Bacary Sagna

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Bacary Sagna
Bacary Sagna vs West Ham 2010.jpg
Personal information
Full name Bacary Sagna
Date of birth 14 February 1983 (1983-02-14) (age 29)
Place of birth Sens, France
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)[1]
Playing position Right back
Club information
Current club Arsenal
Number 3
Youth career
1998–2002 Auxerre
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2002–2004 Auxerre B 37 (3)
2004–2007 Auxerre 89 (0)
2007– Arsenal 142 (3)
National team‡
2004–2006 France U21 12[2] (1)
2007– France 32 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 15:36, 26 February 2012 (UTC).

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 15:55, 2 October 2011 (UTC)

Bacary Sagna (French pronunciation: [bakaʁi saɲa]) (born 14 February 1983) is a French footballer who plays for Arsenal and the France national football team. His cousin Ibrahima Sonko also plays in England, for Ipswich Town.[3] Sagna is called Bac by the majority of his teammates.[4] Sagna has established as one of the best right backs in the world due to his consistent performances, sheer determination and athleticism which he contributes to the team. [5] Sagna has reached well over 150 appearances for Arsenal and due to the rarity of making errors, he is known as Mr. Reliable by fans. [6]Sagna is also an ambassador for Grassroot Soccer, an international non-profit that uses the power of soccer to educate, inspire, and mobilize communities to stop the spread of HIV.[7] He has two children with his wife, Ludivine, who is from Auxerre.

Contents

[edit] Club career

[edit] Auxerre

Sagna started his career at FC Sens. Sagna made 87 Ligue 1 appearances for Auxerre and was part of the squad that won the French Cup in 2005. He also played in the UEFA Cup in each of his three seasons with the club's first team, making a total of 17 appearances in the competition. He was also voted into the Ligue 1 team of the season for his outstanding displays at the right back position. He played in the same Auxerre team as Abou Diaby, a future Arsenal team-mate, and Tottenham Hotspur centre-back Younes Kaboul.

[icon] This section requires expansion.

[edit] Arsenal

[edit] 2007–08 season

On 12 July 2007, Sagna completed a move to Arsenal from Auxerre for an undisclosed fee, thought to have been an initial €9 million that could rise to €11 million.[8] He was given the number 3 shirt, which was previously worn by former defender Ashley Cole.[9]

Sagna made his debut for Arsenal on 19 July 2007 as a starter in the squad that beat Turkish club Gençlerbirliği 3–0 in a friendly at Austria's Bad Waltersdorf Stadion.[10]

On 13 February 2008, exactly one week before Arsenal were set to play the second leg of their 4th round encounter against AC Milan in the Champions League, Sagna's older brother, Omar Sagna, died at the age of 28, one day before his birthday. He, however, did play the match after he was advised to by his father. Arsenal went on to win the second leg 0–2 with the same scoreline on aggregate.

On 23 March, Sagna tallied his first league goal off a low header from a corner kick to give Arsenal a 1–0 lead against London rivals Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, but later went off injured before Chelsea came back to win the game 2–1.[11] At the end of the season, he was named in the PFA Team of the Year.

[edit] 2008–09 season

Alt text
Sagna taking a throw in against Manchester United

Sagna signed a new deal with Arsenal before the start of the 2008–09 season. Arsenal have signed him for a further two years, taking his contract up to 2014. Sagna stated. "I love Arsenal, it's a great club", and further added, "The manager is also very good and next season we will be fighting for all the trophies." He stunningly saved Arsenal in a 2–2 draw against Aston Villa when he jumped and kicked the ball away so that Arsenal would go into half time in the lead.[12]

[edit] 2009–10 season

Sagna struggled to replicate his form from the previous two seasons as injuries also prevented him from contributing to the team in the same way. He provided many assists though. His most important contribution was giving a cross to Nicklas Bendtner to make it 1–0 in the 94th against the Wolves. Despite this, he has been still linked away from the club with various teams, most recently Inter Milan, seemingly interested in taking the defender away from London.[13]

[edit] 2010–11 season

Sagna scored his first goal at the Emirates Stadium for Arsenal against Celtic, a game in which Arsenal went on to win 3–2 and win the Emirates Cup for the second consecutive year. He made his 100th league start for Arsenal on 3 October 2010, a 2–0 defeat against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. On 14 November 2010, he scored only his second ever official goal for Arsenal in a 2–1 away victory against Everton at Goodison Park, with a powerful shot from the near post. On 8 December 2010, Sagna picked up his first red card in his Arsenal career in a 3–1 home victory against Partizan Belgrade in Arsenal's final Champions League group game of the season. On 1 January 2011, in a match with Birmingham City, he was involved in an incident where Lee Bowyer from Birmingham City stamped on him after Sagna had gone in for a tackle, Bowyer was then banned by the FA for three games for the stamp. On 5 January 2011, Sagna picked up his second red card of the season after he and Manchester City fullback Pablo Zabaleta headbutted each other in the final moments of Arsenal's 0–0 draw with Manchester City at the Emirates Stadium. On 19 January 2011, Sagna scored his second goal of the season with Arsenal's second goal in their 3–1 victory over Leeds United at Elland Road in a 3rd round replay. This was Sagna's career best for goal scoring, his previous best came in the 2007–08 season where he only got one goal. Sagna was included in the PFA Team of the Year for his performance in the 2010–11 season.

