Aliou Cissé

Aliou Cissé (born 24 March 1976) is a Senegalese professional football coach and former player who is the head coach of the Libya national team. Cissé is best known for captaining the Senegal team which reached the 2002 Africa Cup of Nations Final and for being the first Senegal manager to win the tournament in 2022 after reaching the final in 2019.

Having begun his career in France, he later played for English clubs Birmingham City and Portsmouth. Cissé was a defensive midfielder who also, on occasion, played at centre-back.

Cissé was the head coach of Senegal from 2015 to 2024, having briefly taken charge of them following Amara Traoré's sacking, in a caretaker role in 2012. He was also the assistant coach of the under-23 side from 2012 to 2013, becoming head coach from 2013 to 2015.

Club career

Born in Ziguinchor, Senegal, Cissé moved to Paris at the age of nine, where he grew up with dreams of playing for Paris Saint-Germain. He began his career with Lille before moving onto Sedan and then Paris Saint-Germain. He also spent the majority of the 2001–02 season on loan at Montpellier.

After captaining the Senegal national team to the quarter-finals of the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Cissé transferred to English club Birmingham City for their 2002–03 season, their debut season in the Premier League. Cissé made his first appearance for the club at Arsenal on the opening day of the season, but was sent off. Though the sending-off was rescinded, he went on to receive five yellow cards in six games, ultimately accumulating ten yellow cards before the New Year. His season, however, was cut short after picking up an injury in February that ruled him out for the rest of the season.