Bruce Djite
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Bruce José Djite | ||
| Date of birth | 25 March 1987 | ||
| Place of birth | Washington DC, United States | ||
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Playing position | Striker | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Adelaide United | ||
| Number | 11 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2005 | NSWIS | ||
| 2005–2006 | Marconi Stallions | ||
| 2006 | AIS | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2006–2008 | Adelaide United | 35 | (13) |
| 2008–2010 | Gençlerbirliği | 34 | (6) |
| 2010 | → Diyarbakırspor (loan) | 9 | (0) |
| 2010–2011 | Gold Coast United | 23 | (10) |
| 2011– | Adelaide United | 20 | (5) |
| 2011 | → Jiangsu Sainty (loan) | 12 | (4) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2006 | Australia U-20 | 13 | (5) |
| 2007–2008 | Australia U-23 | 13 | (2) |
| 2008– | Australia | 9 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23:00, 30 January 2012 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). |
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Bruce José Djite (born March 25, 1987) is an American-born Australian footballer who plays for Adelaide United as a striker in the A-League.
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[edit] Club career
Djite was born in Washington DC, United States and moved to Sydney, Australia with his parents when he was three years old. His father, an associate Professor at the University of Western Sydney, is from Côte d'Ivoire and his mother is from Togo.
Djite joined the Marconi Stallions' Youth League in 2004 after the demise of Northern Spirit and continued to play with the Stallions until the end of the 2006 season (August). He also trained at the NSW Institute of Sport in Sydney. In 2006, he attended the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra on a football scholarship.
In November 2006, he unsuccessfully trialled for two weeks at SV Werder Bremen. Upon his return to Australia, he was signed by Adelaide United for the remainder of the 2006/7 season. Djite scored his first goal for Adelaide United in a competitive fixture on April 11, 2007 against Korean champions Seongnam Ilhwa, deftly controlling the ball in the penalty box to volley it into the back of the net. He scored his first goal in the Hyundai A-league for Adelaide United against Queensland Roar in a 2-2 draw on the 25 of August 2007 at Suncorp Stadium
Djite re-signed with Adelaide the same day his fellow Australian Under 23 team mate Kristian Sarkies signed with the club.
On May 15, 2008, it was reported that Djite had been released from his contract with Adelaide United to sign for an unnamed European club. On May 21, 2008 Djite agreed to a three year deal with Turkcell Super League club Gençlerbirliği for the next season.[1] He made his debut in the Turkcell Super League on August 24, 2008 in a 1-1 draw with Kocaelispor. Djite scored his first league goal for Gençlerbirliğiin the 45th minute against Denizlispor on October 25, 2008. Fellow Australian James Troisi also got off the mark in a game which ended in a 2-2 draw.
Djite finished the 2008-2009 Turkcell Super League season with 6 goals. In the off-season, Djite revealed in an interview with FourFourTwo reporter Ben Somerford, Croatian club Hajduk Split were interested in his services but he rejected the move.[2]
On 28 August 2010, it was announced that Djite would return home to Australia to play in the A-League with Gold Coast United, replacing New Zealand striker Shane Smeltz who had joined Gençlerbirliği.[3]
On 23 March 2011, it was announced that Djite had signed a contract with the club that gave him his first Hyundai A-League contract, Adelaide United.[4]
In March 2011, due to the long A-League off season Adelaide United agreed for Djite to be loaned to Chinese Super League club Jiangsu Sainty.
[edit] International career
Djite chose to play for Australia although he would also have been eligible for the U.S., Côte d'Ivoire and Togo.
He was a star striker for the Young Socceroos during their 2006 tour of South America and was also chosen in the Australian Under-20 squad to compete at the 2006 AFC Youth Championships, in India.
Three days before his 21st birthday, on the 22nd of March, 2008, Djite received his first international cap for the Australian national team, the Socceroos, against Singapore, courtesy of national coach Pim Verbeek.[5] He was substituted on at half-time and his best chance came when he rounded the Singapore keeper but failed to put it past him, the ball going out for a corner. His first cap in a competitive match was when he came on as a substitute for Harry Kewell in Australia's World Cup Qualifier against Iraq on June 1, 2008. He then again appeared in the Socceroos next match on June 15, 2008 against Qatar, coming on as a late substitute.
[edit] Career stats
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| App | Goals | App | Goals | App | Goals | App | Goals | |||
| Adelaide United | 06-07 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 13 | 3 | |
| 07-08 | 12 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 22 | 10 | ||
| Total | 20 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 2 | 35 | 13 | ||
| Genclerbirligi | 08-09 | 28 | 6 | 0 | 0 | - | - | 28 | 6 | |
| 09-10 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | 5 | 0 | ||
| Diyarbakirspor | 09-10 | 9 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 9 | 0 | |
| Total | 42 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 42 | 6 | ||
| Gold Coast United | 10-11 | 23 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 10 | |
| Jiangsu Sainty | 2011 | 13 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 4 | |
| Career Totals | 96 | 26 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 2 | 114 | 33 | ||
[edit] Honours
Personal Honours:
[edit] References
- ^ "Djite'den 3 yıllık imza" (in Turkish). Gençlerbirliği. http://www.genclerbirligi.org.tr/haber_detay.asp?HID=475. Retrieved 2008-05-24.
- ^ http://au.fourfourtwo.com/news/107432,djite-im-not-splitting.aspx, FourFourTwo, Djite: I'm Not Splitting, 10-7-09
- ^ "Djite brought in to replace Smeltz". SBS The World Game. 28 August 2010. http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/news/1020231/Djite-brought-in-to-replace-Smeltz. Retrieved 28 August 2010.
- ^ http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/prodigal-son-djite-returns-to-reds/story-e6frecj3-1226026610901 Prodigal son Djite returns to Reds
- ^ "Football Federation Australia - Player Profile". www.footballaustralia.com.au. http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/Socceroos/default.aspx?s=soc_player_profile&pid=702&tid=23.
[edit] External links
- Adelaide United profile
- Profile at TFF.org
- FFA - Olyroo profile
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Adrian Leijer |
Hyundai A-League Young Player of the Year Award 2007/08 |
Succeeded by Scott Jamieson |
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- 1987 births
- Living people
- People from Washington, D.C.
- Australian soccer players
- Australian expatriate soccer players
- Adelaide United players
- A-League players
- American emigrants to Australia
- Australian people of Ivorian descent
- Australian people of Togolese descent
- Australia international soccer players
- Gençlerbirliği S.K. footballers
- Süper Lig players
- Jiangsu Sainty players
- Australian Institute of Sport alumni
