Mohamed Tchité

Mohamed Gasana Tchité (born 31 January 1984) is a Burundian–Belgian former professional footballer who played as a striker. He spent most of his professional career in Belgium, with Standard Liége, Anderlecht, Club Brugge, Sint-Truiden and White Star Bruxelles, and in Spain with Racing de Santander.

Mohamed Tchité
Tchité after a game with Racing in 2009
Personal information
Full name Mohamed Gasana Tchité
Date of birth (1984-01-31) 31 January 1984
Place of birth Bujumbura, Burundi
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
1996–2001 AS Rangers
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2001–2002 Prince Louis
2002–2003 Mukura Victory
2003–2006 Standard Liège 58 (21)
2006–2007 Anderlecht 33 (21)
2007–2010 Racing Santander 88 (24)
2010–2012 Standard Liège 52 (23)
2012–2014 Club Brugge 25 (5)
2015 Petrolul Ploiești 11 (0)
2015–2016 Sint-Truiden 12 (1)
2016–2017 White Star Bruxelles 17 (2)
International career
2001 Burundi U20
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

Tchité was born and brought up in Bujumbura, the largest city and capital of Burundi, but his parents hailed from neighbouring Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He started his footballing career with local AS Rangers FC – later named Dragon Super Rangers FC Nyakabiga. He joined Prince Louis FC in 2001, winning the Burundi Premier League and the Revelation Footballer of the Year award, and also being the finalist in the Kagame Inter-Club Cup; in 2002 he left for Mukura Victory Sports in Rwanda, where he would be noticed by scouts from Belgium's Standard Liège.

In 2003, Tchité arrived in Liège, where he became a regular member of the first team, scoring 21 goals in 58 matches during his three years with the club. In 2005–06 season, he netted 16 times in the Belgian First Division A to help his team finish as runners-up to Anderlecht, and that tally put him second in the goalscoring list behind only Tosin Dosunmu of Germinal Beerschot; at the end of the following campaign, he was named Belgium's Professional Footballer of the Year,[1][2] also being the recipient of the Belgian Ebony Shoe.

On 31 August 2007, the last day of the summer transfer period, Racing de Santander announced the signing of Tchité in order to replace Valencia CF-bound Nikola Žigić.[3] In the 11 November match against Deportivo de La Coruña, he scored the only goal in a 1–0 road win,[4] repeating the feat on 24 February 2008, against Almeria (home fixture);[5] he netted four times in his first twenty La Liga matches, finishing the season at seven, squad best.[6]

On 1 November 2008, Tchité scored a hat-trick against Valencia at the Mestalla Stadium, in a 4–2 win that signified the Che side's first defeat in 2008–09.[7] He appeared significantly less in his second year, but managed to score the same number of goals, adding one in the UEFA Cup, the 1–1 home draw against Schalke 04.[8]

Tchité struggled initially in the 2009–10 season, even though he started most of the games. However, in two consecutive matches in April 2010, he netted braces for Racing at home against Espanyol (3–1)[9] and at Xerez (2–2) –[10] three penalties; on 16 May, he added two in a 2–0 home win over Sporting de Gijón,[11] taking his league tally to 11 as the Cantabrians certified their permanence in the top flight for a further year.[12]

In the last hours of the 2010 August transfer window, Tchité returned to former club Standard Liège, on a three-year contract.[13] In July 2012 he changed teams again, signing with Club Brugge for an estimated fee of €1.5 million and becoming the first player to wear the jerseys of Standard, Anderlecht and Brugge. Less than six months after his arrival, Georges Leekens was sacked and he did not seem to enter the plans of the new coach Juan Carlos Garrido, who was himself fired in September 2013, making way for Michel Preud'homme who also did not feature the player regularly, and the latter eventually became a free agent.

In February 2015, ex-Standard manager Mircea Rednic convinced 31-year-old Tchité to sign for Petrolul Ploiești until the end of the season.[14] He made his debut on 5 March in the first leg of the Cupa României semi-final against Steaua București, scoring his team's goal in a 1–1 home draw.[15]

International career

Despite his African roots, Tchité announced his desire to play for Belgium once he obtained his citizenship having played for Standard Liège for over two years. He officially became a Belgian citizen on 11 July 2008.[16]

National team coach René Vandereycken called up Tchité for the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign, but FIFA intervened and ruled the player ineligible because he had previously represented Burundi at senior level in the CECAFA Cup in 2000, also having appeared for the nation at under-20 level and having changed international allegiances to Rwanda when he moved to Mukura Victory Sports in 2002, even though he never played for the Rwandan national side,[17] which meant he remained eligible for the latter according to the main governing body's regulations.

Honours

Prince Louis

Standard Liège

Anderlecht

Individual

References
  1. Tchité takes Belgian acclaim; UEFA, 21 May 2007
  2. "Nieuwe "Profvoetballer van het Jaar" krijgt plaatsje in galerij der groten" [New "Pro footballer of the year" gets a place in gallery of the greats] (in Dutch). Het Nieuwsblad. 15 May 2017. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  3. Racing complete spree with Tchité; UEFA, 1 September 2007
  4. Deportivo La Coruña 0–1 Racing Santander; ESPN Soccernet, 11 November 2007
  5. Racing Santander 1–0 Almeria; ESPN Soccernet, 24 February 2008
  6. "El ojo cibernético" [The cibernetic eye] (in Spanish). El Periódico de Aragón. 31 May 2008. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  7. Valencia 2–4 Racing Santander; ESPN Soccernet, 1 November 2008
  8. "Engelaar puts the brakes on Racing". UEFA. 7 November 2008. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
  9. Racing Santander 3–1 Espanyol; ESPN Soccernet, 14 April 2010
  10. All-square in Xerez; ESPN Soccernet, 18 April 2010
  11. Tchite brace saves Racing; ESPN Soccernet, 16 May 2010
  12. "Portugal sí cree en Tchité" [Portugal does believe in Tchité] (in Spanish). Diario AS. 9 June 2010. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  13. Standard Liege complete Mohammed Tchite swoop; Inside Futbol, 1 September 2010
  14. "Petrolul l-a achiziționat pe Mohamed Tchité" [Petrolul signed Mohamed Tchité] (in Romanian). Petrolul Ploiești. 25 February 2015. Archived from the original on 3 March 2015. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
  15. "Tchite, debut cu gol la Petrolul: "Steaua e favorită acum, dar am avut două penalty-uri neacordate". Povestea spectaculoasă a jucătorului de 14,5 milioane de euro" [Tchité, goal in debut for Petrolul: "Steaua is the favourite now, but we should have had two penalties." The spectacular story of the 14.5 million euro player] (in Romanian). ProSport. 5 March 2015. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
  16. Le diable rouge, Mémé Tchité (The red devil, Mémé Tchité); Burundi Transparence, 2 September 2009 (in French)
  17. Meme runs out of options; The New Times, 25 September 2008
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