Adama Traoré (Ivorian footballer)

Adama Traoré

Adama Traoré playing for Melbourne Victory in 2012
Personal information
Full nameAdama Traoré
Date of birth3 February 1990
Place of birthBondoukou, Côte d'Ivoire[1]
Height1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Playing positionLeft Back / Left Midfield / Left Winger
Club information
Current team
FC Basel
Number3
Youth career
2002–2004Celtic Football Academie
2005–2006EF Yéo Martial
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
2006–2008EF Yéo Martial
2009–2012Gold Coast United69(3)
2012–2014Melbourne Victory48(1)
2014–2015Vitória de Guimarães15(0)
2015–FC Basel6(0)
National team‡
2007Côte d'Ivoire U171(0)
2006–2007Côte d'Ivoire U191(0)
2007–2009Côte d'Ivoire U205(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 25 March 2015.

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 19 September 2013

Adama Traoré (born 3 February 1990) in the Ivory Coast, is an Ivorian-Australian professional footballer, who plays as a left-back for FC Basel in the Swiss Super League. He has also played for Australian clubs Melbourne Victory and Gold Coast United. Traore carries both an Ivorian passport and an Australian Passport.

Club career

Adama Traoré training with Melbourne Victory FC in 2013.

Traoré began his career in his native Côte d'Ivoire. He played for Ecole de Football Yéo Martial. He later signed a 3-year contract with former A-League club Gold Coast United, after impressing in trial matches. Gold Coast United invited him for a trial after having watched highlights of his performances at the 2007 Toulon Tournament.[2][3]

In 2010 Traore stated the move to the former A-League club Gold Coast United was a stepping stone in his ambitions of playing club football internationally. Due to Gold Coast United having its A-League license revoked [4] it was announced On 15 March 2012 Traore had signed a 2-year contract with A-League club Melbourne Victory.[5] Traore made his debut for the Victory in their Round 1 clash with cross-town rivals Melbourne Heart, an encounter which the Victory lost 2–1. On 9 March 2013, Traore suffered a high grade, high ankle ligament rupture which sidelined him for the rest of the 2012/13 season.[6]

[7]

After Clive Palmer's club collapsed, and before the hurried inception of the Western Sydney Wanderers as a replacement in the A-League, Adama Traore signed with Melbourne Victory - and stated his desire to play for Australia's national team.[8] The future coach of Australia stated that Adama would be a good fit for the left full-back position[9] however he was rejected due to a FIFA rule that was designed to protect players from being signed at a young age by foreign football giants - many of his compatriots are signed as teenagers by French clubs, and as a result the French national team has many Africans playing for them. Adama's 7 appearances as a teenager in the Ivory Coast youth squads prior to 2010 were cited as the reason. Australia were ranked 59th in the FIFA world rankings leading into the 2014 World Cup - well below Ivory Coast for several years - however Traore genuinely wanted to become a naturalised Australian citizen, and Australian law as well as similar cases overseas meant that the main issues seen in 2012/13 were: would Traore be fit after his ankle injury, and would he pass his citizenship tests - at the Australian end.[10] There are several similar cases of players changing nationalities from northern Ireland (in Great Britain) to Ireland and the big mover at the time of Australia's 2014 qualifying campaign was Diego Costa of Spain, then Brazil, so to be given Australian citizenship, in time for the World Cup, and then to be denied was disappointing for Adama Traore, his fans at Melbourne Victory and the Socceroos.[11] Adama had lived in Australia for 5 years to this point and has taken no further part in Ivorian football, and may not, as proven by the fact that after receiving news that he would not be allowed by FIFA to play for his adopted country[12] he continued the arduous naturalisation process for a further 8 months and finally became an "Aussie" in May 2014.

On the 8th of April 2014, Traoré officially became an Australian citizen.[13]

On the 5th of May 2014, Traoré's contract with Melbourne expired after declining renewals in hopes of pursuit a career in Europe.[14][15]

The most prestigious award given to a Melbourne Victory player, the Victory Medal, was awarded to Adama Traore at the end of season awards ceremony[16] on May 10, 2014.

On 14 June 2014, it was announced that Portuguese club Vitória de Guimarães had signed Traoré on a multi-year deal.[17] After spending only six months in Portugal, Traoré joined FC Basel.[18]

International career

Traoré has had spells with the Côte d'Ivoire U17, Côte d'Ivoire U19, & Côte d'Ivoire U21, playing a total of 7 games for his Country, scoring only one goal. Adama has played two games in the CAF-organised 2007 African Youth Championship (versus Congo and The Gambia) which doubled as a qualifier for the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup.[19][20] During the same year, Traoré also participated in the Toulon Tournament and the UEMOA Tournament.

