Salif Keïta (Malian footballer)

Salif Keïta Traoré (6 December 1946[1] – 2 September 2023), known as Keita, was a Malian footballer who played as a striker. He was also the first person to receive the African Footballer of the Year award in 1970. He was nicknamed the 'Black Panther'.[2]

For the Malian musician, see Salif Keita. For the Senegalese footballer, see Salif Keita (Senegalese footballer).

Salif Keïta
Keita with Saint-Étienne in 1968
Personal information
Full name Salif Keita Traoré
Date of birth (1946-12-06)6 December 1946
Place of birth Bamako, French Sudan
Date of death 2 September 2023(2023-09-02) (aged 76)
Place of death Bamako, Mali
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9+1⁄2 in)
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
1960–1963 Stade Malien
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1963–1965 Real Bamako 21 (8)
1965–1966 Stade Malien 24 (12)
1966–1967 Real Bamako 26 (15)
1967–1972 Saint-Étienne 149 (125)
1972–1973 Marseille 18 (10)
1973–1976 Valencia 74 (23)
1976–1979 Sporting CP 63 (32)
1979–1980 New England Tea Men 39 (17)
Total 414 (242)
International career
1963–1972 Mali 28 (13)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

Salif Keïta Traoré was born in Bamako, playing in his country for AS Real Bamako and Stade Malien. With the former, which he represented in two different spells, he was always crowned Première Division champion.

In 1967, 20-year-old Keita left for France to join AS Saint-Étienne, where he won three consecutive Ligue 1 titles, including the double in 1968 and 1970. In his last two seasons with Les Verts combined, he scored an astonishing 71 league goals – 42 alone in the 1970–71 campaign – but the team failed to win any silverware; in 1970, he was voted African Footballer of the Year.[3]

Keita joined fellow league side Olympique de Marseille in the 1972 summer. After the club tried to force him to assume French nationality he opposed, leaving in the ensuing off-season for Valencia CF in Spain.

Spanish newspapers were accused of racism when one headline read El Valencia va a por alemanes y vuelve con un negro ("Valencia goes out to buy Germans and comes back with a black man"), but he was always loved during his spell at the club, netting in his debut with the Che, a 2–1 La Liga home win against Real Oviedo,[4] and being eventually nicknamed La perla negra de Malí (The black pearl of Mali); he complained, however, that he was constantly played out of position.[5]

In 1976, after three years with Valencia, Keita signed for Sporting Clube de Portugal, where he replaced another legendary goalscorer, Héctor Yazalde. In two of his three seasons with the Lisbon side he scored in double digits, winning one domestic cup. He retired at the age of 34, after a couple of years with the New England Tea Men in the United States.

International career

In 1963, at the age of only 16, Keita was selected to play for Mali. He was part of the squad that appeared at the 1972 African Cup of Nations in Cameroon, helping the national team finish second.

In June 2005, Keita was elected president of the Malian Football Federation for a period of four years.[6] Late into the following year, he was selected by the Confederation of African Football as one of the best 200 African football players of the last 50 years.[7]

Personal life

Keita's nephew, Seydou Keita, was also a footballer. He also played some years in France, and later represented, with great team and individual success, FC Barcelona.[8] Mohamed Sissoko, who played namely for Valencia, Liverpool and Juventus FC, was also his nephew; both played similar roles as central midfielders; another nephew, Sidi Yaya Keita, was also a footballer and a midfielder, who played most of his career in France with RC Lens.[9]

Guinean film director Cheik Doukouré used the life of Keita as a starting point for his 1994 work Le Ballon d'or.[10] In 1994, he created the first training center for professional football players in Mali, which bore his name.

