Modeste M'bami

Modeste M'bami (9 October 1982 – 7 January 2023) was a Cameroonian professional footballer who played as a midfielder. M'bami played for clubs in France, Saudi Arabia, and Cameroon, most notably Paris Saint-Germain and Marseille, both of which in Ligue 1.

Modeste M'bami
M'bami playing for Marseille
Personal information
Date of birth (1982-10-09)9 October 1982
Place of birth Yaoundé, Cameroon
Date of death 7 January 2023(2023-01-07) (aged 40)
Place of death Le Havre, France
Height 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)[1]
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
1999–2000 Dynamo Douala
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2000–2003 Sedan 68 (0)
2003–2006 Paris Saint-Germain 83 (1)
2006–2009 Marseille 77 (1)
2009–2011 Almería 58 (1)
2011–2012 Dalian Aerbin 0 (0)
2011 → Changchun Yatai (loan) 15 (3)
2012–2013 Al-Ittihad 20 (0)
2014 Millonarios 14 (0)
2014–2016 Le Havre[2] 8 (0)
Total 343 (6)
International career
2000–2009 Cameroon[3] 37 (3)
Medal record
Representing  Cameroon
Men's Football
Gold medal – first place 2000 Sydney Team Competition
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

Born in Yaoundé, 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 and M'Bami decided to sign a five-year contract with Paris Saint-Germain 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. 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 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 Marseille, 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 clubs Portsmouth, Bolton Wanderers, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Wigan Athletic.[4] After his contract ended with Marseille he moved on 30 September 2009 for a trial with the Spanish club UD Almería, 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 were released by Almería. Then he joined China League One club Dalian Aerbin and was loaned to Chinese Super League side Changchun Yatai 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 side Al-Ittihad in July 2012.

In 2014 he moved to Colombia joining Millonarios, from the capital city Bogotá. 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, also scoring the golden goal against Brazil during the quarter-finals. He was also in the team when Cameroon reached the finals of the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2003 and was part of the 2004 African Cup of Nations 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 as it finished second in its qualification group behind the Ivory Coast.

Coaching career

In November 2019 he turned down a coaching job with the Cameroon national team.[5]

Death

On 7 January 2023, Paris Saint-Germain announced that M'bami had died of a heart attack, at the age of 40.[6][7]

Career statistics
Scores and results list Cameroon's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each M'bami goal.
List of international goals scored by Modeste M'bami[8]
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
117 May 2002Parken Stadium, Copenhagen, Denmark Denmark1–2Friendly
229 January 2004Stade Taïeb El Mhiri, Sfax, Tunisia Zimbabwe5–32004 African Cup of Nations
3

Honours

Paris Saint-Germain

Ittihad FC

Cameroon

References
  1. "M'Bami, Modeste M'Bami - Footballer". www.bdfutbol.com. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
  2. Modeste M'bami – French league stats at LFP – also available in French (archived)
  3. "M'Bami, Modeste". nationalfootballteams.com. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  4. "Football News - all the latest breaking football stories - Mirror Online". www.mirror.co.uk.
  5. "Modeste M'Bami: Ex-midfielder turns down Cameroon team manager role". BBC Sport. 24 November 2019.
  6. Modeste M'Bami, former Cameroon and PSG star, dies at 40 after heart attack. 7 January 2023. Retrieved 7 January 2023. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  7. "Modeste Mbami passes away". Paris Saint-Germain F.C. 7 January 2023. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  8. "Cameroon - Details of International Matches 2000-2009". RSSSF.
  9. "Résultat et résumé Paris-SG - Châteauroux, Coupe de France, Finale, Samedi 29 Mai 2004". lequipe.fr. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
  10. "Marseille 1-2 Paris SG". leballonrond.fr. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
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