Quick Facts
Biography
Maki Madani Tall (born October 30, 1995), is an American-French soccer player of Ivorian descent, who plays as a forward for Tours FC.
Club career
Tall first joined Génération Foot in 2004, when he and his family were living in Senegal. Four years later, he moved to Ivory Coast and joined local Abidjan-based side Club La Pépinière. It was during this time in Ivory Coast that he began trialing with a number of French clubs. He eventually joined Le Mans as an under-15, and excelled at youth level, finishing numerous youth seasons as his side's top scorer.
He signed a professional contract with Lille in 2013, amid rumours that Le Mans were going to go bankrupt. In 2015 he was loaned to Championnat National side Red Star on a six-month loan, but only managed 2 appearances, totaling 15 minutes, before returning to Lille.
Tall joined Swiss side FC Sion in July 2015 from Lille. However, he only featured for the club's 'B' team, before being released a year later in July 2016.
Preceding his release from Sion, he returned to France to join Tours, where he spent a highly successful 2016–17 season with the club's 'B' team, scoring 10 times in 18 appearances. He was given his first team professional debut on the last day of the season, replacing Cheick Fantamady Diarra after 54 minutes against AC Ajaccio. Despite his team losing the game 3–2, Tall was credited for a good performance, which he capped by scoring a debut goal.
International career
Tall is eligible to represent Ivory Coast, France and the United States, and has featured for all three at youth level. He played five games for the France under-18 side and three for the under-19s, totaling 2 goals. He was called up to the Ivory Coast under-20 side for a training camp in December 2014, and scored in a friendly against Senegal.
He marked his debut for the United States under-20 side with a goal in a 2–1 away friendly loss to England U20 in March 2015. He represented the United States at the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup, scoring against Myanmar before injury forced him to miss the remainder of the tournament.
He has also represented the United States at under-23 level, featuring in two qualifying games for the 2016 Summer Olympics against Cuba and Panama.