Bacari

Bubacar Njie Kambi (born 14 March 1988), known as Bacari, is a Gambian footballer who plays as a forward for Andorran club UE Sant Julià.

Bacari

Bacari playing with Cherno More in 2013
Personal information
Full name	Bubacar Njie Kambi
Date of birth	(1988-03-14) 14 March 1988 (age 36)
Place of birth	Mataró, Spain
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s)	Forward
Team information
Current team	Martinenc
Youth career
1999–2006	Espanyol
2006–2007	Mataró
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2007–2009	Premià	33	(13)
2009	Zaragoza B	11	(1)
2009–2011	Valladolid B	51	(28)
2011	Valladolid	8	(1)
2011–2012	Espanyol B	28	(20)
2012	Espanyol	1	(0)
2012–2013	Hospitalet	33	(13)
2013–2017	Cherno More	76	(19)
2018–2019	San Fernando	28	(4)
2019	Linense	15	(2)
2019–2020	Vilassar Mar	19	(3)
2020–2022	Sant Julià	39	(18)
2022–2023	Mataró	37	(18)
2023–	Martinenc	12	(4)
International career
2016	Gambia	1	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 15:03, 1 June 2024 (UTC)

Club career

Born in Mataró, Barcelona, Catalonia, to Gambian parents,^[1][2] Bacari played for four clubs as a youth (all in his native region, mainly RCD Espanyol),^[3] finishing his development at CE Mataró and starting his career as a central defender, being known as Buba.^[4] He made his senior debut with CE Premià, then spent two and a half seasons with Real Zaragoza and Real Valladolid's reserve teams.^[5]

Bacari made his official debut with Valladolid's main squad on 20 March 2011, coming on as a substitute for Álvaro Antón for the last eight minutes of the 1–0 Segunda División home victory over Girona FC.^[6] He contributed one goal^[7] in 131 minutes during the campaign, as the Castile and León side finished in seventh position.

In July 2011, Bacari signed with RCD Espanyol B.^[8] On 3 December he made his first La Liga appearance with the first team, replacing Álvaro Vázquez in the dying minutes of a 2–1 away defeat against Valencia CF.^[9] On 20 July of the following year, he joined CE L'Hospitalet in the Segunda División B.^[10]

After being Hospi's second top scorer during his only season, only behind Sergio Cirio,^[2] Bacari moved to Bulgaria with PFC Cherno More Varna.^[11] On 30 May 2015, he scored a last-minute equalising goal in the Bulgarian Cup Final against PFC Levski Sofia to force extra time; his team went on to win 2–1.^[12] On 29 May 2017, after four First Professional Football League campaigns and an average of five goals, his contract was terminated by mutual consent.^[13]

Bacari returned to Spain and its third tier in the 2018 January transfer window, agreeing to a deal at San Fernando CD.^[14] He continued to play in the lower leagues the following years, with Real Balompédica Linense and UE Vilassar de Mar.^[15]

International career

Bacari made his debut for Gambia on 4 June 2016, starting in a 0–4 home loss against South Africa in the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.^[16]

Club statistics

As of 5 March 2017

Club	Season	League			Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Valladolid	2010–11[17]	Segunda División	8	1	0	0	1[a]	0	9	1
Espanyol	2011–12[17]	La Liga	1	0	0	0	—		1	0
Hospitalet	2012–13[17]	Segunda División B	33	13	1	0	6[a]	0	40	13
Cherno More	2013–14[18]	First Professional League	35	11	3	0	—		38	11
	2014–15[18]		12	1	5	2	—		17	3
	2015–16[18]		11	3	0	0	0	0	11	3
	2016–17[18]	First Professional League	18	4	1	1	—		19	5
	Total		76	19	9	3	0	0	85	22
Career total			118	33	10	3	7	0	135	36

1. Appearances in promotion play-offs

Honours

Cherno More

• Bulgarian Cup: 2014–15^[12]

References

1. Gambian starlet spotted at Spanish side Espanyol Archived 27 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine; The Daily Observer, 2 February 2012
2. Murillo, Óscar; Morales, I. (17 June 2013). "Los 'chicos' de Stosic se estudian a fondo la Segunda B" [Stosic 'boys' have thoroughly studied Segunda División B] (in Spanish). Estadio Deportivo. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
3. Equipos del fútbol base (Youth system teams); at Webcindario (in Spanish)
4. Els equips infantils (The infant squads); at Webcindario (in Catalan)
5. El Promesas refuerza su delantera con Bakary (Promesas strengthen offense with Bakary); Real Valladolid, 30 July 2009 (in Spanish)
6. El Valladolid sigue dando Guerra (Valladolid still wage War ("Guerra" in English)); Marca, 21 March 2011 (in Spanish)
7. Goleada sin brillo del Valladolid ante un Salamanca que acabó con nueve (Uninteresting Valladolid rout against Salamanca who ended with nine); Marca, 27 March 2011 (in Spanish)
8. Bacari ficha por Espanyol B (Bacari signs with Espanyol B) Archived 17 January 2013 at archive.today; Aquesubimos, 14 July 2011 (in Spanish)
9. Sold to the man on the bench!; ESPN Soccernet, 3 December 2011
10. L'Hospi incorpora el porter Octavi i el davanter Bacari (Hospi add goalkeeper Octavi and forward Bacari); LH Digital, 20 July 2012 (in Spanish)
11. Бакари подписа с Черно море (Bakary signed with Cherno More); PFC Cherno More, 9 July 2013 (in Bulgarian)
12. "Cherno More defy odds to beat Levski in final". UEFA. 30 May 2015. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
13. "ПФК "Черно море" се раздели с 8 футболисти" [PFC Cherno More parted ways with 8 players] (in Bulgarian). PFC Cherno More. 29 May 2017. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
14. Rodríguez, Joaquín (4 January 2018). "Buba Bacari, delantero de primera para el San Fernando" [Buba Bacari, primera forward for San Fernando] (in Spanish). Grada 3. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
15. Almagro, Rubén (15 August 2019). "El exbalono Buba solo encuentra acomodo en Tercera" [Former balono Buba can only find a home in Tercera] (in Spanish). Europa Sur. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
16. Bafana Bafana thump Gambia in Bakau; SuperSport, 4 June 2016
17. "Bacari: Bubacar Njie Kambi". BDFutbol. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
18. "Bacari". Soccerway. Retrieved 27 August 2015.

External links

• Bacari at BDFutbol
• La Segunda B profile (in Spanish)
• Bacari at National-Football-Teams.com