Sainey Nyassi (born 31 January 1989) is a Gambian 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 plays 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 ...

Club career

Sainey Nyassi began his career in the Gambia, playing in the

GFA League First Division The GFA League First Division is the highest division of football in The Gambia. The league was incorporated in 1965. League games usually take place in front of dozens of spectators. 2021–22 season clubs Previous champions Performance By ...

for Gambia Ports Authority. He was scouted by

New England Revolution The New England Revolution are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the Greater Boston area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. It is on ...

head coach

Steve Nicol Stephen Nicol (born 11 December 1961) is a Scottish retired professional footballer who mainly played as a right back and occasionally played in other positions across defence and midfield. He played for the successful Liverpool teams of the 1 ...

while playing in the

2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 16th edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup (formerly called the FIFA World Youth Championship), hosted by Canada from 30 June to 22 July 2007. Argentina defeated the Czech Republic in the title game by the scor ...

, and signed with the Revolution shortly thereafter along with his Gambian teammate, Kenny Mansally. Nyassi officially signed for the Revolution on August 31, 2007, as a "youth international." He made his MLS debut on 9 September 2007 against D.C. United as a substitute, playing the final eight minutes on the right wing. The appearance would be his only contribution to the

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

season. Nyassi made his first start, and scored his first MLS goal, on 29 March 2008 in the Revs' 3-0

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

opening-day victory over

Houston Dynamo Houston Dynamo Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in Houston. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Established on December 15, 2005, the club was founded after their fo ...

. In doing so, he became the youngest Revolution player to ever start a season-opener. His goal won "

Sierra Mist Sierra Mist was a lemon-lime flavored soft drink line introduced by PepsiCo in 1999. By 2003, it was available in all US markets. The name is a play on Mountain Dew: "sierra" is the Spanish word for "mountain range" and both mist and dew are c ...

Goal of the Week" for week 1. During the 2009 season, he won MLS Goal of the Week in week 3 for his strike against

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The franchise be ...

. As an understudy of

Steve Ralston Steve Ralston (born June 14, 1974) is an American former soccer player and manager who played as a midfielder. He spent most of his playing career in Major League Soccer with the Tampa Bay Mutiny and the New England Revolution, retiring in 20 ...

, Nyassi became a core piece of the Revolution for the next four seasons, never playing in fewer than 20 matches for the club until 2012, when he was sidelined with a hamstring injury in early March, returning on June 27. He was released by New England on 16 May 2013. On 27 May 2013, Nyassi signed with D.C. United. On 9 June 2014, Nyassi signed for Finnish Club

RoPS Rovaniemen Palloseura (RoPS) is a football club founded in 1950 and based in Rovaniemi, Finland. RoPS played in the Finnish Premier Division, (''Veikkausliiga'') for 32 years, from 1981 to 2021. In 2021, RoPS withdrew from professional football ...

. Nyassi signed with

FC Edmonton FC Edmonton was a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club was founded in 2010 and competed in the North American Soccer League (2011–2017), North American Soccer League (NASL) from 2011 t ...

in February 2015. He spent three seasons in Edmonton. After the 2017 season, with the future of FC Edmonton and the NASL in doubt, Nyassi was released by the club.

International career

Nyassi has represented his nation at various youth levels. He played for the Gambian U-17 national team in the 2005 U-17 world championships, and for the U-20 national team in the 2007 U-20

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

Championships. He scored his first goal for the Senior national team on 4 September 2010 in the

2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualification 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to s ...

match against

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

International goals

:''Scores and results list Gambia's goal tally first.''

Personal life

Sainey is the twin brother of fellow professional footballer Sanna Nyassi. Nyassi received his U.S green card on 31 January 2012, which qualified him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nyassi, Sainey 1989 births Living people Men's association football midfielders Gambian men's footballers The Gambia men's international footballers The Gambia men's youth international footballers New England Revolution players D.C. United players Rovaniemen Palloseura players FC Edmonton players Gambian twins Identical twins Gambian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Expatriate men's footballers in Finland Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Major League Soccer players Veikkausliiga players North American Soccer League (2011–2017) players Gambian expatriates in the United States Gambia Ports Authority FC players Gambian expatriate sportspeople in Finland