Titi Camara
Birthdate: 17 November 1972
Birthplace: Conakry, Guinea
Other clubs: Saint-Etienne (1990-95), Lens (1995-97), Olympique Marseille (1997-99), West Ham United (2000-03), Al Ittihad (loan 2003), Al Siliya (2003-04), Amiens (2004-06)
Bought from: Olympique Marseille
Signed for LFC: £2.6m, 01.06.1999
International caps: Guinea 38/23 (4/4 at LFC) - unconfirmed
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Liverpool debut: 07.08.1999
Last appearance: 14.05.2000
Debut goal: 07.08.1999
Last goal: 25.03.2000
Contract expiry: 21.12.2000
Win ratio: 51.35% W: 19 D: 8 L: 10
Games/goals ratio: 3.7
Total games/goals opposite LFC: 2 / 0
LFC league games/goals: 33 / 9
Total LFC games/goals: 37 / 10
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Player profile
Titi Camara can hardly be called a failure at Anfield. Although Titi was only at Liverpool for 18 months he was a popular player with the supporters and lit up Anfield on occasion with his sublime skills. His scoring debut for Liverpool against Sheffield Wednesday was a sign of extraordinary things to come as the Liverpool Echo noted: "And then there is Titi Camara. Or "Allez Titi" as the red, green and yellow banner read. His debut Premiership goal - a left foot shot from just inside the area six minutes from time after Srnicek had pushed a 25-yard piledriver from Fowler straight into his path - was reward for another eye-catching display. The theory remains that Camara, for all his instant love affair with the supporters, will prove a better substitute in the long run; able to change the course of games in that role rather than from the start." Titi started 24 and made 13 substitute appearances during the 1999/00 season and scored ten goals all of which but one came when he was in the starting line-up. His best goal was possibly his second, a brilliant curling shot at Elland Road, or maybe the 'screamer' against Coventry at the Kop end on the day the club celebrated the fortieth anniversary of Bill Shankly's arrival at Anfield. Titi's most emotional moment in a Liverpool shirt came one evening late in October 1999 when he slumped to his knees at Anny Road after scoring what turned out to be the winning goal against West Ham, having been told only hours earlier that his father had died. To play at all under such circumstances, never
mind score the winning goal, was testament to his courage and his determination impressed Houllier: "I would like to pay Titi a special tribute because today was special for him," Houllier told the press following the match. "He lost his dad during the day but he told me 'I want to play for my father.' He was crying after he scored because it was such an emotional day."
Titi's time at Liverpool was though effectively over after only one season when he fell dramatically out of favour with Houllier as the boss explained in October 2001: "Titi got injured at half time in the pre-season friendly with Parma on August 12. He is the only player I know who has got injured without playing. The injury was so bad that he could only come back seven weeks later. I don’t know what kind of injury he had. So his first game for us was on October 2 against Manchester United reserves and then he went away to play an international match in Guinea. He came back on October 11 and then we played three games against Derby, Leicester and Slovan Liberec. He was not involved in the first two but was on the bench for the game with Liberec. The following day he came to see me and said he did not want to play for Liverpool and that he wanted to leave. If he doesn’t want to play for Liverpool and wear the red shirt, then that’s it." Two months later after having not featured at all in the season the Guinean moved to West Ham. For many Liverpool supporters though, despite his short stay at club Titi retains something of a 'cult hero' status reflected in him being voted in 91st position in the 2006 poll "100 Players Who Shook The Kop" which was conducted by the official Liverpool FC website.
Unfortunately Titi's move to Harry Redknapp's Hammers not revive his career despite his best intentions: "I've come to West Ham to play, play, play - and score, score, score," Titi declared. "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." He remained at Upton Park for two and a half years but only played in 14 matches and failed to score in any of them. By now past his thirty-first birthday, he went on a four-month loan in Saudi Arabia in January 2003 where he enjoyed life's riches. He scored a hat-trick in his second game and was rewarded by three luxury cars and lived in the presidential suite at the Jeddah Meridien Hotel and had servants, drivers and security staff on call 24 hours a day. Titi was ecstatic as he told the Sunday Mirror: "It was a fantastic opportunity for me to play football but I never imagined it would prove so lucrative," he admitted. "Some of my West Ham teammates have had a few laughs at my expense but I'm living like a king out here. They keep going on about camels and sand but the only camel I've seen is the 5-litre variety. They would be pig-sick if they could see me out here. Every time I feel sorry for myself I just take a look at my standard of living and count my money. I'm playing football and I'm loaded." Next stop was Qatar and Titi finally went back to France where he had started his professional career, with Amiens. In June 2009 Titi took over as manager of Guinea's national team, a post which he held for four months. At the end of 2010 Titi was appointed Guinea's Sports Minister and remained in office until October 2012 when he was forced out in a government reshuffle.
"At Liverpool, I was lucky enough to be playing for a great club, but unfortunately things didn't go well. I would have liked to have continued my career there, but that's football, that's destiny. The memories I have from Anfield will stay with me right until my final days.''