Razak Omotoyossi

Razak Omotoyossi (born 8 October 1985) is a former professional footballer who played as a striker for JA Cotonou. Born in Nigeria, he appeared for the Benin national team at international level. He played in Nigeria, Egypt, Sweden, Saudi Arabia and France for club level.

Club career

Early career
Born in Lagos, Omotoyossi started his career in his native Nigeria, but was nearly derailed when the Nigeria Football Federation slammed a five-year ban on him for allegedly assaulting a referee during a Premier League game between his club, Sunshine Stars and visiting Enyimba.
He had though already left to play in neighbouring Benin. He later switched to Beninese citizenship the same year.

He started his professional career in Benin with JS Pobè.

FC Sheriff
Omotoyossi signed for Moldovan side FC Sheriff in November 2005.

On 26 July 2006, he scored a 92nd minute equalizing goal for Sheriff against Spartak Moscow in the second qualifying round of the 2006–07 UEFA Champions League.

In March 2007 he went on trial with Israeli Premier League side Hapoel Kfar Saba. He scored in a Toto Cup game, but did not sign for them as he found the challenge of the Swedish Allsvenskan more promising.

Helsingborg
Omotoyossi signed for Helsingborgs IF in summer 2007. In the role of Henrik Larsson's strike partner, Omotoyossi finished the 2007 season as joint top scorer having scored 14 goals in 23 games.

In the 2007–08 UEFA Cup, he scored twice in the first two qualifying rounds. His first goal came in the first leg of the first qualifying round home win over Estonian Meistriliiga side Narva Trans on 19 July 2007, and he then scored in the second qualifying round, second leg, a 3–0 home win over League of Ireland Premier Division side Drogheda United. He added a further four goals in the group stage as Helsingborg finished second in Group H. Omotoyossi scored six goals in six matches: three goals against SC Heerenveen, two against Austria Wien and one against the Galatasaray which made him top scorer alongside teammate Henrik Larsson and Luca Toni of Bayern Munich. His six goals were critical in Helsingborgs booking their passage to the last 32. With six goals in a total of eight games, Omotoyossi finished as joint fourth top scorer in the tournament. Despite being a top-scorer in Helsingborg.

He also appeared that year in Italy's Guerin Sportivo as one of the world's top 50 stars for the very near future. This record caught the eye of Eredivisie side SC Heerenveen, and it was rumoured that they wanted the striker as a replacement for Brazilian striker Afonso Alves who was set to leave for English side Middlesbrough.

After the January transfer window had shut, it was revealed that Omotoyossi had declined a move to Dutch Eredivisie side, FC Groningen, in a deal that would have been worth $2.5 million.

Al-Nassr
In July 2008 Omotoyossi signed for Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia for $3 million.

He had a short stint at the Arabian club in which he appeared in nine games, scoring four goals in the 2008–09 season as Al-Nassr finished 5th in the Saudi Professional League.

Metz
On 9 June 2009, Omotoyoissi signed a three-year contract with French Ligue 2 side FC Metz. He scored twice in 8 starts and 14 as a substitute player as Metz finished fourth in the 2009–10 season, just missing out on promotion to Ligue 1.

GAIS
On 30 March 2011, Swedish club GAIS confirmed that they had signed Omotoyossi, he was signed on a short-term contract until July.

Syrianska FC
On 21 July 2011, Omotoyossi signed a short-term contract with Syrianska FC where he only played 5 matches before leaving to Egypt's Zamalek SC.

Zamalek SC
On 15 September 2011, Omotoyossi signed a three-year contract with Egyptian club Zamalek SC. He made his debut for the team in a league match against El-Entag El-Harby.

Union Sportive Sèmè
After leaving Moroccan club Safi in 2015, Omotoyossi was without a club for four years, before signing for USS Kraké in February 2019.

International career
Omotoyossi has represented Benin at under-20 and full international levels.

On 10 June 2005, he scored in the Group A 1–1 draw with Australia at the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship in the Netherlands. It was Benin's first-ever goal at a world finals. "I always want to score goals, every time I go out on the pitch." he said at the time. On 7 February 2007, he scored in a 2–1 friendly defeat to Senegal in Rouen, France.

He played in the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, scoring one goal in qualification - in the 4–1 home win over Togo on 19 June 2007 as Benin finished second in Group 9 to qualify for the finals in Ghana. Then in the finals, where Benin finished last place in Group B he scored a late consolation goal as Benin lost 4–1 to Ivory Coast on 25 January 2008.

He scored eight goals in eight matches in 2008 for the national team, making him joint top scorer in the African World Cup/Nations Cup qualifiers with Samuel Eto'o.

He scored six goals in the second round of qualification for the 2010 FIFA World Cup as Benin finished top in Group 3. His first two goals came on 8 June 2008 in the 4–1 win over Uganda. Six days later he scored in the 2–0 away win over Niger. On 7 September, his two goals in the 3–2 home win over Angola helped book Benin their place in the Third round. His sixth goal came in the final group game, a 2–1 away defeat to Uganda on 12 October.

In the third and final qualification round, he scored twice as Benin finished second in Group D, just missing out on qualifying for the World Cup finals. He scored Benin's winning goal against Sudan on 5 June 2009, and scored a penalty in their final group game, a 2–1 away win over Sudan on 10 November.

Career statistics
Scores and results list Benin's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Omotoyossi goal.

References

External links

 

1985 births
Living people
Footballers from Lagos
Beninese men's footballers
Men's association football forwards
Benin men's international footballers
2008 Africa Cup of Nations players
2010 Africa Cup of Nations players
Helsingborgs IF players
FC Sheriff Tiraspol players
Al Nassr FC players
FC Metz players
Zamalek SC players
Avrankou Omnisport FC players
USS Kraké players
Kahramanmaraşspor footballers
JA Cotonou players
TFF First League players
Allsvenskan players
Ligue 2 players
Egyptian Premier League players
Saudi Pro League players
Beninese Muslims
Naturalized citizens of Benin
Beninese people of Nigerian descent
Beninese expatriate men's footballers
Beninese expatriate sportspeople in Moldova
Expatriate men's footballers in Moldova
Beninese expatriate sportspeople in Sweden
Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden
Beninese expatriate sportspeople in France
Expatriate men's footballers in France
Beninese expatriate sportspeople in Egypt
Expatriate men's footballers in Egypt
Beninese expatriate sportspeople in Turkey
Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey
Beninese expatriate sportspeople in Morocco
Expatriate men's footballers in Morocco
Naturalised association football players
Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Moldova
Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Sweden
Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in France
Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Egypt
Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey
Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Morocco
Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Benin
Expatriate men's footballers in Benin
Nigerian expatriate men's footballers