Moussa Marega

Moussa Marega (born 14 April 1991) is a French-born Malian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Primeira Liga club Porto and the Mali national team.

Moussa Marega
Marega with Porto in 2018
Personal information
Full name Moussa Marega[1]
Date of birth (1991-04-14) 14 April 1991
Place of birth Les Ulis, France
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Forward
Club information
Current team
 Porto
Number 11
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2012 Évry FC 0 (0)
2012–2013 Le Poiré-sur-Vie 31 (5)
2013–2014 Amiens 33 (9)
2014 Espérance de Tunis 0 (0)
2015–2016 Marítimo 29 (12)
2016– Porto 112 (51)
2016–2017 → Vitória de Guimarães (loan) 25 (13)
National team‡
2015– Mali 25 (3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 2 February 2021 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 15 July 2019 (UTC)

He began his career in France, playing no higher than the Championnat National. After one year with Espérance in Tunisia, he moved to Marítimo of the Primeira Liga in 2015. Shortly afterwards, he signed for Porto. After spending 2016–17 on loan at Vitória Guimarães, he became a regular in the Porto side and won two league titles.

Marega made his international debut for Mali in 2015, and was part of their squad at the Africa Cup of Nations in 2017 and 2019.

Club career

Early career

Born in Les Ulis, Essonne, to Malian parents, Marega began his career at Évry FC, before moving to Vendée Poiré-sur-Vie Football of the Championnat National in 2012, and fellow league team Amiens SC a year later. He spent the second half of 2014 in Espérance Sportive de Tunis,[2] but could not make a single appearance due to bureaucratic problems.[3]

He subsequently moved to C.S. Marítimo in Portugal's Primeira Liga in January 2015. In November 2015, he was sent off in a 1–0 loss at Amarante F.C. with two yellow cards and then gestured at the bench; he was suspended from training with the club as a result.[4]

Porto

Both Marega and Marítimo goalkeeper José Sá were on the cusp of a move to Sporting CP in January 2016, but FC Porto signed the pair on contracts lasting to 2020; Marega's buyout clause was set at €40 million.[5] He made 13 appearances in his first campaign at the Estádio do Dragão – mostly as a substitute – and scored once in a 2–0 home win over Gil Vicente F.C. in the Taça da Liga on 2 March.[6] His early poor performances drew vocal criticism from some Porto fans, and he took training from a friend on how to become mentally resilient.[3]

On 20 July 2016, Marega was loaned to Vitória de Guimarães for the upcoming season.[7] He made his debut a month later in a 2–0 win against his former team, Marítimo, scoring the second goal,[8] and on 30 October, he scored all three goals in a 3–0 win against Rio Ave F.C. to reach 10 goals from 8 games.[9] On 4 November, he received a straight red card in the first half-hour of a 2–1 home win over C.D. Nacional for striking Nuno Sequeira, receiving a three-match ban.[10]

Marega against Lokomotiv Moscow in October 2018

On his return to Porto, Marega scored twice in the opening game of the 2017–18 season, a 4–0 home win over Estoril, as a first-half substitute for Tiquinho.[11] He was part of a three-pronged attack made of African players, alongside the Cameroonian Vincent Aboubakar and Yacine Brahimi of Algeria.[12] He scored 14 league goals in 14 starts, and reportedly began to attract the interest of Premier League sides Manchester United and Chelsea in January 2018.[13] Porto won the league for the first time in five years and Marega was their top scorer (third overall behind Jonas and Bas Dost) with 22 goals.[14]

In November 2018, Marega was awarded the Dragão de Ouro (Golden Dragon) as Porto's best player of the calendar year.[15] Having not previously scored in a European match, Marega scored a goal in six consecutive appearances in the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League, ending with one in a 3–1 win over A.S. Roma, that put Porto in the quarter-finals for the first time in four years.[16]

On 16 February 2020, after scoring the winning goal on his return to Vitória, Marega gave the middle finger to the home fans who had been racially abusing him. The insults continued after this incident and in response, he walked out of the game, and was subsequently substituted.[17] His reaction to the abuse was praised by the Portuguese press, with A Bola newspaper giving Marega a perfect 10 rating in its player ratings.[18] He scored in a 2–0 home win over Sporting on 15 July that year, as his team won the title with two games left to play.[19]

International career

Marega made his debut for the Mali national team on 25 March 2015, in a friendly against Gabon in Beauvais, France; he started in the 4–3 defeat. On 4 September 2016, he scored his first international goal in a 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification game against Benin, helping towards a 5–2 win at the Stade du 26 Mars.[20]

In January 2017, he was called up for Mali's squad at the final tournament in Gabon.[21] In the Eagles' opening game against Egypt in Port-Gentil, he was named man of the match in a goalless draw.[22] He also started the other two games of the group stage elimination.

