Cisse happy to deal with the pressure of the number nine shirt (From The Northern Echo)

Cisse happy to deal with the pressure of the number nine shirt

8:00am Saturday 11th February 2012 in Sport By Scott Wilson

PAPISS Cisse is fully aware of the weight of expectation that comes with Newcastle United's fabled number nine shirt, but the £9m striker will do all he can to live up to the legends who have worn one of the most iconic jerseys in football in the past.

Last summer, Alan Pardew opted not to fill his side's vacant number nine position, fearing the responsibility might have been too much for the likes of Demba Ba, Leon Best or Shola Ameobi.

He had no such concerns last month, however, when Cisse was immediately handed Newcastle's most celebrated totem as soon as he had completed his switch from German club Freiburg.

His first appearance as the new number nine could hardly have gone better, as he achieved something the likes of Alan Shearer and Andy Carroll couldn't manage when he scored in front of the Gallowgate End on his debut against Aston Villa.

Shearer was in the stands to watch him, and while Cisse knows all about the history and heritage of the role he has inherited, he is hoping to add another name to the list of celebrated Newcastle strikers.

“I know I have a lot to prove here and I know what the shirt means to this football club,” said the Senegal international, ahead of this afternoon's top-five clash with Tottenham Hotspur. “I'm very proud to wear it and I hope I can be successful in it.

“That is why I've come here, it is a special challenge and I'm very excited about what the future holds.

“It's important for me to have a special relationship with the fans and that is one of the reasons I liked the idea of coming to Newcastle.

“Demba had told me how the people here love the game and how passionate they are. They live and breathe football and I wanted to go to a club like that. I feed off that positive energy, I want to thrive here.

“This is a football city with great support for the club. It makes me very happy to know they are like that. This is my sort of club.”

Cisse has been on Tyneside for less than a fortnight as the start of his Newcastle career coincided with Senegal's unsuccessful campaign in the Africa Cup of Nations.

He is still finding his bearings, but has already seen enough to appreciate the responsibility that now rests on his shoulders.

Born in Dakar, the Senegalese capital, in 1985, Cisse began his career with local club Douanes Dakar before moving to French club Metz as a 19-year-old.

He was not an overnight success, as loan spells at Cherbourg and Chateauroux testify, but a record of 35 goals from 95 appearances eventually brought him to the attention of German side Freiburg.

He moved to the Bundesliga for £1.3m in December 2009, and sprang to prominence in the 2010-11 campaign when he was second on the scoring charts behind Bayern Munich's Mario Gomez.

Yet while he was respected for his abilities in front of goal, his profile remained somewhat low key thanks to unfashionable Freiburg's struggles in the bottom half of the table. Last month, that all changed.

“I went to the corner shop the other day to buy a few things and people recognised me straight away,” he said. “They were shouting my name, asking for autographs and pictures. It made me feel good that people are wishing me well here.

“When I was at Metz, nobody knew who I was. I could walk around and nobody would bother me. When I went to Freiburg it changed, but this is different again.

“It's been great, but I don't get over-excited by it. I'm not the kind of player who thinks I'm a big star. I just pray to God I will score even more goals for Newcastle United.”

Religion clearly plays an important role in Cisse's life, and like his compatriot and fellow striker Ba, the African is a practising Muslim.

He intends to go to the same Tyneside mosque as Ba, and is determined to master English as quickly as possible. For the moment, his words are being interpreted by former Newcastle full-back Olivier Bernard.

His faith has helped him at various stages of his career, most notably last summer when a mooted move to Newcastle was scuppered by the Freiburg board.

“I belonged to Freiburg and while I was interested in a move to England, I didn't fall out with anyone,” said Cisse, whose biggest footballing hero as a child was Samuel Eto'o. “They didn't want to sell me in the summer and I respected their decision.

“If they were not happy to sell me I just carried on doing the best I could for them. I have a strong belief in God and I knew if he wanted me to go, it would happen. That is how it has worked out for me with this move to Newcastle.”