Aboubacar Sissoko facts for kids
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 9 October 1995 | ||
| Place of birth | Bamako, Mali | ||
| Height | 1.83m | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Atlético Ottawa | ||
| Number | 33 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| CS Mont-Royal Outremont | |||
| 2013–2014 | CS Longueuil | ||
| 2015 | CS Mont-Royal Outremont | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2014 | CS Longueuil | 2 | (0) |
| 2017–2019 | CS St-Hubert | 33 | (1) |
| 2020 | HFX Wanderers | 9 | (0) |
| 2021 | Indy Eleven | 21 | (0) |
| 2022–2023 | Forge FC | 52 | (6) |
| 2024– | Atlético Ottawa | 28 | (3) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2014 | Mali U20 | 2 | (0) |
† Appearances (Goals). |
|||
Aboubacar Sissoko (born October 9, 1995) is a professional football player from Mali. He plays as a midfielder for Atlético Ottawa in the Canadian Premier League.
Contents
Aboubacar Sissoko's Early Life and Soccer Start
Aboubacar Sissoko was born in Bamako, Mali. When he was 11 years old, in 2006, he moved to Montreal, Quebec, Canada. His father was a diplomat, which means he worked for his country in another country.
Aboubacar started playing youth soccer with a team called CS Mont-Royal Outremont. Later, he joined Longueuil. In 2015, his U21 (under 21 years old) team won the Silver Ball award in a league called the LSEQ. This showed he was a talented young player.
Playing Soccer in University
In 2015, Aboubacar started studying at the Université de Montréal. He also joined their soccer team, the Carabins men's soccer team. His brother was already playing on the team!
Aboubacar quickly became a star. In 2015, he was named the Carabins' Rookie of the Year. By 2017, he was chosen as the team captain. He led his team to the national championship three years in a row (2017 to 2019). In 2018, they won their first national title! They also earned silver medals in 2017 and 2019.
Aboubacar received many awards during his university career. He was named an RSEQ First Team All-Star three times. In 2019, he was also a U Sports First Team All-Star. After the 2019 season, he won the Joe Johnson Memorial Trophy. This award is for the best male university soccer player in Canada. He was also named the Montreal Carabins Athlete of the Year for all sports. In June 2020, he won the top award for all university athletes in Canada, the U Sports Athlete of the Year. He was the first player from his university to ever win this honor. He also received a $10,000 scholarship.
Aboubacar Sissoko's Professional Club Career
Aboubacar started playing in a league called the Première ligue de soccer du Québec in 2014 with CS Longueuil. From 2017 to 2019, he played for CS St-Hubert in the same league.
In 2018, a professional team called Forge FC picked him in a special event called the 2018 CPL-U Sports Draft. This draft allows professional teams to choose talented university players. He tried out with Forge FC, but he didn't get a contract that time. He went back to play for St-Hubert for another year.
Joining the Canadian Premier League
In November 2019, Aboubacar signed with HFX Wanderers FC. This team plays in the Canadian Premier League, which is Canada's top professional soccer league. Before the 2020 season started, he even had a tryout with a Major League Soccer team, Vancouver Whitecaps FC. His tryout lasted six weeks!
He played well for the HFX Wanderers. In one game in August 2020, he was named "Man of the Match" for being the best player on the field. He helped the Wanderers reach the 2020 CPL Final, but they lost to Forge FC. That season, he was very good at dribbling the ball, with a 91% success rate. He was also named to the CanPL.ca 2020 Best XI, which means he was one of the best players in the league.
In February 2021, he moved to the United States to play for Indy Eleven in the USL Championship league.
Returning to Canada and Winning Titles
In February 2022, Aboubacar came back to the Canadian Premier League. He signed with Forge FC, the team that had drafted him years before. He made his first appearance for Forge FC in a big international game against Cruz Azul in the 2022 CONCACAF Champions League.
He helped Forge FC win the league title in 2022. The next year, in 2023, he helped them win the league title again! This was their second championship in a row.
In February 2024, Aboubacar signed a two-year contract with Atlético Ottawa. He played his first game for them on April 13, 2024, against York United FC.
Playing for Mali's National Team
In 2014, Aboubacar played for the Mali U20 team. This is a national team for players under 20 years old. He played in a tournament called the 2015 African U-20 Championship qualification. After he came back to Canada, he became very ill with malaria. He needed a lot of rest to recover.
Aboubacar Sissoko's Personal Life and Charity Work
Aboubacar is not just a great soccer player; he also helps others. While playing for the Mali U20 team, he, along with his mother and sister, helped pay for two water wells to be built in a dry area of Mali.
Later, he and his sister and two brothers started a charity called the Macine Foundation. It's named after his parents. This foundation helps provide water to people in need by building more wells.
