Keita Baldé Diao
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Keita Baldé Diao | ||
| Date of birth | 8 March 1995 | ||
| Place of birth | Arbúcies, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Playing position | Forward | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Lazio | ||
| Number | 14 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2000–2004 | Damm | ||
| 2004–2011 | Barcelona | ||
| 2010–2011 | → Cornellà (loan) | ||
| 2011–2013 | Lazio | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2013- | Lazio | 110 | (26) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2015 | Catalonia | 1 | (0) |
| 2016– | Senegal | 12 | (3) |
|
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21 May 2017. ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 16 February 2017 | |||
Keita Baldé Diao (born 8 March 1995) is a Senegalese professional footballer who plays as a forward for Lazio. Born in Spain, he decided to represent Senegal, his country of origin.
Club career
Early career
Born in Arbúcies, Girona, Catalonia, to Senegalese parents, Keita came up through the FC Barcelona's youth academy. In 2010, Keita travelled with the Barcelona youth team to Qatar for a tournament, where he played a practical joke by placing an ice-cube in a teammate's bed.[1]
As a punishment, Barcelona sent the 15-year-old Keita on loan to satellite club UE Cornellà, despite Keita's reputation as a future prospect for the first team. The loan meant Cornellà held the rights to a fraction of Keita's playing rights. After a season in which he scored 47 goals for Cornellà's youth side, Keita turned down the chance to return to Barcelona, attracting the interest of Real Madrid and Manchester United.[1]
Lazio
In the summer of 2011, he was signed by Serie A club Lazio for a fee of €300,000, of which 10% went to Cornellà.[2] Keita was unable to play official matches for Lazio's youth sides for a year, as he had to wait to be granted Spanish citizenship and the EU passport required for the Italian club to register him. However, he impressed while playing in the Torneo Karol Wojtyla youth competition, where he scored six goals in just four matches.[2]
Keita then spent the 2012–13 season playing with Lazio's Primavera youth side and training with the first team. He was selected by coach Vladimir Petković to sit on the bench for some matches in the latter part of the season but did not make his senior debut.
Promoted to the first team for the following season, Keita made his league debut in a 3–0 home win against Chievo at the Stadio Olimpico on 15 September 2013, coming on as a late substitute for Luis Pedro Cavanda.[3] Five days later, Keita made his debut in the Europa League group stage match against Legia Warsaw, starting and providing the match's only goal scored by Hernanes.[4] On 10 November 2013, he scored his first senior goal in a 1–1 draw against Parma.[5]
On 18 August 2015 Keita came off the bench to score the only goal of the game as Lazio beat Bayer Leverkusen 1–0 in the first leg of their Champions League play-off at the Stadio Olimpico.[6]
Keita fully established himself in the starting lineup in the 2016–17 season,[7] scoring his first goal of the season in Serie A matchday 6 against Empoli at home.[8] On 6 March of the following year, Keita made his 100th Serie A appearance in the 2–0 win at Bologna.[9] Later on 23 April, Keita scored his maiden hat-trick, contributing in Lazio's 6–2 thrashing of Palermo, taking his tally up to 11 goals, reaching double figures for the first time in his career.[10] He completed the hat-trick in five minutes, making it the fastest hat-trick scored in Serie A since 1974–75 season.[11] One week later, in the Derby della Capitale against Roma for the matchday 34, Keita scored a brace, as Lazio won 3–1, the first win in league against them since November 2012.[12] He also become the first Lazio player to score a brace in the derby since Roberto Mancini in 1998–99 season.[13]
International career
Keita was born in Spain to parents of Senegalese descent. Although he was eligible to play for Spain, Keita chose to play for his parents' country, Senegal, being called up by their manager, Aliou Cissé, for the match against Niger, valid for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification Group K.[14] He made his debut for Senegal in a 2–0 win over Niger as a late sub.[15] He also played a friendly match with Catalonia national team in December 2015 against Basque Country.[16]
Career statistics
Club
- As of 21 May 2017[17]
| Club | Season | League | League | Cup | Europe | Other 1 | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Lazio | 2013–14 | Serie A | 25 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 1 | — | 35 | 6 | |
| 2014–15 | 23 | 1 | 6 | 3 | — | — | 29 | 4 | ||||
| 2015–16 | 31 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 39 | 5 | ||
| 2016–17 | 31 | 16 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 32 | 16 | ||||
| Career Total | 110 | 26 | 10 | 3 | 13 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 135 | 31 | ||
- 1.^ Includes UEFA Champions League Qualification and Italian Super Cup.