Marega was also called up for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt.[23] He scored in their opening game, a 4–1 win over Mauritania, as they made the last 16.[24]

Career statistics

Club
As of 17 October 2020[25][26]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup League Cup Europe Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Évry 2011–12 Division d'Honneur ——
Le Poiré-sur-Vie B 2012–13 CFA 2 20———20
Le Poiré-sur-Vie 2012–13 Championnat National 31510——325
Amiens 2013–14 Championnat National 33930——369
Espérance de Tunis 2014–15 Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 000000—00
Marítimo 2014–15 Primeira Liga 1472100—168
2015–16 Primeira Liga 1552111—187
Total 29124211—3415
Porto 2015–16 Primeira Liga 90210020131
2017–18 Primeira Liga 29222031604023
2018–19 Primeira Liga 29115242964721
2019–20 Primeira Liga 29124131914515
2020–21 Primeira Liga 4200000042
Total 1004713410426714962
Vitória Guimarães (loan) 2016–17 Primeira Liga 25134120—3114
Career total 21585257135266279105

International
As of 15 July 2019
Mali[27]
YearAppsGoals
201550
201641
201760
201841
201961
Total253

International goals
Scores and results list Mali's goal tally first.[27]
GoalDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.4 September 2016Stade du 26 Mars, Bamako, Mali Benin3–05–22017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
2.9 September 2018Juba Stadium, Juba, South Sudan South Sudan1–03–02019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
3.24 June 2019Suez Stadium, Suez, Egypt Mauritania2–04–12019 Africa Cup of Nations

Honours

Porto

Individual

  • Dragão de Ouro: 2018[15]

    References
    1. "Mali" (PDF). Confederation of African Football. 15 June 2019. p. 14. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
    2. Chachois, Alexandre (20 June 2014). "Amiens : Moussa Marega file en Tunisie" [Amiens: Moussa Marega heads off to Tunisia] (in French). Foot National. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
    3. Nogueira, Carlos (1 May 2018). "O caminho tortuoso de Marega até se tornar herói do dragão" [Marega's torturous path to becoming Dragon hero]. Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). Retrieved 14 March 2019.
    4. "Marítimo suspende Moussa Marega" [Marítimo suspend Moussa Marega]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). 25 November 2015. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
    5. "FC Porto paga cinco milhões e desvia Marega e José Sá de Alvalade" [FC Porto pay five million and lure Marega and José Sá from the Alvalade] (in Portuguese). Diário de Notícias. 26 January 2016. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
    6. "ALL SET FOR JAMOR". FC Porto. 2 March 2016. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
    7. "Marega assina pelo Vitória de Guimarães" [Marega signs for Vitória de Guimarães] (in Portuguese). O Jogo. 20 July 2016. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
    8. "Vitória de Guimarães bate Marítimo no Funchal por 2-0" [Vitória de Guimarães beat Marítimo 2–0 in Funchal] (in Portuguese). SAPO. 20 August 2016. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
    9. "Moussa Marega, l'Aigle qui survole le Portugal" [Moussa Marega, the Eagle who soars over Portugal] (in French). RFI. 31 October 2016. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
    10. "CD MANTÉM CASTIGO DE TRÊS JOGOS A MAREGA" [CD PUNISH MAREGA FOR THREE GAMES] (in Portuguese). Record. 23 November 2016. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
    11. "Marega só precisou de meia hora para bisar frente ao Estoril" [Marega only needed half an hour to score twice against Estoril]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). 9 August 2017. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
    12. Chukwu, Solace (1 November 2017). "The three-headed Dragon: Brahimi, Marega, Aboubakar powering Porto". Goal.com. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
    13. "Who is Moussa Marega? Meet the €40m Porto striker attracting interest from Man Utd and Chelsea". Goal.com. 11 January 2018. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
    14. "A Bola de Prata - 2017/2018". A Bola (in Portuguese). Retrieved 13 October 2018.
    15. "Marega recebe Dragão de Ouro: "Para terminar, não tenho uma barriga grande"" [Marega receives Dragão de Ouro: "To conclude, I don't have a big belly"]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). 21 November 2018. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
    16. "Porto 3-1 Roma: Champions League at a glance". UEFA. 6 March 2019. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
    17. "Porto's Moussa Marega gives Vitoria fans finger after apparent racist abuse". The Guardian. 16 February 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
    18. "Mousa Marega handed perfect 10 rating by A Bola as Porto star hailed for racism stand". The Mirror. 17 February 2020.
    19. "Juventus held by Sassuolo in thriller, Porto win Primeira Liga title". The Guardian. Reuters. 16 July 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
    20. "Marega, Moussa". National Football teams. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
    21. Teye, Prince Narkortu (5 January 2017). "Mali announce final squad for Afcon 2017". Goal.com. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
    22. "Total Man of the Match". CAF. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
    23. Barrie, Mohamed Fajah (1 June 2019). "Africa Cup of Nations: Mali goalkeeper Samassa clarifies absence from squad". BBC Sport. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
    24. "Mali thrash Mauritania, Angola and Tunisia draw, Ivory Coast off to winning start". France 24. 25 June 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
    25. "Marega". ForaDeJogo. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
    26. Moussa Marega at Soccerway. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
    27. "Moussa Marega". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
    28. "Porto break Benfica dominance in Portugal to win first league title since 2013 and have a massive party". Talksport. 7 May 2018. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
    29. "Porto defeat Benfica to win 17th Portuguese Cup". Yahoo!. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
    30. Ribeiro, Patrick (23 December 2020). "FC Porto claim Super Cup joy over rivals Benfica". PortuGOAL. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
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