Ibrahima Baldé

Ibrahima

Baldé playing with Kuban (2012)
Personal information
Full nameIbrahima Baldé
Date of birth4 April 1989
Place of birthDakar, Senegal
Height1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Playing positionForward
Club information
Current team
Kuban Krasnodar
Number99
Youth career
2006–2007Argentinos Juniors
2007–2008Vélez Sársfield
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
2008–2010Atlético Madrid B18(8)
2010–2011Atlético Madrid18(3)
2010–2011→ Numancia (loan)18(6)
2011–2012Osasuna22(7)
2012–Kuban Krasnodar58(17)
National team‡
2012–Senegal U233(1)
2012–Senegal2(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 24 April 2015.

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 2 June 2012

Ibrahima Baldé (born 4 April 1989), known as Ibrahima and sometimes Ibra, is a Senegalese professional footballer who plays for FC Kuban Krasnodar in Russia as a forward.

Club career

Early years / Spain

Ibrahima was born in Dakar. In 2006 the 16-year-old arrived in Argentina after signing for Argentinos Juniors and, the following year, he joined another team in the country, Club Atlético Vélez Sársfield. He later said of his time in the country: "When I went to Argentina I could never imagine how many troubles and personal insults I would have to experience because of my skin colour there."[1]

In 2009–10 Ibrahima continued his football formation as he joined Atlético Madrid, being initially relocated with its B-side. Due to injuries to the first team's offensive line – Florent Sinama Pongolle had also just been sold – he made his La Liga debut on 2 January 2010, playing the full 90 minutes against Sevilla FC at the Vicente Calderón Stadium in a 2–1 win.

In the same month, on the 17th, Ibrahima scored his first goal with Atlético's main squad, in another home win, 3–2 against Sporting de Gijón; after just five minutes on the pitch, he tapped in Sergio Agüero's saved attempt to make it 3–1.[2]

On 6 March 2010 Ibrahima extended his contract with Atlético until 2013,[3] scoring a last-minute equalizer in a 1–1 draw at Real Zaragoza the following day.[4] He was loaned to CD Numancia in Segunda División in the summer, in a season-long move.

Ibrahima's spell with the Soria club was greatly undermined by injury, as he appeared in less than half of the league's matches. On 13 April 2011 he agreed to join CA Osasuna on a three-year contract, effective as of July, with a buyout clause of €9 million.[5]

Kuban

On 23 August 2012 Ibrahima signed for Russia's FC Kuban Krasnodar, penning a three-year contract –[6] he stated he would not have problems adapting to the new reality even though his move was delayed due to visa issues.[7] Four days later he scored twice on his debut, and also set up a goal for Marcos Pizzelli in a 6–2 win over FC Volga Nizhny Novgorod, before coming off in the 71st minute.[8]

Honours

Atlético Madrid

References

  1. ↑ "Balde happy with his career in Kuban". Yahoo! Sports. 20 January 2014. Retrieved 31 January 2014.
  2. ↑ "Forlan fires Atletico to victory". ESPN Soccernet. 17 January 2010. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  3. ↑ "Balde signs new Atletico Madrid deal". Ontheminute. 6 March 2010. Retrieved 6 March 2010.
  4. ↑ "Last-gasp Ibrahima leveller". ESPN Soccernet. 7 March 2010. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
  5. ↑ "Ibrahima firma con Osasuna para tres temporadas" [Ibrahima signs with Osasuna for three seasons] (in Spanish). Marca. 13 April 2011. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
  6. ↑ "Senegal forward Ibrahima Balde joins Russia's Kuban". BBC Sport. 23 August 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  7. ↑ "Kuban's Balde: No problems adapting to Russia". Ria Novosti. 22 August 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  8. ↑ "Kuban Krasno 6–2 Volga Nizhny". ESPN FC. 27 August 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2013.

External links