# Titi Camara

Aboubacar Sidiki "Titi" Camara (born 17 November 1972) is a Guinean former professional footballer who played as a striker. He was also the coach of the Guinea national team, which he captained and played for. He was also the Guinea sports minister, before being replaced in October 2012. He is best known for his stint with Liverpool in the 1999–2000 season, where he scored 10 goals in 37 games in all competitions, memorably scoring the winner in a game against Arsenal at Highbury.

## Club career
### Early career

Camara played for Saint-Étienne, Lens and Marseille in France, (playing in the 1999 UEFA Cup Final for the latter) before being transferred to Liverpool.

### Liverpool

A cult hero and crowd favourite at Anfield, Camara is best remembered for playing at Anfield against West Ham in October 1999, the morning after the death of his father, scoring the winning goal and then dropping to his knees in front of the Anfield Road stand with tears flowing. He also managed to score in three successive Premier League games for the Reds in late autumn of 1999. On 13 February, he scored the winner at Highbury, leading Liverpool to a 1–0 win over Arsenal. Despite his short spell at Liverpool, he was voted in 91st position in the 2006 poll "100 Players Who Shook The Kop", which was conducted by the official Liverpool Football Club web site. Camara's placing made him the second highest placed African player, behind Bruce Grobbelaar.

### West Ham United

Signed by manager Harry Redknapp on 21 December 2000 for a fee of £1.5 million which, depending on other factors, could have risen to £2.6 million, Camara announced, "I've come to West Ham to play, play, play – and score, score, score. If it was a question of money, I could have stayed at Liverpool and picked it up. I need to play, and if I don't it is totally pointless." Making his West Ham debut on 23 December 2000 in a 2–1 away defeat to Leicester City, Camara went on to play only fourteen games, in all competitions, without scoring at all.

### Al-Ittihad

In January 2003 Camara was sent out on loan to Al-Ittihad for the remainder of the 2002–03 season.

### Al-Siliya

Following West Ham's relegation in 2003 from the Premier League Camara left the club for Al-Siliya after his contract was terminated by mutual consent.

