Soumaïla Coulibaly (born 15 April 1978) is a Malian 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 lea ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

and current head coach of the U-17 team of Mali. While playing for clubs such as

Zamalek Zamalek ( , ''al zamalek'') is a ''qism'' (ward) within the West District (''hayy gharb'') in the Western Area of Cairo, Egypt. It is an affluent district on a man-made island which is geologically a part of the west bank of the Nile River, wit ...

SC Freiburg Sport-Club Freiburg e.V., commonly known as SC Freiburg (), is a Football in Germany, German professional football club, based in the city of Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg. It plays in the Bundesliga, having been promoted as champions ...

, and

Borussia Mönchengladbach Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e.V. Mönchengladbach, better known as Borussia Mönchengladbach () and colloquially known as just Gladbach, is a professional Association football, football club based in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-W ...

at club level, he scored six goals and made 67 appearances for the Mali national team from 1995 to 2009.

Career

Coulibaly was born in

Bamako Bamako is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mali, with a 2022 population of 4,227,569. It is located on the Niger River, near the rapids that divide the upper and middle Niger valleys in the southwestern part of the country. Bamak ...

, Mali.

Playing career

On 8 July 2009, he signed a one-year contract for

FSV Frankfurt Fußballsportverein Frankfurt 1899 e.V., commonly known as simply FSV Frankfurt and known as simply Frankfurt, is a German association football club based in the Bornheim district of Frankfurt am Main, Hessen and founded in 1899. FSV Frankfurt ...

after being released by

. On 23 February 2010, he was released by FSV Frankfurt after playing only nine matches for the club. On 8 May 2011, Coulibaly signed on a free transfer to play for

Chinese League One The Chinese Football League 1 (), also known as China League One or Chinese Jia League (), is the second level of professional football in China, under the Chinese Super League. The league is under the auspices of the Chinese Football Association ...

team

Yanbian FC Yanbian Funde F.C. () was a Chinese football club. The team was based in Yanji, Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, Jilin province where their home stadium is the Yanji Stadium that has a seating capacity of 30,000. The club's predecessor was ...

. He ended his active playing career in 2013.

Coaching career

In April 2023, Coulibaly took over as head coach of the Malian U-17 team.

Personal life

Coulibaly is the brother of Boubacar Coulibaly and played with him for a long time at

Honours

Djoliba AC *

Malian Première Division Malian Première Division ( French: ''Première division malienne'') is the top division of football in Mali. Having been created in 1966, it is governed by the Malian Football Federation. The league has been professional since 2004. The official ...

: 1995–96, 1996–97 Zamalek *

Egypt Cup The Egypt Cup (also known as the Egyptian FA Cup and formerly as the King Farouk Cup) is the main knockout football cup competition in Egypt. It is the oldest club competition in Africa. The first team to win the trophy was Zamalek in 1922. Al A ...

: 1998–99 SC Freiburg * 2. Bundesliga: 2002–03 Borussia Mönchengladbach * 2. Bundesliga: 2007–08

References

External links

* * * 1978 births Living people Footballers from Bamako Malian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Mali men's international footballers 2002 African Cup of Nations players 2004 African Cup of Nations players Malian Première Division players Egyptian Premier League players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players China League One players Djoliba AC players Zamalek SC players SC Freiburg players Borussia Mönchengladbach players FSV Frankfurt players Yanbian Funde F.C. players Malian expatriate men's footballers Malian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Malian expatriate sportspeople in Egypt Expatriate men's footballers in Egypt Malian expatriate sportspeople in China Expatriate men's footballers in China 21st-century Malian people {{Mali-footy-bio-stub