matches in the two following seasons. In 2003, the club was relegated to

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by Balkrishna Industries, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions ...

and M'Bami decided to sign a five-year contract with

for €5 million after his agent Willie McKay halted advanced discussions with Wolverhampton Wanderers. During his first season with Paris Saint-Germain, M'bami was associated with another young defensive midfielder,

Lorik Cana Lorik Agim Cana (; born 27 July 1983) is an Albanian former professional footballer. He is currently the Grassroots ambassador for children's football in Albania, named by the Albanian Football Association on 26 October 2017. Cana played in the ...

. Despite their lack of experience, they played a big part in the club's good season, where Paris Saint-Germain finished second in Ligue 1 and won 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 ...

. The club's 2004–05 season was less successful, in which M'bami was struggling with an injury. The 2005–06 season saw M'Bami help Paris Saint-Germain to another Coupe de France title, while the club finished 9th in the league. In August 2006, after three years at Paris Saint-Germain, M'Bami was transferred to arch-rivals

, signing a three-year contract, and thus renewing his midfield partnership with Lorik Cana, who had signed for Marseille the season before. M'bami left Marseille after his contract expired in summer 2009 and has since had trials at

English Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

clubs

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

and

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

. After his contract ended with Marseille he moved on 30 September 2009 for a trial with the Spanish club

UD Almería Unión Deportiva Almería, S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional football club based in Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 26 July 1989 and known as ''Almería Club de Fútbol'' until 2001, when it was renamed ''Unión D ...

, later Almería completed the purchase of the midfielder, the Cameroon player signed a contract with the Spanish club. In July 2011, M'bami and

Juanito Juanito is a given name or nickname, meaning "Little Juan" or Johnny. Notable people with the name include: Professional footballers * Juan Ignacio Gomez Taleb (born 1985), Argentinian forward * Juan Díaz Sánchez (1948–2013), Spanish forwa ...

were released by Almería. Then he joined

China League One The Chinese Football Association China League (), also known as China League One or Chinese Jia League (中甲联赛), is the second level of professional football in China. Above League One is the Chinese Super League. Prior to the formation of ...

club

Dalian Aerbin Dalian Professional Football Club () is a professional Chinese football club based in Dalian, Liaoning, that participates in the China Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). Their home stadium is Dalian Sports Ce ...

and was loaned to

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Association Super League, commonly known as Chinese Super League or CSL, currently known as the China Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest tier of professional football in ...

side

Changchun Yatai Changchun Yatai Football Club () is a professional Chinese football club that currently participates in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in Changchun, Jilin and their home stadi ...

immediately. M'bami returned to Dalian Aerbin in 2012. However, he could not play for Dalian Aerbin in the 2012 league season due to the foreign players restricted rule. M'bami transferred to

Saudi Premier League The Saudi Pro League (SPL for short) ( ar, دوري المحترفين السعودي, link=no, ''Dawriyy al-Muḥtarifayni as-Suʿūdī''), known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL for short) for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of associat ...

side

Al-Ittihad Al-Ittihad (Arabic: الاتحاد "The Union"), sometimes transliterated as Al-Etihad or Al-Ettihad may refer to: Sports Football Libya *Al-Ittihad Club (Tripoli), a football club based in Bab Ben Gashier * Al Ittihad Gheryan, a football club bas ...

in July 2012. In 2014 he moved to Colombia joining

Millonarios Millonarios Fútbol Club is a professional Colombian football team based in Bogotá, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at the El Campín stadium. Millonarios was initially created in 1937 by students f ...

, from the capital city

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...

. M'bami was hired to play as a defensive midfielder and signed a contract for the 2014–15 season.

International career

M'bami won the Olympic football games with his country in 2000 in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, also scoring the

golden goal The golden goal or golden point is a rule used in association football, lacrosse, field hockey, and ice hockey to decide the winner of a match (typically a knock-out match) in which scores are equal at the end of normal time. It is a type of sud ...

against

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

during the quarter-finals. He was also in the team when Cameroon reached the finals of the

FIFA Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six continental championships ( AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, ...

in 2003 and was part of the

2004 African Cup of Nations The 2004 African Cup of Nations, known as the NOKIA African Cup of Nations, Tunisia 2004 for sponsorship reasons (also referred to as AFCON 2004 or CAN 2004) is the 24th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's footb ...

team which finished top of its group in the first round of competition, before failing to secure qualification for the semi-finals. M'bami was also in the Cameroon national team that failed to qualify for the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

as it finished second in its qualification group behind the

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

Coaching career

In November 2019 he turned down a coaching job with the Cameroon national team.

Death

On 7 January 2023, Paris Saint-Germain announced that M'bami had died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

, at the age of 40.

Career statistics

:''Scores and results list Cameroon's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each M'bami goal.''

Honours

Paris Saint-Germain *

: 2004, 2006 Ittihad FC *

Kings Cup (Saudi Arabia) The King Cup (sometimes spelled King's), officially known as The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques' Cup ( ar, كأس خادم الحرمين الشريفين), is the Saudi Arabian football knockout cup competition, run by the Saudi Arabian Footba ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

Cameroon *

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

: 2000 *

Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six continental championships (AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, ...

: runner-up 2003

References

External links

*
Career stats

ESPN profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:M'bami, Modeste 1982 births 2023 deaths Footballers from Yaoundé Cameroonian footballers Association football midfielders Cameroon international footballers Cameroon under-20 international footballers Footballers at the 2000 Summer Olympics 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup players Olympic footballers of Cameroon Olympic medalists in football Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Cameroon Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players La Liga players Chinese Super League players Saudi Professional League players Categoría Primera A players CS Sedan Ardennes players Paris Saint-Germain F.C. players Olympique de Marseille players UD Almería players Dalian Professional F.C. players Changchun Yatai F.C. players Ittihad FC players Millonarios F.C. players Cameroonian expatriate footballers Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate footballers in France Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate footballers in Spain Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in China Expatriate footballers in China Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Expatriate footballers in Saudi Arabia Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Colombia Expatriate footballers in Colombia