Born on this day is Sunderland legend Kader Mangane, who made two appearances for the club with an incredible 100% win rate, the highest of any Sunderland player in the club's rich history. Mangane was an unused substitute 11 times in his short stay on Wearside.
Where to start with such an influential player, such a titan of this sport? We must begin with where Kader was born, which is in Dakar, Senegal. Dakar is the most populous area of Senegal and belongs to the Organisation of World Heritage Cities. If I was in Dakar, I would take in the impressive Grand Mosque and be sure to visit the IFAN Museum of African Arts. In Dakar, the sound of Cuban inspired music is said to play out into the street. Cuban musicians began touring Senegal as part of Fidel Castro’s propaganda mission in Africa and even today, the strong influence of Cuban music can be felt.
Yes, I’d certainly like to visit Dakar, which is, incidentally, where Kader Mangane was born in 1983. Mangane began his illustrious career with US Rail, a Senegalese football club based in Thiès, not a ‘soccer’ team founded by train enthusiasts in America. After 17 appearances and an impressive 4 goals, Mangane moved to Europe with Neuchâtel Xamax FCS, a Swiss football club based in Neuchâtel. Xamax is a reference to legendary Swiss player 'Xam' Abegglen who was one of the people who founded the club. But that’s just a piece of useless information.
He moved to the bigger Swiss team Young Boys, no longer a young boy himself, entering his mid twenties. He had been in Switzerland for 6 years, making 140 appearances and scoring 14 goals from midfield. He would make less than 10 appearances for Young Boys, but continued his knack of scoring for every club he had been at. He then moved to France with Lens and then completed a move to Rennes, becoming the only Senegalese player in history to play for two French teams that rhyme.
At Lens, he had built up a reputation of being essentially a big lummox anchoring the central midfield and relying on sheer physicality alone to bully the opposition, masking his flawed ability technically. But when he came to Rennes and was converted to a centre half, he proved to be fairly solid for the side. After over 130 appearances in France, Mangane was ready to move to the Premier League with West Ham, Arsenal and the Mags interested.
However, his career would have to take a slight detour before he arrived in England via Al Hilal of the Saudi Arabian Premier League. The move effectively ended his career with the national team and he never added to his 23 Senegal appearances after the move. He made just a handful of appearances in a torrid spell at Al Hilal and after a defensive crisis, Martin O’Neill loaned Kader in. Presumably, O’Neill went on Football Manager, selected the centre half position, sorted players height attributes from high to low and the 6’6 man mountain Mangane was somewhere near the top.
Of course, his record of scoring at every club was irreparably tarnished by joining us, though it was replaced by a 100% win rate. He even got a taste of a derby, being brought on as a sub against the Mags to see out the game. Overall, his time at Sunderland probably amounted to about half an hour on the pitch, but what a half an hour it was.
He had a few more loans from Al Hilal before completing a move to Strasbourg, where he finished his incredible career.
