Modeste Mbami (9 October 1982 – 7 January 2023) was a Cameroonian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. Mbami played for clubs in France, Saudi Arabia, and Cameroon, most notably

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

and

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

, both of which in

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

Club career

Born in

Yaoundé Yaoundé (; , ) is the Capital city, capital city of Cameroon. It has a population of more than 2.8 million which makes it the second-largest city in the country after the port city Douala. It lies in the Centre Region (Cameroon), Centre Region o ...

, Mbami started his career in his home country playing for Dynamo Douala but was quickly spotted by foreign clubs. Mbami joined Sedan during the summer of 2000. Despite his young age, Mbami played ten matches in his first season in Division 1 and helped his club to finish fifth. He rapidly became a team regular and played 60 matches in the two following seasons. In 2003, the club was relegated to

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsorship reasons, 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 Prof ...

and Mbami decided to sign a five-year contract with

for €5 million after his agent Willie McKay halted advanced discussions with Wolverhampton Wanderers. During his first season with Paris Saint-Germain, Mbami was associated with another young defensive midfielder,

Lorik Cana Lorik Agim Cana (; born 27 July 1983) is an Albanian former professional Association football, footballer. He is currently the grassroots ambassador for children's football in Albania, named by the Albanian Football Association on 26 October 201 ...

. Despite their lack of experience, they played a big part in the club's good season, where Paris Saint-Germain finished second in Ligue 1 and won the

Coupe de France The Coupe de France (), also known in English language, English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Fed ...

. The club's 2004–05 season was less successful, in which Mbami bami was struggling with an injury. The 2005–06 season saw Mbami help Paris Saint-Germain to another Coupe de France title, while the club finished 9th in the league. In August 2006, after three years at Paris Saint-Germain, Mbami was transferred to arch-rivals

, signing a three-year contract, and thus renewing his midfield partnership with Lorik Cana, who had signed for Marseille the season before. Mbami left Marseille after his contract expired in the summer of 2009 and has since had trials at

English Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

clubs

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

and

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

. After his contract ended with Marseille he moved on 30 September 2009 for a trial with the Spanish club

UD Almería Unión Deportiva Almería, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish professional football club based in Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 26 July 1989 and known as ''Almería Club de Fútbol'' until 2001 ...

, later Almería completed the purchase of the midfielder, the Cameroon player signed a contract with the Spanish club. In July 2011, Mbami and

Juanito Juanito is a given name or nickname, meaning "Little Juan" or Johnny. Notable people with the name include: Professional footballers * Juan Ignacio Gomez Taleb (born 1985), Argentinian forward * Juan Díaz Sánchez (1948–2013), Spanish forw ...

were released by Almería. Then he joined

China League One The Chinese Football League 1 (), also known as China League One or Chinese Jia League (), is the second level of professional football in China, under the Chinese Super League. The league is under the auspices of the Chinese Football Association ...

club

Dalian Aerbin Dalian Professional Football Club (), known as Dalian Pro, was a Chinese professional Association football, football club based in Dalian, Liaoning, which mostly competed in the Chinese Super League. Dalian Pro played its home matches at various ...

and was loaned to

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Super League (), commonly known as the Chinese Super League or the CSL (), also known as the China Resources Beverage Chinese Football Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Ch ...

side Changchun Yatai immediately. Mbami returned to Dalian Aerbin in 2012. However, he could not play for Dalian Aerbin in the 2012 league season due to the foreign players restricted rule. Mbami transferred to

Saudi Premier League The Saudi Pro League (SPL), also known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL) for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Saudi Arabia and the highest level of the Saudi football league system. The SPL is regarded as th ...

side

Al-Ittihad Al-Ittihad may refer to: Sports Football Men Teams * Al-Ittihad Club (Jeddah), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia * Al Ittihad SCSC (Tripoli), Tripoli, Libya * Al Ittihad Gheryan, Gharyan, Libya * Al Ittihad Misurata SC, Misurata, Libya * Al Ittihad SC ...

in July 2012. In 2014 he moved to Colombia joining Millonarios, from the capital city

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...

. Mbami was hired to play as a defensive midfielder and signed a contract for the 2014–15 season.

International career

Mbami won the Olympic football games with his country in 2000 in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, also scoring the

golden goal The golden goal is a sports rule used in association football, Australian rules football, bandy, field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, and rugby league to decide the winner of a match (typically a knock-out match) in which scores are equal at the ...

against

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

during the quarter-finals. He was also in the team when Cameroon reached the finals of the

FIFA Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six continental championships ( AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBO ...

in 2003 and was part of the

2004 African Cup of Nations The 2004 African Cup of Nations was held from 24 January to 14 February 2004 in Tunisia. It was the 24th edition of the biennial international men's football championship of Africa, organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). Tun ...

team which finished top of its group in the first round of competition, before failing to secure qualification for the semi-finals. Mbami was also in the Cameroon national team that failed to qualify for the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

as it finished second in its qualification group behind the

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

Personal life

Mbami acquired French nationality by

naturalization Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

on 26 December 2005.

Coaching career

In November 2019 he turned down a coaching job with the Cameroon national team.

Death

On 7 January 2023, Paris Saint-Germain announced that Mbami had died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

, at the age of 40.

Career statistics

:''Scores and results list Cameroon's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Mbami goal.''

Honours

Paris Saint-Germain *

: 2004, 2006 Ittihad FC *

Kings Cup (Saudi Arabia) The King Cup (sometimes spelled King's Cup) (), officially known as The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques' Cup (), is the Saudi Arabian football knockout cup competition. The King's Cup is the second-oldest knockout competition in Saudi Arabia ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

Cameroon *

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

: 2000 *

Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six Continental football championships, continental champions ...

: runner-up 2003

References

External links

*
Career stats
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mbami, Modeste 1982 births 2023 deaths Footballers from Yaoundé Cameroonian men's footballers 21st-century Cameroonian sportsmen Naturalized citizens of France French men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Cameroon men's international footballers Cameroon men's under-20 international footballers Footballers at the 2000 Summer Olympics 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup players Olympic footballers for Cameroon Olympic medalists in football Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Cameroon 2008 Africa Cup of Nations players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players La Liga players Chinese Super League players Saudi Pro League players Categoría Primera A players CS Sedan Ardennes players Paris Saint-Germain FC players Olympique de Marseille players UD Almería players Dalian Professional F.C. players Changchun Yatai F.C. players Al-Ittihad Club (Jeddah) players Millonarios F.C. players Cameroonian expatriate men's footballers Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate men's footballers in France Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in China Expatriate men's footballers in China Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Colombia Expatriate men's footballers in Colombia 21st-century French sportsmen 20th-century French sportsmen