Razak Omotoyossi

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Personal information
Razak Omotoyossi
Full name	Razak Omotoyossi
Date of birth	October 8, 1985 (1985-10-08) (age 22)
Place of birth	Lagos, Nigeria
Height	1.77 m (5 ft 9+¹⁄₂ in)
Playing position	Forward
Club information
Current club	Helsingborgs IF
Number	11
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2003 2004 2005 2005–2006 2007-present	Sunshine Stars F.C. ASJA JS Pobé FC Sheriff Helsingborgs IF	038 00(9) 038 0(23)
National team
2004-	Benin	014 00(2)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Razak Omotoyossi (born 8 October 1985) is a Beninese football player. The striker signed for Helsingborgs IF in 2007, leaving FC Sheriff in 2006.

He started his career in his native Nigeria, but his career was nearly derailed when the Nigeria Football Association slammed a five-year ban on him for allegedly assaulting a referee during a Premier League game between his club, Sunshine Stars F.C. , and visiting Enyimba FC. He then played in Benin the next season and switched citizenship the same year.

Among other achievements, Omotoyossi scored the first ever goal for Benin in the World Youth Championship [1] [2], and equalized for Sheriff in injury time against FC Spartak Moscow in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League. [3]. He was signed to Sheriff, the top Moldovan club, in November 2005 [4].

In his first season in Allsvenskan, Omotoyossi scored 14 goals in 23 matches, though it was a great effort, it was'nt enough to beat IFK Göteborg striker Marcus Bergs 14 goals in 17 games (less games played) so Razak only finished as a runner-up. After the group stage of the UEFA Cup 2007-08, he had scored six goals in six matches, which made him top scorer alongside team mate Henrik Larsson and Luca Toni of Bayern München. This stats caught the eye of Dutch side SC Heerenveen, who wanted the striker as the Brazilian Afonso Alves would leave them. After the january transfer window had shut, it was revieled that Omotoyossi had declined a move to FC Groningen to join fellow Allsvenskan top scorer Marcus Berg, a transfer that Helsingborgs IF manager Bo Nilsson confirmed would have cost the dutch outfit more than what Sheffield United paid for Luton Shelton when he left Helsingborg for a solid £2 million[5]. After poor performances in the UEFA Cup Round of 32 against PSV Eindhoven, the interest from european clubs is said to have cooled down, although it is reported that some Russian and Ukrainean clubs are still in the hunt for the striker.

Portsmouth FC have emerged as a front-runner for the African striker, with his ability similar in quality to that of the now departed Benjani Mwaruwari.

He has also been linked with a move to sheffield united, to follow in the footsteps of Luton Shelton.

He is currently one of two forwards in the Benin national football team, scoring against Senegal in a friendly on 7 February 2007 and [6] he also scored against Ivory Coast in their 4-1 loss during the 2008 African Cup of Nations.

Omotoyossi is a devout Muslim and claims to be in possession of only one book - the Quran. In an interview with local newspaper Helsingborgs Dagblad, he compared football players with prostitutes, saying that "we go where there is money" [7]