Pione Sisto

Pione Sisto

File:Pione Sisto v Lincoln 2015.jpg
Personal information
Full name	Pione Sisto Ifolo Emirmija
Date of birth	(1995-02-04) 4 February 1995
Place of birth	Uganda
Height
Position(s)	Winger
Team information
Current team	Midtjylland
Number	27
Youth career
	Tjørring IF
	Horsens
	Midtjylland
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2013–	Midtjylland	83	(17)
International career‡
2015–	Denmark U21	4	(4)
2015–	Denmark	2	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20:43, 8 May 2016 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 11 October 2015

Pione Sisto Ifolo Emirmija (born 4 February 1995) is a Danish footballer who was born in Uganda to Southern Sudanese parents. He plays as a midfielder for Superliga club Midtjylland.

Career

Pione Sisto made his league debut during the 2012–13 Danish Superliga season and scored his first professional goal during the same season in the match against AGF of Århus. On 2 March 2014, he scored twice in FC Midtjylland's 5–1 away victory over F.C. København in the Danish Superliga.

In December 2014, Sisto was voted "Player of the Year 2014" by the Danish Footballers' Association and "Profile of the Autumn 2014" by the Danish Football Magazine.

After an injury he played his first club match in 2015 in May coming on as a substitute against F.C. København. Shortly after he made an assist for the game's first goal followed by scoring the deciding goal, giving FCM a 2–0 victory to win their first Danish league title.

Scouts from Barcelona, Milan, Juventus and Porto have been to Denmark several times to see the Danish midfielder and Arsenal has also shown interest in the midfielder. According to Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf Ajax has offered 7 million euros without success. The player is represented by his agent Jonas Ankersen.

He scored for Midtjylland against Manchester United in a 2–1 home win in the Europa League on 18 February 2016. He also scored the opening goal of the second-leg at Old Trafford before Midtjylland went on to lose 5-1 (6-3 on aggregate) to Manchester United and bow out of the Europa League.

International career

Since Sisto was not a Danish citizen, but had lived almost his whole life in Denmark, the Danish national team manager Morten Olsen expressed his hope that the player would be eligible for the national squad. Upon receiving his Danish citizenship in December 2014, Sisto was immediately chosen to represent the Denmark national under-21 football team, although in an unofficial match. Legally, he would not yet be able to represent Denmark in an official international match, due to FIFA regulations. On 23 January 2015, he made his debut for the Danish U21 side, scoring a hat-trick in a 7–1 win against Romanian club FC Dinamo București.

On 8 May 2015, Sisto received official word of FIFA's dispensation decision, allowing him to represent Denmark without waiting the obligatory five years following his 18th birthday.

On 20 May 2015, Sisto was called up to the Denmark national football team for its matches against Montenegro and Serbia.

Sisto debuted for the Danish national football team on 4 September 2015, in a Euro 2016 qualifying match against Albania. He played the first 45 minutes, but was replaced at halftime by Yussuf Poulsen. The game ended 0–0.

He represented the Denmark U21 team at the 2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championship in the Czech Republic, and scored the last goal in a 2–1 victory against the host nation in the opening match at the Eden Arena in Prague.

Personal life

Sisto has lived in Denmark since he was two months old and has Danish citizenship.

External links

• Scoresway.com Profile