Contrary to popular belief, new SuperSport United striker Mamour Niang isn’t related to retired Senegalese striker Mame Niang, who also turned out for Matsatsantsa and a host of other local clubs such as Mamelodi Sundowns and Pretoria University.
This was revealed by Mame, who’s now living in Norway.
In an interview with Sowetan, the now 38-year-old retired striker however revealed that he played a huge role in bringing Mamour to SA as his manager.
“I’ve got a football school in Senegal and Mamour is a product of that school. I also manage him. He’s not my younger brother and we are not related at all... it’s just that our surnames are the same. The name of my football school is UniFoot... I asked coach Gavin Hunt to have a look at him and that’s how they signed him because he impressed when he was being assessed,” Mame said.
Mamour penned a one-and-a-half year deal with an option to renew, making his debut off the bench in Matsatsantsa’s goalless draw against Swallows at Dobsonville Stadium last Saturday. Mame, who won the Golden Boot with 14 goals while at Swallows in the 2005/06 season, has high hopes Mamour will emulate him by banging in goals in SA.
“He [Mamour] is a very good striker. He’s good in the air just like me but he’s better than me because he’s mobile. He’s technically better than me as well. I really believe he will score so many goals in SA because he’s a hard worker. The boy is capable of achieving more than I did in SA,” Mame said.
When he was announced last Friday, Mamour disclosed that Mame made him aware that coach Hunt is a father figure, adding the coach had helped him work hard during training.
“I am very excited to join SuperSport. Mame Niang told me that coach Gavin Hunt is like a father to all of his players and he’s pushed me to work hard during all of our training sessions,” 23-year-old Mamour told the Matsatsantsa media team.
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