Zoumana Camara

Zoumana Camara (born 3 April 1979) is a French former professional footballer who played as a centre back.

Zoumana Camara
Camara with Paris Saint-Germain in 2019
Personal information
Date of birth (1979-04-03) 3 April 1979
Place of birth Colombes, France
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position(s) Centre back
Club information
Current team
 Paris Saint-Germain (assistant)
Youth career
Racing Paris
Saint-Étienne
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1996–1998 Saint-Étienne 32 (1)
1998–2000 Inter Milan 0 (0)
1999 → Empoli (loan) 12 (0)
1999–2000 → Bastia (loan) 27 (1)
2000–2001 Marseille 42 (1)
2002–2004 Lens 14 (0)
2003–2004 → Leeds United (loan) 13 (1)
2004–2007 Saint-Étienne 108 (0)
2007–2015 Paris Saint-Germain 153 (4)
Total 401 (8)
National team
2001 France 1 (0)
Teams managed
2015– Paris Saint-Germain (assistant)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

After starting out at Saint-Étienne, he went on to amass Ligue 1 totals of 344 matches and six goals during 15 seasons, representing mainly in the competition Paris Saint-Germain and winning eight major titles with that club. He also had a brief spell in England with Leeds United.

Camara appeared for France at the 2001 Confederations Cup.

Club career

Born in Colombes, Hauts-de-Seine, Camara made his professional debut at only 17, appearing in two Ligue 2 seasons with AS Saint-Étienne. In the summer of 1998 he was purchased by Inter Milan in Italy, but only managed to appear in two Coppa Italia matches with the Nerazzurri, also being loaned twice during his two-year spell: after a five-month stint with Empoli FC (suffering relegation from Serie A), he spent one season back in his country with SC Bastia, helping the Corsicans to a 10th-place finish in Ligue 1.

After one and a half seasons with Olympique de Marseille – one as a starter, the other as backup – Camara joined RC Lens. He spent the 2003–04 season on loan to English club Leeds United, scoring in a 3–2 away win against Middlesbrough on 30 August 2003[1] but eventually being relegated from the Premier League. Two months before leaving the Whites he blasted the organization, claiming he would not have accepted the club's offer had he known about its financial predicament.[2]

Camara returned to Saint-Étienne in the 2004 off-season, only missing six games for Les Verts during three top division seasons combined. In 2007, he signed a four-year contract with Paris Saint-Germain FC, being first-choice in his first three seasons.

On 12 May 2014, aged 35, Camara signed a new one-year deal with PSG.[3] In June of the following year, after having contributed with ten appearances to the conquest of four titles, scoring in a 1–1 league draw at Stade Rennais FC,[4] he retired from football.

Subsequently, Camara worked for Paris Saint-Germain as assistant manager.[5][6]

International career

Camara earned his only cap for France on 1 June 2001, at the 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup, starting in the second group stage game against Australia (0–1 loss), with the national team eventually winning the tournament.

Honours

Club

Paris Saint-Germain

International

France

References
  1. "Viduka grabs late winner". BBC Sport. 30 August 2003. Retrieved 21 August 2009.
  2. "Camara blasts Leeds". BBC Sport. 2 March 2004. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  3. "Zoumana Camara prolonge jusqu'en 2015" [Zoumana Camara extends until 2015] (in French). Paris Saint-Germain F.C. 12 May 2014. Retrieved 12 May 2014.
  4. "Le PSG accroché à Rennes" [PSG halted at Rennes]. L'Équipe (in French). 13 September 2014. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  5. "Zoumana Camara va intégrer le staff du PSG" [Zoumana Camara will be part of PSG's staff]. L'Équipe (in French). 1 June 2015. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  6. "PSG. Zoumana Camara: "Je ne veux pas savoir où ira Zlatan"" [PSG. Zoumana Camara: "I don't want to know where Zlatan will go"]. Le Parisien (in French). 7 June 2016. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
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