This Friday evening, the Parc des Princes will welcome a familiar face from French football, but in an unexpected role. Zoumana Camara, former defender of AS Saint-Étienne and Paris Saint-Germain, is preparing to begin a new chapter in his career during PSG-Toulouse, the flagship match of the 12th day of Ligue 1.
Trained at AS Saint-Étienne, Zoumana Camara made his professional debut in 1996 while the club was playing in Division 2. After two seasons and 32 appearances in the green jersey, he attracted the attention of Inter Milan, who he joined in 1998.
Despite a prestigious transfer to Serie A, his move to Inter is difficult. He then went through loans, first to Empoli, then to Bastia in Ligue 1. In 2000, he signed for Olympique de Marseille where he won and made his first selection for the French team, participating in the Coupe des Confederations 2001. After a stint at RC Lens, where he gradually regained his level, Camara returned to Saint-Étienne in 2004. During this second stint in Forez, he became a pillar of the Greens and played 118 matches in all competitions in three seasons.
Zoumana Camara: globetrotting before settling down!
Despite this rich past, everyone only remembers the stable part of Camara's career: that spent at PSG. In 2007, Camara joined PSG, where he stayed for eight seasons. Despite a complicated start, he established himself as a reliable defender and participated in the club's rise to power. During the Qatari era, he won all the national titles and ended his professional career in 2015 after 215 matches in the Parisian jersey.
Loved and respected, Camara became an assistant coach at PSG at the end of his playing career. He held this position for six years under several coaches, including Laurent Blanc and Unai Emery, before becoming U19 coach in 2021. With the young Parisians, he perfected his tactical vision and his approach to management.
A new role before coaching in the pros?
While he is prospecting and not closing any doors in order to experience his first experience as a professional coach, it is in an unexpected role that we will find the former Stéphanois. Looking for a new challenge as a coach, Camara decided to take a break from coaching to take on the role of consultant. As revealed by the account
A new role which could only be a parenthesis before returning to the sidelines. In the meantime, we will meet “Papus” again this evening so that he can give us his expertise at the Parc des Princes, an enclosure that he knows by heart, just like the Cauldron which he should soon visit…