From 2007, Keita acted as delegated minister of the Prime Minister of Mali.[11]

Salif Keïta died on 2 September 2023, at the age of 76.[12]

Career statistics

Club
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[13][14][15][16]
Club Season League Cup Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Real Bamako 1963–64
1964–65 218001+322+11
Total 218001+322+11
Stade Malien 1965–66 Malian Première Division 2412005+1429+26
Real Bamako 1966–67 Malian Première Division 26152615
Saint-Étienne 1967–68 Division 1 18121812
1968–69 Division 1 33212[lower-alpha 1]13522
1969–70 Division 1 31214[lower-alpha 1]13522
1970–71 Division 1 38422[lower-alpha 1]04042
1971–72 Division 1 29292[lower-alpha 2]03229
Total 149125102159127
Marseille 1972–73 Division 1 1810001810
Valencia 1973–74 La Liga 307—307
1974–75 La Liga 2211—2211
1975–76 La Liga 225—225
Total 7423—7423
Sporting CP 1976–77 Primeira Divisão 2415—2415
1977–78 Primeira Divisão 2172[lower-alpha 2]0237
1978–79 Primeira Divisão 18102[lower-alpha 3]02010
Total 6332406732
New England Tea Men 1979 NASL 216—216
1980 NASL 1811—1811
Total 3917—3917
Career total 41424220+19434261
  1. Appearances in European Cup
  2. Appearances in UEFA Cup
  3. Appearances in European Cup Winners' Cup

Honours

Real Bamako

Stade Malien

Saint-Étienne

Sporting CP

Mali

Individual

Decorations

References
  1. "Africa". Africana Publishing Corporation. 2 September 1968. Archived from the original on 5 September 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2023 – via Google Books.
  2. "How Mali's 'Black Panther' became a football icon". BBC Sport. 7 September 2023. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  3. "Kanoute wins top African accolade". BBC Sport. 1 February 2008. Archived from the original on 26 October 2018. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
  4. "2–1: Dos geniales goles de Keita dieron el triunfo al Valencia" [2–1: Two wonder goals by Keita gave Valencia win]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 2 September 1973. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
  5. "'La perla negra de Mali' no cuajó en el Valencia" ['The black pearl from Mali' did not make it in Valencia]. Diario AS (in Spanish). 25 September 2006. Archived from the original on 21 January 2008. Retrieved 3 November 2007.
  6. Raphael Ebanga-Mballa La Part Du Lion: L'Encyclopedie de L'Histoire Du Football Du Cameroun – 2009 – Page 177 "Salif Keïta a été élu en juin 2005, président de la Fédération malienne de football (FEMAFOOT) pour un mandat de 4 ans."
  7. Οι 200 κορυφαίοι Αφρικανοί [The 200 Top Africans] (in Greek). Sport 24. 25 October 2006. Archived from the original on 3 July 2018. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
  8. "Seydou Keita se ha forjado un nombre" [Seydou Keita has made a name for himself] (in Spanish). FIFA. 30 November 2007. Archived from the original on 1 December 2007. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
  9. "Keita, un apellido de largo recorrido" [Keita, a long-distance surname]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 25 May 2008. Archived from the original on 26 October 2018. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
  10. Le Ballon d'or Archived 16 August 2015 at the Wayback Machine; at Internet Movie Database
  11. Politique africaine N-104. Partis politiques d'Afrique – Retours 2007 – Page 74 "... du leader étudiant et journaliste Tiébélé Dramé (ministre des Affaires étrangères) ou encore du footballeur Salif Keïta (ministre délégué auprès du Premier ministre). C'est en grande partie la forme consensuelle privilégiée au cours de cette ..."
  12. Pham, Jonathan (2 September 2023). "Salif Keita, Légende De Saint-etienne, Est Mort À 76 Ans". RMC Sport. Archived from the original on 2 September 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  13. "Salif Keïta » Club matches". worldfootball.net. Archived from the original on 7 December 2022. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  14. Salif Keïta at National-Football-Teams.com
  15. "African Club Competitions 1964/65". www.rsssf.org. Archived from the original on 5 July 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  16. "African Club Competitions 1966". www.rsssf.org. Archived from the original on 1 August 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
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