Modeste M'bami

Modeste M'bami
	M'bami playing for Marseille
Personal information
Date of birth	9 October 1982 (age 39)
Place of birth	Yaoundé, Cameroon
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Youth career
1999–2000	Dynamo Douala
Senior career*
Years	Team
2000–2003	Sedan
2003–2006	Paris Saint-Germain
2006–2009	Marseille
2009–2011	Almería
2011–2012	Dalian Aerbin
2011	→ Changchun Yatai (loan)
2012–2013	Al-Ittihad
2014	Millonarios
2014–2015	Le Havre
National team
2000–2009	Cameroon
Honours
Representing Cameroon
Men's Football
	* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Modeste M'bami (born 9 October 1982) is a Cameroonian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.

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.

He joined CS Sedan Ardennes during the summer of 2000. Despite his young age, M'bami played ten matches in his first season in the French first division 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 French second division 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 the French first division and won the French Cup. 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 French Cup 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.

He 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.^[3] After his contract ended with French club 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 from 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 F.C., 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 showed his talent on the international scene at a very young age. He 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, who finished top of their group in the first round of competition, before failing to secure qualification for the semi-finals. M'bami was also in the Cameroonian national football team that disappointingly failed to qualify for the 2006 German World Cup as they finished second in their qualification group behind the Côte d'Ivoire.

Coaching career[]

In November 2019 he turned down a coaching job with the Cameroon national team.^[4]

Career statistics[]

International goals[]

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^[5]
#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Competition
1.	17 May 2002	Parken Stadium, Copenhagen, Denmark	Denmark	1–2	Friendly
2.	29 January 2004	Stade Taïeb El Mhiri, Sfax, Tunisia	Zimbabwe	5–3	2004 African Cup of Nations
3.	29 January 2004	Stade Taïeb El Mhiri, Sfax, Tunisia	Zimbabwe	5–3	2004 African Cup of Nations