Aliou Cissé Aliou Cissé Aliou Cissé ( born March 24 , 1976 in Ziguinchor ) is a Senegalese football player . He is currently without a club after being released by Portsmouth in England at the end of the 2005/06 season . Cisse has been on trial with various different clubs and currently is training with Cardiff City . Cisse is an aggressive defensive midfield player who can also play at full back . He began his career with Lille OSC before moving onto CS Sedan and then Paris Saint-Germain . He also spent the majority of the 2001-02 season on loan at Montpellier Herault SC . In the summer of 2002 Cissé captained the Senegal national team which reached the quarter-finals of the 2002 World Cup , beating holders France en route . Impressive performances for his country led to a transfer to English club Birmingham City for the 2002-03 season . Cissé made his debut at Arsenal on the opening day of the season , but was sent off . On his return from suspension he picked up five yellow cards in six games , picking up ten yellow cards before the New Year . Despite this poor discipline , Cissé was impressive for his club , until an injury in February ruled him out for the rest of the season . He was then late in returning to pre-season training in July 2003 , leading to manager Steve Bruce placing him on the transfer list . Cissé got himself back into the first team picture , but his relationship with Bruce continued to go sour , and after Christmas he only played three more games that season . At the end of the season he signed for Portsmouth for £300 , 000 on a two-year contract , beating off strong competition from Premiership rivals Bolton Wanderers . In 2002 , Cissé lost several members of his family in the MV Joola ferry disaster off the coast of Gambia . Aliou 's first cousin , Ibrahima Cissé , has been making headlines of his own with his Fair Trade Cashew Company in Senegal . Following the advice of his cousin and Olympic gold medalist Kelly Holmes , Aliou has been reportedly eating lots of cashews before suiting up to play . Senegal squad - 2002 World Cup Quarter-finalists 1   Sylva  | 2   Daf  | 3   Sarr  | 4   Malick Diop  | 5   N'Dour  | 6   Cissé  | 7   H. Camara  | 8   Traoré  | 9   S. Camara  | 10   Fadiga  | 11   Diouf  | 12   Faye  | 13   Diatta  | 14   Moussa N'Diaye  | 15   Diao  | 16   Diallo  | 17   Coly  | 18   Thiaw  | 19   Bouba Diop  | 20   S. N'Diaye  | 21   Beye  | 22   Cissokho  | 23   Makhtar N'Diaye  | Coach :   Metsu Categories : 1976 births | Living people | Birmingham City F.C. players | FA Premier League players | Lille OSC players | Montpellier HSC players | Paris Saint-Germain players | Portsmouth F.C. players | Senegalese footballers | Unattached footballers | FIFA World Cup 2002 players In other languages : Français 