## International career

Titi Camara was a stalwart of the Guinea team from the early 1990s until the early 2000s. He is regarded as a key protagonist in Guinea's return to respectability in African football and played for his country at the 2004 African Nations Cup, where he scored 3 goals in the group stage, which meant he finished just one goal behind the leading scores of the tournament.
    Scores and results list Guinea's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Camara goal.
List of international goals scored by Titi Camara :
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
| 1 | 14 July 1991 | Stade du 28 Septembre, Conakry, Guinea | Mali | 2-0 | 2-1 | 1992 African Cup of Nations qualification |
| 2 | 16 August 1992 | Stade Omnisports Idriss Mahamat Ouya, N'Djamena, Chad | Chad | 2-0 | 3-0 | 1994 African Cup of Nations qualification |
| 3 | 20 December 1992 | Stade du 28 Septembre, Conakry, Guinea | Kenya | 3-0 | 4-0 | 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 4 | 20 December 1992 | Stade du 28 Septembre, Conakry, Guinea | Kenya | 4-0 | 4-0 | 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 5 | 2 May 1993 | Stade du 28 Septembre, Conakry, Guinea | Zimbabwe | 1-0 | 3-0 | 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 6 | 11 July 1993 | Intwari Stadium, Bujumbura, Burundi | Burundi | 1-1 | 2-2 | 1994 African Cup of Nations qualification |
| 7 | 18 January 1994 | Conakry, Guinea | Ivory Coast | — | 3-0 | Friendly |
| 8 | 29 March 1994 | Stade Olympique de Sousse, Sousse, Tunisia | Senegal | 1-0 | 1-2 | 1994 African Cup of Nations |
| 9 | 4 September 1994 | Botswana National Stadium, Gaborone, Botswana | Botswana | 1-0 | 1-0 | 1996 African Cup of Nations qualification |
| 10 | 16 October 1994 | Stade du 28 Septembre, Conakry, Guinea | Angola | 2-0 | 3-1 | 1996 African Cup of Nations qualification |
| 11 | 30 July 1995 | Stade du 28 Septembre, Conakry, Guinea | Mali | 1-1 | 4-1 | 1996 African Cup of Nations qualification |
| 12 | 30 July 1995 | Stade du 28 Septembre, Conakry, Guinea | Mali | 2-1 | 4-1 | 1996 African Cup of Nations qualification |
| 13 | 1 June 1996 | Estádio 24 de Setembro, Bissau, Guinea-Bissau | Guinea-Bissau | 1-2 | 2-3 | 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 14 | 1 June 1996 | Estádio 24 de Setembro, Bissau, Guinea-Bissau | Guinea-Bissau | 2-2 | 2-3 | 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 15 | 10 November 1996 | Stade du 28 Septembre, Conakry, Guinea | Kenya | 1-1 | 3-1 | 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 16 | 8 January 1997 | Stade de la Paix, Bouaké, Ivory Coast | Ivory Coast | 1-0 | 1-2 | Friendly |
| 17 | 5 April 1997 | National Stadium, Lagos, Nigeria | Nigeria | 1-2 | 1-2 | 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 18 | 23 April 2000 | Stade du 28 Septembre, Conakry, Guinea | Uganda | 1-0 | 3-0 | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 19 | 18 June 2000 | Stade du 28 Septembre, Conakry, Guinea | Zimbabwe | 2-0 | 3-0 | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 20 | 16 July 2000 | Stade du 28 Septembre, Conakry, Guinea | Gambia | 1-0 | 2-0 | 2002 African Cup of Nations qualification |
| 21 | 13 January 2002 | Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, Rabat, Morocco | Morocco | 1-1 | 1-2 | Friendly |
| 22 | 8 September 2002 | Stade du 28 Septembre, Conakry, Guinea | Liberia | 1-0 | 3-0 | 2004 African Cup of Nations qualification |
| 23 | 20 January 2004 | Stade Gérard Rossi, Sainte-Maxime, France | Burkina Faso | 1-0 | 1-0 | Friendly |
| 24 | 25 January 2004 | El Menzah Stadium, Tunis, Tunisia | DR Congo | 1-1 | 2-1 | 2004 African Cup of Nations |
| 25 | 28 January 2004 | 15 October Stadium, Bizerte, Tunisia | Rwanda | 1-0 | 1-1 | 2004 African Cup of Nations |
| 26 | 1 February 2004 | Hammadi Agrebi Stadium, Tunis, Tunisia | Tunisia | 1-1 | 1-1 | 2004 African Cup of Nations |

## Coaching career

In December 2005, he was linked with the vacant manager's job with the Guinea national team. On 13 May 2009, Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, the President of Guinea publicly announced that he wanted him to manage the national team. At the end of May 2009, Camara was named the National Technical Director (NTC). On 9 June 2009, Camara was named the head coach of the Syli National to succeed Robert Nouzaret. Camara was serving in dual capacities of NTC and head coach of the Syli National. On 15 September 2009, three months following his nomination as head coach of the Syli National, Camara was replaced by Mamadi Souaré, a former Captain of the Syli National, following poor results, lack of cooperation/understanding with certain conspicuous members of the Guinean Football Federation (FGF), and absence of "cordial" relations with certain key elements of the Syli National.

## Breach of contract

In September 2003, alleging breach of contract, Camara sued West Ham United. In 2006, West Ham successfully defended the High Court breach of contract claim brought by Camara.

## Minister of Sports

On 28 December 2010, Camara was made Sports Minister of Guinea by newly elected president Alpha Condé, making him the country's first ex-sportsman to hold a government post. He was forced out of his post on 5 October 2012 in a government reshuffle.

## Personal life

Camara holds Guinean and French nationalities.