Jean Marie Sylla (born 22 April 1983) is a Guinean former 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

left midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

Career

Sylla was born in

Conakry Conakry ( , ; ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guinea. A port city, it serves as the economic, financial and cultural centre of Guinea. Its population as of the 2014 Guinea census was 1,660,973. The current population of C ...

. He began his football career at Horoya Conakry, with whom he won Guinea National Championship in 2001. He then spent most of his professional career in Greece. He played for

Heraklion Heraklion or Herakleion ( ; , , ), sometimes Iraklion, is the largest city and the administrative capital city, capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion (regional unit), Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in G ...

-based

Beta Ethniki The Football League () was the second highest professional football league in Greece since its inception in 1962 as ''Beta Ethniki'' and until 2019. It then served as a third tier after the creation of the Super League 2 as the new second tier ...

side

Ergotelis Ergotelis Football Club () is a Greek professional Association football, football club based in Heraklion, Crete, which competes in the Heraklion Football Clubs Association, FCA Heraklion A1, the fourth tier of the Greek football league system, ...

, most notably helping them achieve promotion to the

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...

for the first time in their history, scoring the winning injury time goal vs. Akratitos during the 2003−04 Alpha Ethniki relegation play-off match. He left the club after the 2004–05 season following contractual disputes after the club was relegated back to the Beta Ethniki, and eventually joined

side

Kallithea Kallithea (Greek language, Greek: Καλλιθέα, meaning "beautiful view") is a suburb in Athens#Athens Urban Area, Athens agglomeration and a municipality in South Athens (regional unit), south Athens regional unit. It is the eighth larges ...

. After one season in top-flight at the ''El Paso'', Sylla stayed in Greece until 2011, playing for OFI,

Apollon Kalamarias Apollon Kalamarias (Greek: Απόλλων Καλαμαριάς) is a Greek sports club from Kalamaria, a suburb of Thessaloniki. It was founded in 1926. The club is named after Apollo, the mythical Greek god. Its colors are red and black. Histor ...

PAS Giannina PAS Giannina Football Club (), or with its full name Panipirotikós Athlitikós Síllogos Giánnina (, ''Panepirotic Athletic Club Giannina'') is a Greek professional Association football, football club based in the city of Ioannina, the capita ...

and

Kalamata Kalamata ( ) is the second most populous city of the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece after Patras, and the largest city of the Peloponnese (region), homonymous administrative region. As the capital and chief port of the Messenia regiona ...

at various levels of the

Greek football league system The Greek football league system consists of two professional leagues, one nationwide non-professional league and several regional non-professional leagues. Cup eligibility Greek Football Professional Cup: Levels 1 to 2 Greek Football Ama ...

. In 2011, Sylla moved to France and continued his career with CFA clubs Villemomble Sports and ES Viry-Châtillon. Having left the club in 2014 to tend to a family-related issue, Sylla was diagnosed with Charcot's disease in September 2014, and was forced to retire at age 31.

Career statistics

Honours

Horoya *

Guinée Championnat National The Guinée Championnat National (colloquially called Ligue 1 Pro) is the top level of Guinée Championnat National football competition created in 1965 under the authority of the Guinean Football Federation in Guinea. Ligue 1 Pro 2021–22 tea ...

: 2001

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sylla, Jean Marie 1983 births Living people Guinean men's footballers Guinean expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in France Super League Greece players Super League Greece 2 players Championnat National 2 players Ergotelis F.C. players Athens Kallithea F.C. players Apollon Kalamarias F.C. players OFI Crete F.C. players PAS Giannina F.C. players Kalamata F.C. players Villemomble Sports players ES Viry-Châtillon players Footballers from Conakry Horoya AC players Men's association football midfielders