Cheick Diabaté (footballer)

Cheick Diabaté
Personal information
Full nameCheick Tidiane Diabaté
Date of birth25 April 1988
Place of birthBamako, Mali
Height1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)
Playing positionStriker
Club information
Current team
Bordeaux
Number14
Youth career
2000–2006Centre Salif Keita
2006–2008Bordeaux
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
2008–Bordeaux105(40)
2008–2009→ Ajaccio (loan)30(14)
2009–2010→ Nancy (loan)2(0)
National team‡
2005Mali U-17
2005–Mali31(12)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17 January 2015.

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 22:21, 16 June 2013 (UTC)

Cheick Tidiane Diabaté (born 25 April 1988) is a Malian international football player who currently plays for French club Bordeaux in Ligue 1.

Club career

Bordeaux

Diabaté was promoted to the senior squad of Bordeaux for the 2008–09 season following a successful season in the CFA, where he made 35 appearances and scored 18 goals. Due to a surplus of more experienced strikers, manager Laurent Blanc loaned him out to the Corsica-based and Ligue 2 club AC Ajaccio to get more playing time.

Ajaccio (loan)

Diabaté made his debut for Ajaccio in their opening match loss to Châteauroux playing the full 90 minutes. In the second match, he proved beneficial to the club scoring a brace in their 3–1 win over Stade Reims.[1] Three weeks later, he scored another brace, this time in a 4–0 thrashing of Vannes.[2] The following three weeks, he scored one goal in each match with Ajaccio earning wins over Brest[3] and Clermont[4] and drawing with Nîmes.[5]

Diabaté's positive play continued throughout the season scoring important game-winning goals against Guingamp,[6] Lens,[7] Angers,[8] and Boulogne.[9] He also scored a goal in the annual Derby Corse against Bastia with the match finishing in a 1–1 draw.[10] Diabaté finished the season with 14 goals, a team high and 4th among Ligue 2 topscorers, helping the club stave off relegation on the final day of the season.

Diabaté's play with Ajaccio earned him a contract extension with his parent club agreeing to remain in Bordeaux until June 2013.[11]

Nancy (loan)

Despite returning to Bordeaux on 1 July, on 20 July, he was sent on loan again, this time to fellow Ligue 1 club AS Nancy.[12] The striker has spent most of the stint playing in the reserves only featuring twice with the senior team.

Return to Bordeaux

Cheick Diabaté is having an excellent 2013–14 season in Ligue 1 with Bordeaux, scoring goals against Toulouse FC, FC Lorient,and twice against Sochaux taking his tally to 8 goals in 19 Ligue 1 outings as well as 2 goals in the French Cup.

International career

Diabaté started out with Mali's national under-17 team where they participated in the 2005 African U-17 Championship. He scored a goal in each of their group stage matches but Mali failed to advance to the knockout round.[13] Less than a month after the tournament, he would get his senior debut against Liberia in a 2006 World Cup qualifier where they won 4–1. He came on as an 85th minute substitute for Dramane Coulibaly.[14] Diabaté was a member of the Mali side that earned third place at the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations. He finished the tournament as one of the top scorers, having netted 3 goals in total, including two in the third place play-off against Ghana on 11 February 2012.[15]

Honours

Bordeaux
Mali

References

  1. ↑ Reims v. Ajaccio Match Report. Ligue de Football Professionnel. Retrieved on 22 September 2011.
  2. ↑ Ajaccio v. Vannes Match Report. Ligue de Football Professionnel. Retrieved on 22 September 2011.
  3. ↑ Brest v. Ajaccio Match Report. Ligue de Football Professionnel. Retrieved on 22 September 2011.
  4. ↑ Ajaccio v. Clermont Match Report. Ligue de Football Professionnel. Retrieved on 22 September 2011.
  5. ↑ Nîmes v. Ajaccio Match Report. Ligue de Football Professionnel. Retrieved on 22 September 2011.
  6. ↑ Ajaccio v. Guingamp Match Report. Ligue de Football Professionnel. Retrieved on 22 September 2011.
  7. ↑ Lens v. Ajaccio Match Report. Ligue de Football Professionnel. Retrieved on 22 September 2011.
  8. ↑ Angers v. Ajaccio Match Report. Ligue de Football Professionnel. Retrieved on 22 September 2011.
  9. ↑ Boulogne v. Ajaccio Match Report. Ligue de Football Professionnel. Retrieved on 22 September 2011.
  10. ↑ Ajaccio v. Bastia Match Report. Ligue de Football Professionnel. Retrieved on 22 September 2011.
  11. ↑ Bordeaux: Trois prolongations. Mercato365.com (31 August 2011). Retrieved on 22 September 2011.
  12. ↑ Trois Bordelais à Nancy. L'Equipe. Retrieved on 22 September 2011.
  13. ↑ Díaz Rubio, Julian; Kalumiana, Kalumiana. "African U-17 Championship 2005". RSSSF. Retrieved 24 January 2012.
  14. ↑ "Match Report: Mali - Liberia". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Retrieved 24 January 2012.
  15. ↑ Agencies. "Mali beat Ghana to finish third". Daily Monitor. Uganda. Retrieved 13 February 2012.

External links