6 January 2009
Olympic Marseille's young striker, Mamadou Samassa has decided to play for Mali and not France, where he was born. He is teaming up with former Nigerian captain, Stephen Keshi, who coaches the Malian side Samassa, who was born in Paris, spent the recent holidays in Bamako to see things for himself and met with the Mali coach, Keshi.The 22-year-old Samassa said: "After some reflections, I have decided to feature for my country of origin. I'm now ready to wear the colours of Mali."
He has already represented France at Under-21 level six times, scoring three goals. He signed for Olympique Marseille last summer after four years at Le Mans.
The forward, who made his debut for Le Mans at the tender age of 17, said his decision was helped by the encouragement he received from compatriot and Juventus midfielder Mohamed Sissoko.
One of Mali's top stars, Frederic Kanoute, also had the chance to play for France, as he was born there, but eventually chose his fatherland.
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