Samassi Abou
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Samassi Abou | ||
| Date of birth | 4 April 1973 | ||
| Place of birth | Gagnoa, Côte d'Ivoire | ||
| Playing position | Striker | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps†| (Gls)†|
| 1991–1992 | FC Martigues | 24 | (7) |
| 1992–1996 | Olympique Lyonnais | 58 | (4) |
| 1996–1997 | AS Cannes | 37 | (5) |
| 1997–2000 | West Ham United | 22 | (5) |
| 1998 | → Ipswich Town (loan) | 5 | (1) |
| 1999 | → Walsall (loan) | 8 | (0) |
| 1999 | → Troyes (loan) | ? | (?) |
| 2000 | → Kilmarnock (loan) | 10 | (0) |
| 2000–2002 | AC Ajaccio | 60 | (4) |
| 2002–2003 | FC Lorient | 16 | (0) |
| Total | 240 | (26) | |
| National team | |||
| France under-21 | |||
|
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. | |||
Samassi Abou (born 4 April 1973 in Gagnoa) is a former professional footballer from Côte d'Ivoire, who played as a forward. He played internationally for the French under-21 team.
Abou started playing in France for FC Martigues, before moving to Lyon. In October 1997, after a spell at AS Cannes, he made the move to English football, signing for West Ham United for £250,000. Signed by manager, Harry Redknapp, to give more options for strikers, Abou made his West Ham debut on 9 November 1997 in a 2-1 away defeat to Chelsea coming on as a substitute for John Moncur.[1][2] His opening West Ham goal came on 6 January 1998 in the League Cup. In a 5th round game at the Boleyn Ground Abou came on as a substitute for Paul Kitson to score their only goal in a 2-1 defeat.[2] In the following game, on 10 January 1998, Abou scored twice as West Ham beat Barnsley, 6-0.[3] Abou received his only red card in the next game, a 1-0 away defeat to Tottenham Hotspur. Fouling Ramon Vega in an off-the-ball incident, Abou was dismissed by referee, David Elleray.[4] Abou finished the 1997-98 season with 6 goals from 26 games including two on the last day of the season in a 4-3 home defeat of Leicester City.[2][5] West Ham fans would boo Abou whenever he scored making an "Abooooooooo" noise.[6] In 31 appearances in all competitions he scored six times, before being released to Ipswich Town in December 1998, where he scored once against Sheffield United.[7]
In October 1999, he signed for Walsall, an unsuccessful spell which lasted little over a month. He also spent time on loan at Troyes, and played in Scotland for three months at Kilmarnock.
Abou continued his career back in France, playing for Ajaccio and Lorient.
References
- ↑ Les Roopanarine (7 November 2011). Harry Redknapp — The Biography. John Blake Publishing, Limited. pp. 88–. ISBN 978-1-84358-942-6.
- 1 2 3 "Welcome to the Wonderful World of West Ham United Statistics Samassi Abou". www.westhamstats.info. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
- ↑ "On this day 10 January". www.whufc.com. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
- ↑ "Klinsmann sinks 10-man Hammers". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
- ↑ "On this day - 10 May". www.whufc.com. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
- ↑ Pete May (23 March 2012). West Ham: Irons in the Soul. Mainstream Publishing. pp. 177–. ISBN 978-1-78057-451-6.
- ↑ "Naylor provides Suffolk punch". The Independent. 20 December 1998. Retrieved 27 February 2010.
External links
- Hogg, Tony (2005). Who's Who of West Ham United. Profile Sports Media. p. 15. ISBN 1-903135-50-8.
- Samassi Abou career statistics at Soccerbase
- Samassi Abou at LFP.fr
- Samassi Abou at L'Equipe.fr
- Saddlers A-Z at the Walsall F.C. Official Website