Background
Keita was born in Bamako, playing in his country for AS Real Bamako and Stade Malien.
Keita was born in Bamako, playing in his country for AS Real Bamako and Stade Malien.
Keita joined fellow league side Olympique de Marseille in the 1972 summer. After the club tried to force him to assume French nationality, he opposed, leaving in the ensuing off-season for Valencia CF in Spain. In 1976, after three years with Valencia, Keita signed for Sporting Clube de Portugal, where he replaced another legendary goalscorer, Héctor Yazalde.
In two of his three seasons with the Lisbon club he scored in double digits, winning one domestic cup.
He retired at the age of 34, after a couple of years with the New England Tea Men in the United States. In 1963, at the age of only 16, Keita was selected to play for Mali.
He was part of the squad that appeared at the 1972 African Cup of Nations in Cameroon, helping the national team finish second. In June 2005, Keita was elected president of the Mali Football Federation for a period of four years.
Late into the following year, he was selected by the Confederation of African Football as one of the best 200 African football players of the last 50 years.
Club Country Individual Decorations.