Zoumana Camara
Encyclopedia
Zoumana Camara is a French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 footballer who plays for Paris Saint-Germain F.C. as a central defender.

Club career

Camara made his professional debuts at only 17, appearing in two Ligue 2
Ligue 2
Ligue 2 , formerly known as Division 2, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Professionnel , the other being Ligue 1, the country's top football division...

 seasons with AS Saint-Étienne
AS Saint-Étienne
Association Sportive de Saint-Étienne Loire is a French association football club based in Saint-Étienne. The club was founded in 1919 and currently play in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. Saint-Étienne plays its home matches at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard located within the city...

. In the 1998 summer, he was purchased by F.C. Internazionale Milano
F.C. Internazionale Milano
Football Club Internazionale Milano, often referred to as Internazionale or simply Inter, is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Italy. Outside Italy, the club is often called Inter Milan. They are the reigning FIFA Club World champions and Coppa Italia holders.Inter have always...

 in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, but only managed to appear in two Coppa Italia
Coppa Italia
The Coppa Italia is an Italian football annual cup competition. Its first edition was held in 1922, but the second champions were not crowned until 1936. Roma and Juventus lead the way with nine wins. Roma has contested more finals, 16, while Torino and Juventus follow with 13...

 matches with the Nerazzurri, also being loaned twice during his two-year spell: after a five-month stint with Empoli FC
Empoli F.C.
Empoli Football Club is an Italian association football club located in Empoli, Tuscany, founded in 1920 and played its first official match in 1921.In recent years, the club has all too often been bouncing between Italy's two top divisions...

 (suffering relegation from Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...

), he spent one season back in his country with SC Bastia
SC Bastia
Sporting Club de Bastia is a French association football club based in Bastia on the island of Corsica. The club currently plays in the Championnat National, the third division of French football. Bastia previously had stints in both Ligue 1 and Ligue 2...

, helping the Corsica
Corsica
Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....

ns to a 10th-place finish in the top flight.

After one 1/2 seasons with Olympique de Marseille
Olympique de Marseille
Olympique de Marseille is a French association football club based in Marseille. Founded in 1899, the club plays in Ligue 1 and have spent most of its history in the top tier of French football. Marseille have been French champions nine times and have won the Coupe de France a record ten times. In...

 - one as a starter, the other as backup - Camara joined RC Lens
RC Lens
Racing Club de Lens is a French association football club based in the northern city of Lens in the Pas-de-Calais department. Its nickname, sang et or , comes from its traditional colours of red and gold. Their primary rivals are their northern neighbors Lille OSC, whom they contest the Derby du...

. He spent the 2003–04 season on loan to English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 club Leeds United
Leeds United A.F.C.
Leeds United Association Football Club are an English professional association football club based in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, who play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system...

, scoring in a 3–2 away win against Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough F.C.
Middlesbrough Football Club , also known as Boro, are an English football club based in Middlesbrough, who play in the Football League Championship. Formed in 1876, they have played at the Riverside Stadium since August 1995, their third ground since turning professional in 1889...

 on 30 August 2003, 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.

Camara returned to Saint-Étienne in the 2004 off-season, only missing six games for Les Verts during three top division seasons combined.
Aged 28, over ten years after leaving his home town, he came back to Paris: He signed a four-year contract with Paris Saint-Germain FC, being a regular for the duration of his stint.

International career

Camara gained his only cap
Cap (sport)
In sports, a cap is a metaphorical term for a player's appearance on a select team, such as a national team. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of association football...

 for France
France national football team
The France national football team represents the nation of France in international football. It is fielded by the French Football Federation , the governing body of football in France, and competes as a member of UEFA, which encompasses the countries of Europe...

 on 1 June 2001, at the 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup
2001 FIFA Confederations Cup
-Group B:---------------------Knockout stage:-Semi-finals:-----Third place play-off:-Final:-Awards:-Top scorers:2 goals Shaun Murphy Éric Carrière Robert Pirès Patrick Vieira Sylvain Wiltord Takayuki Suzuki Hwang Sun-Hong...

, starting in the second group stage game against Australia (0–1 loss), with the national team eventually winning the tournament.

Club

  • French Cup
    Coupe de France
    The Coupe Charles Simon, commonly known as the Coupe de France , is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation...

    : 2009–10
    2009–10 Coupe de France
    The 2009–10 Coupe de France was the 93rd season of the most prestigious French cup competition, organized by the French Football Federation, and was open to all clubs in French football, as well as clubs from the overseas departments and territories...

    ; Runner-up 2007–08, 2010–11
    2010–11 Coupe de France
    The 2010–11 Coupe de France was the 94th season of France's most prestigious cup competition. The competition was organized by the French Football Federation and was open to all clubs in French football, as well as clubs from the overseas departments and territories...

  • French League Cup
    Coupe de la Ligue
    The Coupe de la Ligue , known outside of France as the French League Cup, is a knockout cup competition in French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel...

    : 2007–08
  • French Supercup
    Trophée des champions
    The Trophée des champions , is a French association football trophy contested in an annual match between the champions of Ligue 1 and the winners of the Coupe de France. It is equivalent to the Super Cups found in many countries...

    : Runner-up 2010
    2010 Trophée des Champions
    The 2010 Trophée des champions was the 15th edition of the French supercup. The match was contested by the winners of Ligue 1 the previous season, Olympique de Marseille, and the winners of the Coupe de France the previous season, Paris Saint-Germain. The match was played, for the second...


External links

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