Bachirou Salou

Bachirou Salou

File:Bachirou Salou 2012.jpg Salou in 2012
Personal information
Full name	Bachirou Salou
Date of birth	(1970-09-15) 15 September 1970
Place of birth	Lomé, Togo
Height
Position(s)	Centre forward
Youth career
0000–1988	Omnisport Lomé
1989–1990	Panthere Sportive
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1990–1995	Borussia M'gladbach	86	(13)
1995–1998	MSV Duisburg	95	(26)
1998–1999	Borussia Dortmund	25	(5)
1999–2000	Eintracht Frankfurt	34	(8)
2001–2003	Hansa Rostock	46	(7)
2003	Kapellen-Erft
2004	Alemannia Aachen	14	(3)
2004	Eupen	12	(3)
2005–2006	Kapellen-Erft
Total		312	(65)
International career
1989–1998	Togo	38	(?)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Bachirou Salou (born 15 September 1970) is a Togolese retired footballer who played as a centre forward.

Due to the many years (over a decade) spent in Germany, where he played for five clubs, he possessed double nationality.

Club career

Born in Lomé, Salou was spotted at the age of 19 by former Czechoslovakian international Anton Ondruš, who was on holiday in Cameroon and saw the player appear for a provincial team. With the help of the latter, the former moved to the German Bundesliga with Borussia Mönchengladbach in 1990, where he quickly became a fan favourite.

In his time at Mönchengladbach, Salou helped the team win the 1995 domestic cup, scoring 14 goals in 97 competitive games during a five-year spell. In the 1992–93 season he went scoreless in 21 matches but, in the following campaign, netted five times in only nine contests.

In 1995 Salou moved to the second division with MSV Duisburg, winning promotion in his first year and experiencing his best years in the country overall, as he added 18 goals in the next two top flight seasons combined. His steady performances earned him a transfer to former Champions League winner Borussia Dortmund, where he fared well in a single season, mostly as a backup; after another solid year with Eintracht Frankfurt, he agreed to take a 50% pay cut and joined, in January 2001, F.C. Hansa Rostock competing always in the top level with the East Germany club.

After a brief time in Belgium, with lowly SC Kapellen-Erft, Salou returned to Germany in January 2004 and signed with second level side Alemannia Aachen. In the summer he returned to the previous country, seeing out his career with K.A.S. Eupen and Erft again; he played 14 years in both major levels of German football, totalling exactly 300 games and 62 goals.

International career

Salou gained 38 caps for Togo during a nine-year span, making his international debut at age 19. Incidentally, he retired from football the year before the nation reached its first ever FIFA World Cup.

Personal life

After retiring, Salou became involved with the initiative Go for Children – Momentum for Change!, as an ambassador.

Honours

• DFB-Pokal: 1994–95; Runner-up 1991–92, 1997–98, 2003–04

External links

• Bachirou Salou profile at Fussballdaten
• Eintracht archives (German)
• Bachirou Salou at National-Football-Teams.com