Salif Keïta, the defiant Malian football legend who created history on and off the field
Former Malian footballer Salif “Domingo” Këita, who passed away on 2 September in Bamako, embodied a crucial moment in the history of African football, helping shape its relationship with the world.
- Former Malian footballer Salif “Domingo” Këita, who passed away on 2 September in Bamako, embodied a crucial moment in the history of African football, helping shape its relationship with the world.
- Born on 6 December 1946, the year that the French West African Cup was created, Keïta (not to be confused with Salif Keita the musician) was also an important leader in Malian football.
Starting out
- It wasn’t easy for him to make his father, a haulage contractor by trade, understand that he preferred football to his studies, even though he eventually qualified to work as a grinder.
- Football began as an informal activity, even before he started playing in his neighbourhood team in Bamako.
- His dribbling, shooting and heading skills soon propelled him into the Real Bamako squad.
Going to France
- In September 1967, Keïta was smuggled to Liberia, then flew from there to Orly in France.
- However, the door that was initially opened to footballers from sub-Saharan Africa in the 1950s had partly closed again.
- They offered African footballers harsh contracts and Keïta initially played as an amateur and not a professional, justified by the club’s managers by the fact that he was studying law in France.
Triumphs on the field
- At first, he could count on the advice of coach Albert Batteux and the assistance of Rachid Mekhloufi, an Algerian player for the Greens.
- Playing as a centre forward, Keïta scored 120 goals in 149 matches.
- In October 1969, he scored the winner against Bayern Munich in the Champions Cup Round of 16.
Taking on the world
- Spain was not yet the paragon of the beautiful game, but Keïta’s strikes kept finding the net again – until he was injured in March 1975.
- Keïta went on to win the Portuguese league as the country began making a name for itself in world football thanks to its stars of African origin – like Keïta, Eusebio and Mario Coluna.
- At the age of 31, with the club Sporting Lisbon, he finally found an environment in which he could flourish.
Back home
- His life inspired director Cheik Doukouré’s 1994 film The Golden Ball, in which he played the role of a coach.
- After the fall of Moussa Traoré, Keïta opened a football training centre in Bamako.
- He was then elected president of the Mali Football Federation, serving from 2005 until 2009.