Moustapha Salifou

Moustapha Salifou (born 1 June 1983) is a Togolese former professional footballer who plays mostly as a midfielder for German Bayernliga club Türkspor Augsburg. He has represented the Togo national team at the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He spent four years at English Premier League club Aston Villa, the rest of his professional career has been spent at lower levels of the German, French and Swiss league systems.

Moustapha Salifou
Salifou in 2007
Personal information
Full name Moustapha Salifou[1]
Date of birth (1983-06-01) 1 June 1983[2]
Place of birth Lomé, Togo
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[3]
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Türkspor Augsburg
Number 3
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998–2002 AC Merlan
2002–2006 Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 33 (1)
2005–2006 → Brest (loan) 7 (0)
2006–2007 FC Wil 23 (2)
2007–2011 Aston Villa 4 (0)
2011–2012 1. FC Saarbrücken 11 (1)
2014 1860 Rosenheim 12 (1)
2015– Türkspor Augsburg 130 (5)
International career
2000–2013 Togo 66 (7)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 13 November 2022

Club career

Early career

Born in Lomé, Salifou started his career in his native Togo with AC Merlan.[4] The midfielder had fleeting stints with Swiss side FC Wil, French team Stade Brest 29 and German team Rot-Weiß Oberhausen, prior to moving to England.

Aston Villa

On 31 August 2007, Salifou signed a one-year deal with Aston Villa, joining for a nominal fee after a successful trial. Martin O'Neill commented that "He has great determination to succeed at this level and may well prove to be an excellent asset".[5] Salifou encountered problems acquiring a work permit though, and was forced to train with his old club in Switzerland.

It was reported on 25 September 2007 that the work permit had been granted and that Salifou was to join up with the squad within a week,[6] however, he did not join up with his new club until 18 October 2007.[7] Salifou made his debut for Aston Villa Reserves on 22 October 2007 creating two of the goals in a 6–0 win over Chelsea reserves. He made his debut for the first team on 12 January 2008 as a 90th-minute substitute in a 3–1 win against Reading. Despite not having played a game, his name was chanted loudly to the tune of the Boney M. song Daddy Cool by the Holte End. He was later rewarded with a one-year extension to his contract.[8] Salifou made his second appearance for the club on 15 March 2008, coming on as a late substitute in the 2–0 away defeat at Portsmouth, as well as appearing in the 4–0 defeat to Manchester United. On 6 November 2008, Martin O'Neill decided to change his starting eleven for Villa's UEFA Cup match against Slavia Prague. Salifou started and played the full ninety minutes.

Despite rarely featuring for the club at all during the 2009–10 season, Salifou was named in caretaker manager Kevin MacDonald's 22-man Premier League squad for 2010–11.[9] He failed to make an impact during this season too, and underwent a trial at AS Monaco in January 2011.[10] With the arrival of Jean Makoun to Villa in January 2011, Salifou found himself without a squad number for a period after the number 17 shirt was given to Makoun. However, he was later given the number 37. Throughout this time Salifou was praised for his time with the reserves, often passing on his experience to the Villa youngsters. On 27 May, Aston Villa announced that Salifou was one of a number of players who was released by the club after their contracts expired.[11]

Later career

Salifou remained a free agent until November 2011, when he signed a two-year deal with 1. FC Saarbrücken. He took the number 16 shirt on arrival at the German club.[12] He made his début for the team as an 80th-minute substitute for Marcel Ziemer in a 3–1 win over Kickers Offenbach on 26 November 2011. He scored his first goal for Saarbrücken in a 5–2 win over former club Rot-Weiß Oberhausen on 10 December. He was released by Saarbrücken at the end of the season. Despite not being registered to a club, Salifou continued to represent Togo internationally and had been linked with a transfer to former club FC Wil.[13]

On 1 March 2014, Salifou signed for German club Rosenheim of the Regionalliga Bayern, the fourth tier of German football. After making his début against SV Heimstetten, Salifou went on to make 11 appearances for the club in the 2013–14 season including three assists and one goal against TSV 1860 Munich II.

Salifou joined Türkspor Augsburg in 2015, playing in the Landesliga Bayern-Südwest. In early 2016 he was banned for eight matches for shouting at a referee during a match.[14] In August 2021, he announced in an interview, his intention to retire at the end of the 2021–22 season.[15]

International career

Salifou was a member of the Togo national team, and was called up to the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He played in all three of Togo's group games in that World Cup against South Korea, Switzerland and France.[16]

The midfielder earned glowing reports after a positive performance at the 2006 World Cup, which alerted the attention of many French league clubs, and prompted the nickname the 'Togolese Zidane' or 'the great of the figure of eight' from his compatriot Emmanuel Adebayor, due to Salifou's playmaking nature.[17]

