Souleymane Mamam (born 20 June 1985) is a Togolese 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 le ...

who played as an attacking midfielder or a winger. He played for Royal Antwerp,

K.R.C. Mechelen K.R.C. Mechelen is a football in Belgium, Belgian association football club from Mechelen in the Antwerp (province), Antwerp province. It is a long-time rival of KV Mechelen. The club's best position ever is a second place in the Belgian First Di ...

, and Nejmeh SC. His brother Chérif Touré Mamam was also a footballer.

Club career

Born in Lomé, Togo, Mamam played for local clubs in Lomé before signing for English club

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

in 2003. However, work permit regulations meant that it was not possible for Mamam to play in the United Kingdom and he was sent on loan to play at Royal Antwerp until he was eligible for a Belgian passport. At the end of the 2006–07 season, after four seasons of playing on loan for Antwerp, Manchester United decided not to renew his contract. Having become a free agent, Mamam then signed a new one-year permanent deal with Royal Antwerp in time for the start of the 2007–08 season. He went on trial at

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...

– who declined to sign Mamam in favour of another defender – and Birmingham City, but again failed to secure a deal due to work permit problems. He also went on trial with Toronto FC in the MLS in January 2010, before joining Belgian Third Division A team

until the end of the 2009–10 season. Mamam returned to Manchester United on trial in August 2011, and played in a friendly for the club's reserve team against

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. It is in Morecambe Bay on the Irish Sea. Name The first use of the name was by John Whitaker in his ''History of Manchester'' (1771), w ...

on 1 August; he was substituted in the 53rd minute for Jesse Lingard, who scored the team's second goal in a 2–0 win. He then scored after 11 minutes of the reserves' next game against Llanelli at Parc y Scarlets on 8 August, but was substituted in the 58th minute. He played for Nejmeh SC, after having been released by K.R.C. Mechelen in July 2010.

International career

According to official

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

records, on 6 May 2001, Mamam became the youngest player to ever play a World Cup qualifier when he played for the Togo national team against Zambia at the age of 13 years and 310 days.

records give Mamam's date of birth as 30 June 1987; however, various websites, including the official website of Royal Antwerp, give 20 June 1985, which would mean he was in fact almost 16 when he played his first match for Togo and even older than American Samoan Ben Falaniko, who played his first international match aged 15 years and 217 days.FIFA.com
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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mamam, Souleymane 1985 births Living people Footballers from Lomé Togolese men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Togo men's international footballers Belgian Pro League players Challenger Pro League players Lebanese Premier League players CO Modèle de Lomé players Manchester United F.C. players Royal Antwerp F.C. players K.R.C. Mechelen players Nejmeh SC players Togolese expatriate men's footballers Togolese expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Togolese expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England Togolese expatriate sportspeople in Lebanon Expatriate men's footballers in Lebanon 21st-century Togolese people