Ismaël Bangoura (born 2 January 1985) is a Guinean former

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. Although his primary position is striker, Bangoura has also played as a winger and

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

Club career

Early career

Bangoura began his career at local side Athlético Coléah, before being spotted by scouts from French amateurs

Gazélec Ajaccio Gazélec Football Club Ajaccio (), commonly referred to as GFC Ajaccio, GFCA, Gazélec Ajaccio or simply Gazélec (), is a French football club from Ajaccio, Corsica. Founded in 1910, Gazélec played one season in Ligue 1 in the 2015–16 seaso ...

. He joined the

Corsica Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...

n side, scoring 15 times in 44 games for his new club, before moving to French

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

side

Le Mans Le Mans (; ) is a Communes of France, city in Northwestern France on the Sarthe (river), Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the Provinces of France, province of Maine (province), Maine, it is now the capital of ...

in 2005. He made his debut on 5 November 2005 against French club

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 ...

, starting his top-flight career with a goal in his sides 3–0 victory. He ended his first season having played 23 times, scoring a six goals. He was the top scorer for Le Mans in the 2006–07 season, with 12 goals in 33 games as well as being the joint second highest scorer in Ligue 1.

Dynamo Kyiv

On 5 July 2007, Bangoura signed a five-year contract with

Dynamo Kyiv The Football Club 'Dynamo Kyiv', also known as Dynamo Kyiv, or simply Dynamo, ( ) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Kyiv. Founded in 1927 as a Kyivan football team of republican branch of the bigger Soviet Dynamo Sports Society ...

. The transfer fee was estimated to be around €5 million. Bangoura quickly became a fan favourite, and established himself as a goal scorer. He was known to celebrate goals with teammate and

Senegalese Demographic features of the population of Senegal include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population. About 42% of Senegal's population i ...

international defender Pape Diakhaté, resembling an African dance. Playing in Kyiv gave Bangoura the chance to showcase his abilities in European competition, with the team playing in the 2007–08 season. The forward made the most of the opportunity, scoring three goals in three games for the Ukrainians, including a 25-yard strike against

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

in his sides 4–2 defeat on 23 October 2007. Bangoura also scored two goals against

Shakhtar Donetsk Football Club Shakhtar Donetsk () is a Ukrainian professional Association football, football club that was based in the city of Donetsk until 2014 when, due to the War in Donbas (2014–2022), War in Donbas, the club was forced to move to Lvi ...

on 11 November 2007, which ended in a 2–1 win. Bangoura scored in the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

second leg in a 3–0 win against

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

, sending Dynamo Kyiv to the semi-finals, where they were knocked out by

after losing 2–3 on aggregate.

Stade Rennais

On 2 July 2009, Bangoura signed with

Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...

on a four-year deal from

for €11 million. Bangoura made his debut on 8 August 2009, scoring with a superb overhead kick in a 3–0 win against

Boulogne Boulogne-sur-Mer (; ; ; or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Hauts-de-France, Northern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Pas-de-Calais. Boul ...

Al Nasr SC

On 2 September 2010, Bangoura signed for Al Nasr SC Dubai on a four-year contract for an estimated fee believed to be €8 million. He scored his first goal on 16 September 2010 in a 3–1 win against Al-Ahli Dubai. During the 2010–11 season, he scored 10 goals from 17 league matches and was admired for his performances by Al Nasr and other Emirati clubs. Early in the 2011–12 season, he decided to move away temporarily from the club for

African Nations Cup The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...

in January 2012, which could see him unavailable for almost two months. Al Nasr accepted his decision, but did not wait for him. Bangoura was replaced by other players Brazilian Careca and Ivorian Amara Diané. Team manager Khalid Obaid explained that it was decided he would be away for too long and this wouldn't be of use to the team.

Nantes

Bangoura joined

FC Nantes Football Club de Nantes, commonly referred to as FC Nantes or simply Nantes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Naunnt''), is a French professional association football, football club based in Nantes in Pays de la Loire. The club was founded on 21 Ap ...

in French

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsorship reasons, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Prof ...

on 31 January 2012 on a two-and-a-half-year contract. Al Nasr SC later sued Bangoura for unilaterally breach of contract. FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber confirmed the claim from the UAE club and ordered Bangoura and Nantes jointly liable to pay €4.5 million as compensation. Bangoura also banned for four months and Nantes was banned from making transfers in two consecutive transfer windows (summer and winter or one season). Both parties appealed to the

Court of Arbitration for Sport The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; , TAS) is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland, and its courts are located in New York City, Sy ...

. Before the FIFA DRC had a conclusion, on 10 September 2012, Bangoura joined

Umm Salal Umm Salal (; also spelled Umm Slal) is a municipalities of Qatar, municipality in the State of Qatar. Historic landmarks such as the Barzan Tower are located in Umm Salal.The municipal headquarters is located in Umm Salal Ali, about 10 km ...

in the Qatar Stars League on a temporary loan deal. He served the ban with the Qatari for about 2 months. Ismael Bangoura 2006

Al-Raed

In January 2016, he signed for

Saudi Professional League The Saudi Pro League (SPL), also known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL) for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Saudi Arabia and the highest level of the Saudi football league system. The SPL is regarded as th ...

club Al-Raed. Bangoura was released by Al-Raed in July 2019.

International career

Bangoura was a member of the

Guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...

squad for the 2006 African Nations Cup as Guinea were eliminated in the quarter-finals after losing 2–3 to

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

. He later represented Guinea at the tournament in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

and

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

. Bangoura turned down a place in Guinea's

2015 Africa Cup of Nations The 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations, Equatorial Guinea 2015 for sponsorship reasons, was the 30th staging of the Africa Cup of Nations, the international men's football championship of Africa. It was org ...

squad to focus on his club career.

Personal life

Bangoura holds both Guinean and French nationalities. In October 2018 he was convicted of fraud by a French court and fined

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

130,000; his house was also seized. In the end of February 2020 Ismaël gave an exclusive interview to the Ukrainian football news agency "FootballHub" with complimentary comments to several Ukrainian players and Dynamo Kyiv in general.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Guinea's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Bangoura goal.''

Honours

Dynamo Kyiv *

Ukrainian Premier League The Ukrainian Premier League ( ) or UPL is a professional association football league in Ukraine and the highest level of the Ukrainian football league system. Originally known as the Vyshcha Liha ( , ) it was formed in 1991 during the 1992 in ...

: 2008/09 * Ukrainian Super Cup: 2007

References

External links

*
Ismael Bangoura's profile, stats & pics
* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bangoura, Ismael 1985 births Living people Footballers from Conakry Guinean men's footballers 21st-century Guinean sportsmen Guinean expatriate men's footballers Guinea men's international footballers Naturalized citizens of France French men's footballers Men's association football forwards 2006 Africa Cup of Nations players 2008 Africa Cup of Nations players 2012 Africa Cup of Nations players Le Mans FC players Stade Rennais FC players FC Dynamo Kyiv players Athlético de Coléah players Al-Nasr SC (Dubai) players FC Nantes players Gazélec Ajaccio players Umm Salal SC players Al Raed FC players Al Batin FC players FC Mulhouse players Al-Taraji Club players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Championnat National 2 players Ukrainian Premier League players UAE Pro League players Qatar Stars League players Saudi Pro League players Saudi Second Division players Guinean expatriate sportspeople in France Guinean expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Guinean expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Guinean expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Expatriate men's footballers in the United Arab Emirates Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Ukraine Expatriate men's footballers in Qatar Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia 21st-century French sportsmen