On 8 January 2010, the bus containing the Togo squad for the Africa Cup of Nations was subjected to an attack from gunmen; Salifou was on the bus during the attack who was said to be 'shaken but okay' after the incident.[18]

Career statistics

Club
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[19]
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Europe Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 2002–03 2. Bundesliga 1111000—121
2003–04 600000—60
2004–05 1600000—160
Total 331100000341
Brest (loan) 2005–06 Ligue 2 700010—80
FC Wil 2006–07 Swiss Challenge League 1924000—232
2007–08 400000—40
Total 232400000272
Aston Villa 2007–08 Premier League 400000—40
2008–09 0010008090
2009–10 000000—00
2010–11 000000—00
Total 40100080130
1. FC Saarbrücken 2011–12 3. Liga 1110000—111
TSV 1860 Rosenheim 2013–14 Regionalliga 1211000—131
Career total 9057010801065

      International
      Appearances and goals by national team and year
      National teamYearAppsGoals
      Togo 2000 5 1
      2001 6 2
      200230
      2003 3 1
      2004 3 0
      2005 5 1
      200670
      2007 4 0
      2008 5 1
      2009 6 1
      201050
      2011 1 0
      2012 9 0
      201361
      Total668
      Scores and results list Togo's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Salifou goal.
      List of international goals scored by Moustapha Salifou[20]
      No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
      1 23 April 2000 Stade de Kégué, Lomé, Togo  Guinea-Bissau 1-0 3-0 2002 FIFA World cup qualification
      2 23 February 2001 28 March Stadium, Benghazi, Libya  Libya[a] 1-1 3-3
      3 16 December 2001 Stade du 4 Août,Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso  Burkina Faso 1-1 1-2 Friendly
      4 16 November 2002 Stade de Kégué, Lomé, Togo  Equatorial Guinea 2-0 2-0 2006 FIFA World cup qualification
      5 27 March 2005 Stade Modibo Kéïta, Bamako, Mali  Mali 1-1 2-1 2006 FIFA World cup qualification
      6 11 October 2008 Accra Sports Stadium, Accra, Ghana  Swaziland[b] 1-0 6-0 2010 FIFA World cup qualification
      7 6 September 2009 Stade de Kégué, Lomé, Togo  Morocco 1-0 1-1 2010 FIFA World cup qualification
      8 5 June 2013 Estadio de Bata, Bata, Equatorial Guinea  Equatorial Guinea 1-0 1-0 Friendly
      • a Libya's flag at the time of match.
      • b Eswatini's country name at time of match.
        • b Eswatini's flag at time of match.

      References
      1. "Premier League clubs submit squad lists" (PDF). Premier League. 1 February 2011. p. 5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2011.
      2. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2008). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2008–09. Mainstream Publishing. p. 366. ISBN 978-1-84596-324-8.
      3. "Moustapha Salifou: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
      4. "Salifou, Moustapha". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 15 June 2011.
      5. "Aston Villa complete Salifou move". BBC Sport. 31 August 2007. Retrieved 31 August 2007.
      6. "Villa signing Salifou gets permit". BBC Sport. 25 September 2007. Retrieved 25 September 2007.
      7. "Salifou finally arrives at Villa". BBC Sport. 18 October 2007. Retrieved 16 March 2008.
      8. "Salifou Contract Extension". Aston Villa F.C. Archived from the original on 30 June 2012. Retrieved 16 March 2008.
      9. "Villa submit Premier League 2010-11 squad | Latest News". avfc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 26 September 2012. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
      10. "- Monaco : Salifou testé". mercato365.com. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
      11. "Farewell to Reo-Coker and Carew as released list announced". Aston Villa F.C. 27 May 2011. Archived from the original on 27 May 2011. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
      12. "Saarbrücken verpflichtet Moustapha Salifou". liga3-online.de. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
      13. "Fussball Club, Fussball Ostschweiz - FC Wil". fcwil.ch. Archived from the original on 3 July 2013. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
      14. "Türkspors Salifou für acht Spiele gesperrt (German)". Press Reader. Augsburger Allgemeine (Ausgabe Stadt). Retrieved 1 August 2016.
      15. "Einst Aston Villa, jetzt Türkspor Augsburg: Moustapha Salifou spielt Bayernliga". kicker (in German). Retrieved 1 June 2022.
      16. "Villa take Salifou". Ireland On-line. 31 August 2007. Archived from the original on 22 October 2007. Retrieved 31 August 2007.
      17. "Not Zizou- I'm Salifou". Aston Villa F.C. Archived from the original on 18 February 2008. Retrieved 21 February 2008.
      18. "Togo football stars tell of gun attack". BBC Sport. 8 January 2010. Retrieved 9 January 2010.
      19. "Togo - M.Salifou". Soccerway. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
      20. Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Moustapha Salifou (Player)". www.national-football-teams.com. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
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