Mohammed Tchité

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Mohammed 'Mémé' Tchité (born January 31, 1984 in Bujumbura) is a Belgian-Burundian footballer currently playing with Racing de Santander in the Spanish first division, as a striker.

He was born and brought up in Bujumbura, the capital of Burundi, but his parents come from neighbouring Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

[edit] Club career

Tchité started his footballing career with hometown club Dragon Super Rangers FC Nyakabiga (then known as AS Rangers FC). He joined Prince Louis FC in 2001, winning the Burundian League and the Revelation Footballer of the Year award, also being the finalist in the Kagame Inter-Club Cup. In 2002, he left for Mukura Victory Sports FC in Rwanda, where he would be noticed by scouts from Belgium's Standard de Liège.

In 2003, Tchité arrived in Liège, where he became a regular member of the first team, scoring 21 goals in 58 matches during his three years with the club. During a brief, three-match loan to Juventus during the 2004-05 preseason tour of Asia, he made one appearance, against FC Tokyo, before he returned to Standard. In 2005-06, Tchité scored 16 goals to help Standard finish as runners-up to R.S.C. Anderlecht. That tally put him second in the goalscoring list, behind only Tosin Dosunmu, who scored 18 for K.F.C. Germinal Beerschot. In the following season, he was named Belgium's Professional Footballer of the Year.^[1]

On August 31, 2007, the last day of the summer transfer period, Racing de Santander announced the signing of Tchité in order to replace Valencia CF-bound Nikola Žigić.^[2]In the November 11 match against Deportivo de La Coruña, he scored the only goal in a 1-0 road win, repeating the feat on February 24, 2008, against UD Almería (home fixture). The striker netted four times in his first twenty league matches at Santander, finishing the season at eight.

On November 1, 2008, Tchité scored a hat-trick against Valencia CF at the Estadio Mestalla, in a 4-2 win that signified the Che side's first defeat in 2008-09.^[3]

[edit] International career

Despite his African roots, Tchité announced his desire to play for Belgium once he obtained his citizenship having played for Standard Liège for over two years. He officially became a Belgian citizen on July 11, 2008.^[4]

National team coach René Vandereycken called him up for the World Cup qualifying campaign, but FIFA intervened and ruled the player ineligible because he had previously represented Burundi at senior level in the Cecafa Cup in 2000, also having appeared for the nation at under-20 level, and having changed international allegiances to Rwanda when he moved to Mukura Victory Sports in 2002, even though he never played for the Rwandan national side,^[5]which meant Tchité remained eligible for the latter, according to FIFA regulations.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Racing Santander profile (Spanish)
• BDFutbol profile

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