After arriving in Australia, Traoré stated that he would like to play for the Socceroos.[21] However it later became clear that this was impossible as he had represented Côte d'Ivoire at youth level.[12][22] Under the regulations of FIFA, a player's national allegiance cannot change after they have represented their country of origin at national youth level unless the player held dual nationality upon their original call-up.[22]

Adama has also previously been selected for the senior national team to play against Senegal however having not yet played a game he has not received a full international cap, Adama turned down the opportunity to play this game as he had the ambition to play for the Socceroos.

Traore was called up by Ivory Coast for the first time on 7 November 2014 for their matches against Sierra Leone and Cameroon[23][24]

A-League career statistics

As of 10 October 2014
Club Season League Finals Cup Continental Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Gold Coast United 2009–10 11000––––110
2010–11 29220––––312
2011–12 271––––––271
Total 67 3 2 0 – – 0 0 69 3
Melbourne Victory 2012–13 22000––––220
2013–14 24120––40301
Total 46 1 2 0 – – 4 0 52 1
Career total 1134400040 1214

Honours

With Côte d'Ivoire:

Personal Honours:

References

  1. ↑ Iain Strachan (September 28, 2013). "Top 15 A-League players: No. 12 Adama Traore". Goal.com.
  2. ↑ "35ème Festival Foot "Espoirs"" (in French). Festival Foot Esports.
  3. ↑ Out of Africa bonus for Gold Coast United
  4. ↑ http://www.couriermail.com.au/archive/sport-old/clive-palmer-says-gold-coast-united-a-league-licence-revoked/story-e6frepmf-1226285120538
  5. ↑ http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/news-display/Victory-confirm-Traore-signing/46171
  6. ↑ http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/melbournevictory/news-display/adama-traore-injury-update/62794
  7. ↑ http://au.fourfourtwo.com/news/182980,traore-plays-down-roo-link.aspx
  8. ↑ http://www.news.com.au/sport/football/soon-to-be-aussie-adama-traore-ready-to-solve-socceroos-left-back-conundrum/story-fndm8psv-1226710911714
  9. ↑ http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/socceroos-call-up-awaits-adama-traore/story-e6frg6n6-1226507237007?nk=59390e427a593852f8d32a6bc5dd3791
  10. ↑ http://www.theage.com.au/sport/soccer/traore-eyes-socceroos-20130207-2e1ck.html
  11. ↑ http://www.theroar.com.au/2014/05/14/costa-spain-traore-socceroos/
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 http://www.goal.com/en-au/news/4020/australia/2013/10/03/4307057/adama-traore-not-an-option-for-socceroos
  13. ↑ https://twitter.com/gomvfc/status/453418389000564736
  14. ↑ http://www.theage.com.au/sport/soccer/melbourne-victory-loses-adama-traore-to-european-dream-20140505-zr53d.html
  15. ↑ http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/football/melbourne-victory-suffers-a-blow-with-gun-leftback-adama-traore-quitting-the-aleague-club/story-fnk6pqhd-1226906327621
  16. ↑ http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/melbournevictory/news-display/Traore-takes-home-Victory-Medal/90423
  17. ↑ "Adama Traoré reforça defesa". Vitória S.C. (in Portuguese). 14 June 2014. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
  18. ↑ "FCB verpflichtet Verteidiger Adama Traoré" (in German). FC Basel 1893. 10 January 2015. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
  19. ↑ "Technical Details – Congo – Cote d'Ivoire". CAFU20.com. Confederation of African Football. Archived from the original on 29 May 2007. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
  20. ↑ "Technical Details – Cote d'Ivoire – Gambia". CAFU20.com. Confederation of African Football. Archived from the original on 29 May 2007. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
  21. ↑ http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2010/07/31/243755_gold-coast-soccer.html
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 http://au.fourfourtwo.com/news/283909,adama-traore-confirmed-ineligible-for-socceroos.aspx
  23. ↑ http://www.fifa.com/world-match-centre/news/newsid/247/235/6/
  24. ↑ http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/nov/07/ivory-coast-kolo-toure-africa-nations-cup
  25. ↑ "http://tournoiuemoa.fr/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=230&Itemid=149". UEMOA. 15 November 2007.

External links