Lassina Diabaté (born 16 September 1974) is an Ivorian former professional footballer. He played for Ivory Coast and a few clubs in Europe. He played primarily as a defensive midfielder but could also play as a centre back.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 16 September 1974 | ||
| Place of birth | Bouaké, Ivory Coast | ||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Defensive midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Olympique Alès | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1992–1993 | Olympique Alès | ||
| 1993–1995 | FC Bourges | ||
| 1995–1997 | Perpignan | 50 | (1) |
| 1997–2001 | Bordeaux | 91 | (2) |
| 2001–2002 | Auxerre | 23 | (0) |
| 2002–2003 | Portsmouth | 16 | (0) |
| 2004 | Ajaccio | 13 | (0) |
| 2004–2005 | Sint-Truiden | 20 | (0) |
| 2005–2006 | Lausanne-Sport | 14 | (0) |
| 2007 | Cannes | 0 | (0) |
| 2008–2009 | Louhans-Cuiseaux | 46 | (0) |
| 2011–2012 | Mérignac | ||
| Total | 273 | (3) | |
| International career | |||
| 1997–2003 | Ivory Coast | 32 | (1) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Born in Bouaké, Ivory Coast, Diabaté acquired French nationality by naturalization on 7 July 1997.[1] He played for several clubs in France, including Perpignan FC, Bordeaux and Auxerre.[2] In his time at Bordeaux he won Ligue 1 in the 1998–99 season.[3]
He was a participant at the 1998, 2000 and 2002 African Cup of Nations. He is best known for wearing fluorescent orange soccer boots, before such designs became fashionable. Diabaté was signed by Portsmouth in October 2002.[4] During his time in England with Portsmouth his manager Harry Redknapp described him as being "as hard as iron" and said: "I wouldn't want to be a striker playing against him, he is a wonderfully aggressive player who controls the midfield for us". He made 25 league appearances during Portsmouth's 2002–03 season after which they were promoted to the Premier League.[5]
He often struggled with injuries at various points in his career, which limited the amount of time he spent at each club.
References
edit- ^ "JORF n° 0158 du 9 juillet 1997 - Légifrance" (PDF). legifrance.gouv.fr (in French). p. 10405. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
- ^ "La fiche de Lassina Diabaté" (in French). L'Equipe. Retrieved 21 August 2009.
- ^ "Girondins de Bordeaux 1998-99". bdfutbol.com. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
- ^ "Pompey snap up Diabate". BBC. 3 October 2002. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
- ^ "Games played by Lassina Diabate in 2002/2003". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
External links
edit- Lassina Diabaté at WorldFootball.net
- Lassina Diabaté at National-Football-Teams.com
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