Lassina Diabaté

Lassina Diabaté (born 16 September 1974) is a 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.

Lassina Diabaté
Personal information
Date of birth (1974-09-16) 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)
National team
1997–2003 Ivory Coast 32 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Born in Bouaké, Ivory Coast, Diabaté played for several clubs in France, including Perpignan FC, Bordeaux and Auxerre.[1] In his time at Bordeaux he won Ligue 1 in the 1998–99 season.[2]

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.[3] 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.[4]

He often struggled with injuries at various points in his career, which limited the amount of time he spent at each club. He failed to score a single goal in the last 7 years of his career.

References
  1. "La fiche de Lassina Diabaté" (in French). L'Equipe. Retrieved 21 August 2009.
  2. "Girondins de Bordeaux 1998-99". bdfutbol.com. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
  3. "Pompey snap up Diabate". BBC. 3 October 2002. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  4. "Games played by Lassina Diabate in 2002/2003". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 October 2015.


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