Aboubacar Sidiki "Titi" Camara
Date of birth - 17 November 1972 (age 48)
Place of birth - Conakry, Guinea
Height - 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) - Striker
[right attacking centre forward, left right winger midfielder] - Guinea.
Aboubacar Sidiki "Titi" Camara (born 17 November 1972) is a Guinean former professional footballer
who played as a striker. He was also the coach of the Guinean national team, which he captained and played for. He was also the Guinea sports minister, before being replaced in October 2012. He is best known for his stint with Liverpool in the 1999–2000 season, where he scored 9 goals in 33 games, memorably scoring the winner in a game against Arsenal at Highbury.
Titi Camara can hardly be called a failure at Anfield. Although Titi was only at Liverpool for 18 months he was a popular player with the supporters and lit up Anfield on occasion with his sublime skills. His scoring debut for Liverpool against Sheffield Wednesday was a sign of extraordinary things to come but the Liverpool Echo noted astutely: "The theory remains that Camara, for all his instant love affair with the supporters, will prove a better substitute in the long run; able to change the course of games in that role rather than from the start." Titi started 24 and made 13 substitute appearances during the 1999/2000 season and scored ten goals all of which but one came when he was in the starting line-up. His best goal was possibly his second, a brilliant curling shot at Elland Road, or maybe the 'screamer' against Coventry at the Kop end on the day the club celebrated the fortieth anniversary of Bill Shankly's arrival at Anfield. Titi's most emotional moment in a Liverpool shirt came one evening late in October 1999 when he slumped to his knees at Anny Road after scoring what turned out to be the winning goal against West Ham, having been told only hours earlier that his father had died. To play at all under such circumstances, never mind score the winning goal, was testament to his courage and his determination impressed Houllier: "He lost his dad during the day but he told me, 'I want to play for my father.' He was crying after he scored because it was such an emotional day." Titi's time at Liverpool was though effectively over after only one season when he fell dramatically out of favour with Houllier. Two months later after having not featured at all in the season the Guinean moved to West Ham. For many Liverpool supporters though, despite his short stay at club Titi retains something of a 'cult hero' status reflected in him being voted in 91st position in the 2006 poll "100 Players Who Shook The Kop" which was conducted by the official Liverpool FC website.
Unfortunately Titi's move to Harry Redknapp's Hammers not revive his career despite his best intentions: "I've come to West Ham to play, play, play - and score, score, score," Titi declared. "If it was a question of money, I could have stayed at Liverpool and picked it up. I need to play, and if I don't it is totally pointless." He remained at Upton Park for two and a half years but only played in 14 matches and failed to score in any of them. By now past his thirty-first birthday, he went on a four-month loan in Saudi Arabia in January 2003 where he enjoyed life's riches. He scored a hat-trick in his second game and was rewarded by three luxury cars and lived in the presidential suite at the Jeddah Meridien Hotel and had servants, drivers and security staff on call 24 hours a day. Titi was ecstatic as he told the Sunday Mirror: "It was a fantastic opportunity for me to play football but I never imagined it would prove so lucrative," he admitted. "Some of my West Ham teammates have had a few laughs at my expense but I'm living like a king out here. They keep going on about camels and sand but the only camel I've seen is the 5-litre variety. They would be pig-sick if they could see me out here. Every time I feel sorry for myself I just take a look at my standard of living and count my money. I'm playing football and I'm loaded." Next stop was Qatar and Titi finally went back to France where he had started his professional career, with Amiens. In June 2009 Titi took over as manager of Guinea's national team, a post which he held for four months. At the end of 2010 Titi was appointed Guinea's Sports Minister and remained in office until October 2012 when he was forced out in a government reshuffle. In 2015 he was running a football academy in his home country.
Curtesy The Caffe Fashion Blog Global "&" Universal.
Comentários