[edit] 2011–12 season

Sagna sustained a leg break during a match against North London rivals, Tottenham, after a challenge by Benoît Assou-Ekotto forced him to land awkwardly. On 29 January 2012, Sagna came off the bench against Aston Villa F.C. as an 89th minute substitute to mark his comeback. On 26 February he started in the North London derby again, and scored a header from a Mikel Arteta cross, inspiring Arsenal to come back from being 2–0 down at the time to go on and win 5–2.[14]

[edit] International career

[edit] U-21

Sagna has previously represented the French under-21 team, with whom he also participated at the 2006 European Under-21 Championship.

At age 17 Sagna wished to join up with the Senegalese national team stating, "I wanted to play for Senegal when I was 17, but they didn't reply. So I was a bit disappointed. But when I started playing for Auxerre for the first team they contacted me (Senegal) and I had a game at the at the same day with the French national team under 21s so I had to make a choice".

[edit] Senior

He received his first senior international cap for France on 22 August 2007 in a friendly match against Slovakia on the road, which they won 1–0, coming on as a substitute for François Clerc after one hour of play. He went on to make his competitive debut for France in their 6–0 away win at the Faroe Islands on 13 October 2007 in the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifiers, playing all 90 minutes. It was his only appearance in the Euro 2008 qualifying. He was not a candidate to join the French team at the Euro 2008 finals in Austria and Switzerland as he was still recovering from the injury sustained in Arsenal's Premier League match at Chelsea in March 2008.

After recovering from the injury, Sagna returned to the French national team for their friendly match against Sweden in August 2008, playing all 90 minutes in a 3–2 away win for France. He went on to become a regular in the French team's qualifying campaign for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He was part of the disastrous French World Cup Campaign when the team crashed out at the Group stage after losing against South Africa.

[edit] Career statistics

[edit] Club

As of 15 February 2012.
Club Season League Cup[15] Europe Total
Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists
Auxerre 2004–05 26 0 0 0 0 0 10 0 0 36 0 0
2005–06 23 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 24 0 0
2006–07 38 0 5 1 0 0 8 0 0 47 0 5
Total 87 0 5 1 0 0 19 0 0 107 0 5
Arsenal 2007–08 29 1 4 3 0 0 8 0 2 40 1 6
2008–09 35 0 1 5 0 0 9 0 0 49 0 1
2009–10 35 0 5 1 0 0 8 0 0 44 0 5
2010–11 33 1 3 6 1 0 4 0 0 43 2 3
2011–12 10 1 2 2 0 0 5 0 1 17 1 3
Total 142 3 15 17 1 0 34 0 3 193 4 18
Career total 229 3 20 18 1 0 53 0 3 300 4 23

[edit] Honours

[edit] Club

AJ Auxerre

[edit] Individual

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Bacary Sagna Profile". bacarysagna.net. http://bacarysagna.net/stats.php. Retrieved 14 June 2010. 
  2. ^ "Bakari SAGNA" (in French). fff.fr. http://www.fff.fr/selections/espoirs/der_sel_esp/cvjoueurs/213140.shtml. Retrieved 5 November 2009. 
  3. ^ "Sonko reveals Arsenal family link". readingfc.co.uk. 8 November 2007. http://www.readingfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10306~1162276,00.html. Retrieved 8 November 2007. 
  4. ^ (in Polish). 9 March 2009. http://www.kanonierzy.com/shownews_id-10735_Sagna-zostal-ojcem.shtml. Retrieved 10 September 2009. 
  5. ^ http://worldsoccer.about.com/od/players/tp/Ten-Of-The-Bestfull-Backs-In-The-World.htm
  6. ^ http://www.arsenal.com/first-team/players/bacary-sagna
  7. ^ . 31 January 2011. http://www.grassrootsoccer.org/2011/01/31/bacary-sagna-inspires-millions-as-a-grassroot-soccer-ambassador. Retrieved 31 January 2011. 
  8. ^ "Sagna signe jeudi à Arsenal" (in French). L'Équipe. France. http://www.lequipe.fr/Football/breves2007/20070712_100450Dev.html. Retrieved 13 July 2007. 
  9. ^ "Auxerre's Sagna signs for Arsenal". BBC Sport. 12 July 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/a/arsenal/6895921.stm. Retrieved 12 July 2007. 
  10. ^ "Match Report". Arsenal Online. 19 July 2007. Archived from the original on 9 August 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070809012758/http://www.arsenal.com/matchreport.asp?thisNav=fixtures&fxid=319627. Retrieved 19 July 2007. 
  11. ^ Hughes, Ian (23 March 2008). "Chelsea 2–1 Arsenal". BBC. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/7298246.stm. Retrieved 18 August 2009. 
  12. ^ "Sagna pens Gunners deal". Sky Sports. 4 June 2008–. http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11670_3647884,00.html. Retrieved 16 August 2008. 
  13. ^ "Sagna linked with Inter move". Sky Sports. 12 April 2010. http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11095_6090477,00.html. Retrieved 12 April 2010. 
  14. ^ "Arsenal 5-2 Tottenham" BBC Sport. 26 February 2012. Retrieved 26 February 2012.
  15. ^ Includes FA Cup, League Cup and FA Community Shield.

[edit] External links
Arsenal F.C. – current squad

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