International
- Statistics accurate as of matches played on 28 January 2017.[18]
| Senegal national team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 2016 | 6 | 2 |
| 2017 | 6 | 1 |
| Total | 12 | 3 |
International goals
- Scores and results list Senegal's goal tally first.[18]
| No | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 3 September 2016 | Stade Léopold Sédar Senghor, Dakar, Senegal |  Namibia | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification |
| 2. | 8 October 2016 | Stade Léopold Sédar Senghor, Dakar, Senegal |  Cape Verde | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 3. | 11 January 2017 | Stade Municipal de Kintélé, Brazzaville, Republic of Congo |  Congo | 1–0 | 2–0 | Friendly |
Honours
Club
- Lazio[19]
References
- 1 2 Finalmente Keita La Lazio scopre il baby fenomeno (Gazzetta dello Sport – ed. romana), Marco Calabresi. Lazio.net (30 December 2012). Retrieved on 20 June 2016.
- 1 2 Esclusiva – Keita, la nuova promessa della Lazio. L?agente: ?C?era l?offerta del Real Madrid, ma??. Calcionews24.com (3 January 2013). Retrieved on 20 June 2016.
- ↑ "Lazio vs. Chievo 3 – 0". Soccerway. 15 September 2013. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
- ↑ Paolo Menicucci (19 September 2013). "Hernanes pushes Lazio past Legia". UEFA.com. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
- ↑ "Parma-Lazio 1–1, non basta Keita show e gol: pareggia Lucarelli" [Parma-Lazio 1–1, the goal and show from Keita is not enough, Lucarelli equalizes] (in Italian). Gazzetta.it. 10 November 2013. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
- ↑ Champions League play-offs: Keita Balde gives Lazio edge | Football News. Sky Sports (18 August 2015). Retrieved on 20 June 2016.
- ↑ "‘Keita has earned right to start’". Football Italia. 30 September 2016. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
- ↑ "Lazio vs. Empoli 2 – 0". Soccerway. 25 September 2016. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
- ↑ "Bologna 0 - 2 Lazio - Match report - Highlights". Sky Sport. 6 March 2017. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
- ↑ Stefan Coerts (23 April 2017). "Lazio 6 Palermo 2: Keita nets five-minute hat-trick". Goal.com. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
- ↑ "Serie A Week 33: Did You Know?". Football Italia. 24 April 2017. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
- ↑ "Updated: Lazio beat Roma 3-1 in derby as Napoli close gap to one point". Independent. 30 April 2017. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
- ↑ "Serie A Week 34: Did You Know?". Football Italia. 1 May 2017. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
- ↑ "Sénégal-Niger : Aliou Cissé publie une liste de 26 joueurs.". Dakar Actu. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
- ↑ CAF – Competitions – Q CAN 2017 – Match Details. Cafonline.com. Retrieved on 20 June 2016.
- ↑ "Keita Balde, un debutant amb la selecció catalana". Ccma.cat. 2015-12-25. Retrieved 2017-07-07.
- ↑ Keita Baldé Diao at Soccerway. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
- 1 2 "Baldé Diao, Keita". National Football Teams. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
- ↑ Keita Balde Diao at Soccerway
External links
- Keita at Soccerway
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