Sanna 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 ...

who plays as a forward. He played for the Gambia national team from 2010 to 2015, making fourteen appearances.

Club career

Gambia Ports Authority

Nyassi began his professional career in 2004 with Gambia Ports Authority of the

GFA League First Division The GFA League First Division is the highest division of football in The Gambia. The league began play in 1965. 2021—22 season clubs Previous champions *1965–66 : Augustinians (Bathurst) *1966–67 : Augustinians (Bathurst) *1967–68 ...

. The midfielder remained with the club through the 2007 season, helping the club capture the 2007 Gambian FA Cup, and scoring the game-winning goal in the final. Nyassi's play with the Gambian Under-20 National Team sparked interest among many

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Cana ...

clubs. In late 2007 Nyassi was on trial with

New England Revolution The New England Revolution is an American professional soccer club based in the Greater Boston area that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), in the Eastern Conference of the league. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having compet ...

, the club that signed his twin brother Sainey.

Seattle Sounders FC

Following a trial spell with newly formed

Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders Football Club is an American professional men's soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete as a member of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The club was established on November 13, 2007, and began ...

, Sanna became the third player signed by the club. He was subsequently loaned to Seattle Sounders for the remainder of the 2008 season, prior to

's MLS debut in 2009. On 5 October 2010 Nyassi scored two goals in the final of the 2010 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup Final to help Seattle to a 2–1 victory over

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew, formerly known as Columbus Crew SC, is an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The Crew competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference and began play in 1996 as on ...

and capture its second straight Cup title. He became the first player in modern history to score multiple goals in the Cup final and was named Player of The Round as a result.

Vancouver Whitecaps FC & Colorado Rapids

On 24 November 2010, Nyassi was selected by

Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on Marc ...

as their first pick in the

2010 MLS Expansion Draft The 2010 MLS Expansion Draft took place on November 24, 2010, and was a special draft for the Major League Soccer expansion teams Vancouver Whitecaps FC and Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional men's soccer clu ...

but he was immediately traded to

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 1995, as part of the Anschutz Corporation, ...

for an international roster slot. On 20 July in a match versus

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The club was established in October 1994 and be ...

, Nyassi scored his first MLS hat-trick and his first three goals for Colorado. His fourth goal of the season came on 29 July against

Philadelphia Union The Philadelphia Union are an American professional soccer club based in Chester, Pennsylvania. The Union compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Founded on February 28, 2008, the club began playing in 2010 ...

. Strike partner Omar Cummings set up Nyassi with a lovely through ball and the Gambian scored with a curling shot to put his side 2–0 up.

Montreal Impact, Chicago Fire

Nyassi was left exposed by Colorado in the

2011 MLS Expansion Draft The 2011 MLS Expansion Draft was held on November 23, 2011 as a special draft for the Major League Soccer expansion team Montreal Impact. FormatMontreal Impact. Nyassi spent 2 1/2 seasons with Montreal before being traded to Chicago Fire on 29 July 2014 in exchange for midfielder Dilly Duka.

San Jose Earthquakes

Chicago cut ties with Nyassi at the conclusion of the 2014 season and he entered the

2014 MLS Re-Entry Draft The two-stage 2014 MLS Re-Entry Draft took place on December 12, 2014 (Stage 1) and December 18, 2014 (Stage 2). All 20 Major League Soccer clubs were eligible to participate. The priority order for the Re-Entry Draft was reverse order of finish ...

. In December 2014, Nyassi was selected by

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional soccer team based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete as a member club of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). Originally as the San Jose Clash, the franchis ...

in stage two of the draft.

Penang FA

In June 2017, Nyassi sign for Malaysian side

Penang Penang ( ms, Pulau Pinang, is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Ma ...

International career

Nyassi has represented his nation at various youth levels. He earned three caps playing for the Gambian U-17 national team in the 2005 African Under-17 Championship, scoring one goal against

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the ...

. He also earned two caps for the U-20 national team 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 score ...

. In 2010, he made his debut for the full national team.

Personal life

Sanna is the twin brother of footballer Sainey Nyassi. Nyassi holds U.S. citizenship.

Career statistics

Honours

Gambia Ports Authority * Gambian Championnat National D1 (1): 2006 * Gambian Cup (1): 2007 Seattle Sounders FC *

Lamar Hunt US Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in men's Soccer in the United States, soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing nati ...

(2):

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

Montreal Impact *

Canadian Championship The Canadian Championship (french: Championnat canadien) is an annual soccer tournament contested by premier Canadian professional teams. The winner is awarded the Voyageurs Cup and Canada's berth in the CONCACAF Champions League. It is contes ...

(2):

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

Individual *Named MLS Humanitarian of the Month in April 2010 *MLS Player of the Week; for Week 19, 2011

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nyassi, Sanna 1989 births Living people Gambian footballers The Gambia international footballers The Gambia youth international footballers Association football wingers Identical twins Seattle Sounders (1994–2008) players Seattle Sounders FC players Colorado Rapids players CF Montréal players Chicago Fire FC players San Jose Earthquakes players Gambian twins USL First Division players Major League Soccer players Expatriate soccer players in the United States Expatriate soccer players in Canada Gambian expatriate footballers Gambian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Gambian expatriate sportspeople in Canada Gambia Ports Authority FC players Penang F.C. players Gambian expatriate sportspeople in Malaysia Expatriate footballers in Malaysia