Abdoul Camara

Abdoul Razzagui Camara (born 20 February 1990) is a Guinean former professional footballer who as a striker, but was also often utilized as a left-winger.

Abdoul Camara
Abdoul Camara
Personal information
Full name Abdoul Razzagui Camara[1]
Date of birth (1990-02-20) 20 February 1990
Place of birth Mamou, Guinea
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Striker, winger
Youth career
1999–2004 OS Fives
2004–2008 Rennes
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008–2011 Rennes 54 (0)
2009–2010 → Vannes (loan) 37 (4)
2010–2011 Rennes B 8 (3)
2011–2014 Sochaux 47 (1)
2011–2014 Sochaux B 8 (3)
2013 → PAOK (loan) 13 (2)
2014 → Mallorca (loan) 6 (0)
2014–2016 Angers 44 (8)
2016–2017 Derby County 20 (0)
2017–2018 Guingamp 14 (2)
Total 251 (23)
National team
2006–2007 France U17 5 (0)
2007–2008 France U18 3 (0)
2011 France U21 1 (1)
2012–2015 Guinea 10 (4)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Football career

Early career

Camara was born in Mamou in Guinea,[2] but he moved to France at a young age. In 1999, he joined local club OS Fives, located in the commune Fives, a suburb in the city of Lille.[2] In June 2004, he joined the prestigious youth academy of Stade Rennais.[2]

Rennes

While playing in the youth system, Camara was a part of a slew of talented youngsters. Among his teammates were Yann M'Vila, Yacine Brahimi, Samuel Souprayen, Maxime Le Marchand and Damien Le Tallec.[2] The team effectively lived up to their reputation by winning the under-18 championship in the 2006–07 season and the Coupe Gambardella in 2008.[2] On 15 August 2007, Camara, alongside M'Vila and Le Tallec, signed his first professional contract, agreeing to a three-year deal.[3]

His play during the 2007–08 season was limited playing mainly with the club's Championnat de France amateur team and the under-18 squad. He was subsequently promoted to the senior team for the 2008–09 season. However, he wasn't assigned a number, and again, played on the club's CFA team. He appeared in 30 matches, scoring 4 goals and helping the side finish 1st among professional clubs in their group, thus qualifying for the playoffs, where they lost to Lyon in the semi-finals.[2][4] He made his professional début for Rennes on the final matchday of the 2008–09 season appearing as a substitute in the club's 4–0 defeat to Marseille.[2][5]

On 3 August 2009, Rennes agreed to send Camara on loan to Ligue 2 club Vannes OC for the entire season.[2][6] He was given the first-team number 9 shirt and made his début in the club's opening league match against Metz, appearing as a substitute in a match that Vannes won 3–0.[7] He played 37 league matches, scoring 4 goals.[2]

Camara returned to Rennes for the 2010–11 season but only played intermittently, also playing 8 matches for the B team, scoring 3 goals.[2]

Sochaux

Camara was sold to Sochaux-Montbéliard for £1.5m in the summer of 2011.[2] He played 21 matches in his first season and another 15 in the first half of the 2012–13 season before being loaned out to Greek side PAOK in January 2013 for the rest of the season.[2] He played 13 Greek Super League matches, scoring twice.[2] Camara spent the first half of the 2013–14 season at Sochaux-Montbéliard before being loaned out again, this time on 31 January 2014 to La Liga team Mallorca.[2]

Angers

On 1 July 2014, after the expiry of his contract with Sochaux, Camara signed a three-year contract with Angers SCO.[8] Camara played 27 league matches in his first season, scoring 6 goals.[2] In the 2015–16 season, he impressed in manager Stephane Moulin's 4–3–3 formation, scoring twice in 17 matches and helping Angers to third in the table at the time of his departure from the club.[2]

Derby County

On 4 January 2016, Camara joined Championship side Derby County on a three-and-a-half year deal for an undisclosed fee,[9] believed to be £1.25 million.[10] Camara made his debut for Derby on 9 January against Hartlepool United in the FA Cup. He scored his first goal for the club in an FA Cup tie against Leicester City on 8 February 2017.[11]

Retirement

He retired on health grounds in September 2018.[12]

International career

Though born in Guinea, Camara is a naturalized citizen of France having spent five years residency in the country. He played for the under-17, under-18 and under-21 teams.[13] He was a part of the under-17 squad that reached the quarter-finals of the 2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup.

On 24 January 2012 Camara made his senior international début for the Guinea national team at the 2012 African Cup of Nations, coming on as a substitute for Alhassane Bangoura in a 1–0 loss against Mali. He scored twice in three matches during the group stage of the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations: the third in a 6–1 win over Botswana on 28 January and the equaliser in a 1–1 draw with Ghana on 1 February.[2] He played with the national team in 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, where the team reached the quarter-finals.[14]

Style of play

Camara usually plays as a striker, but can also play as a left-winger.[13] He describes himself as "a quick player. I like dribbling and to make a difference to the team but I also like to defend."[13] In the 2015–16 season he was recognised as the quickest player in French football.[10]

Career statistics
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[15]
Club Season League Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Rennes 2008–09 Ligue 1 280000000280
2010–11 240211000271
2011–12 2000002040
Total 540211020591
Vannes (loan) 2009–10 Ligue 2 374212100416
Rennes B 2010–11 CFA 8300000083
Sochaux 2011–12 Ligue 1 211001100222
2012–13 150202000190
2013–14 110120000122
Total 471323100524
Sochaux B 2011–12 CFA 6200000062
2013–14 2100000021
Total 8300000083
PAOK (loan) 2012–13 Greek Superleague 132300000162
Mallorca (loan) 2013–14 Segunda División 6000000060
Angers 2014–15 Ligue 2 276102000306
2015–16 Ligue 1 172000000172
Total 448102000478
Derby County 2015–16 Championship 5020000070
2016–17 150311000191
Total 200511000261
Guingamp 2017–18 Ligue 1 142001000152
Career total 25123165922027830

Honours

Rennes

References
  1. "Retained List 2015-16" (PDF). English Football League. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 December 2016. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
  2. "Abdoul Camara". Derby County F.C. 4 January 2016. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
  3. "Premier contrat pro pour Le Tallec, M'Vila et Camara". Stade Rennais Online (in French). Retrieved 22 March 2018.
  4. Réserves, demi-finale : Lyon élimine Rennes aux tirs au but
  5. Marseille v. Rennes Match Report
  6. "Accueil - Guineefoot.info". Guineefoot.info (in French). Retrieved 22 March 2018.
  7. Vannes v. Metz Match Report Archived 17 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  8. "Camara, nouveau renfort offensif !" (in French). angers-sco.fr. 1 July 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
  9. "Derby County Sign Guinea International Forward Abdoul Camara". Derby County F.C. 4 January 2016. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
  10. "Derby County: Rams complete £1.25m signing of Guinea international forward Abdoul Camara". Derby Telegraph. 4 January 2016. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
  11. "Leicester 3-1 Derby". BBC. 8 February 2017. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
  12. Okeleji, Oluwashina (6 September 2018). "Guinea's Abdoul Camara quits football due to health concerns". BBC Sport. Retrieved 12 September 2018.
  13. "Abdoul Camara: Derby County sign Guinea international". BBC Sport. 4 January 2016. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
  14. https://int.soccerway.com/matches/2015/02/01/africa/africa-cup-of-nations/ ghana / guinea / 1994425 /
  15. Abdoul Razzagui Camara at Soccerway
  16. "Gambardella : Rennes surclasse Bordeaux en finale ! (3-0)". www.stade-rennais-online.com (in French). 25 May 2008. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
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