Souleymane Diawara

Souleymane Diawara
	Diawara with Marseille
Personal information
Date of birth	24 December 1978 (age 45)
Place of birth	Dakar, Senegal
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s)	Defender
Senior career*
Years	Team
1998–2003	Le Havre
2003–2006	Sochaux
2006–2007	Charlton Athletic
2007–2009	Bordeaux
2009–2014	Marseille
2014–2015	Nice
Total
International career
2002–2012	Senegal
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Souleymane Diawara (born 24 December 1978) is a Senegalese former professional footballer who played as a defender. He spent most of his career in France, playing for Le Havre, Sochaux, Bordeaux, Marseille and OGC Nice, apart from a brief stint at Charlton Athletic. At the international level, he represented Senegal.

Career

Diawara began his career at Havre AC, spending two seasons in Ligue 1 before the club was relegated. He stayed at Le Havre until 2003, before signing for FC Sochaux.

On 19 November 2002, he made his debut with the Senegalese national team against South Africa in a friendly match.

In 2006, he was transferred to Charlton Athletic. The following year he joined Bordeaux to strengthen the central defense with Marc Planus. Represented the national team at the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations, where his team took 4th place for the third time in history. ^[1]Diawara was dropped from the Senegal squad in August 2006, ahead of their friendly with Ivory Coast, due to a breach of discipline.^[2]

In July 2009, he signed a four-year contract with Olympique de Marseille, with the transfer fee estimated at €7 million. On 8 August, he participated in his first game for his new club against Grenoble, which Marseille won 2–0.

On 23 April 2011, Marseille won the Coupe de la Ligue for the second consecutive year. Diawara thereby became the player holding the record for most Coupe de la Ligue trophies, having won his first with Sochaux in 2004, his second with Bordeaux and his third and fourth trophies with Marseille.

In September 2015, Diawara announced his retirement from professional football.^[3]

Honours

Club

Sochaux

Coupe de la Ligue: 2003–04

Bordeaux

Marseille

Ligue 1: 2009–10
Coupe de la Ligue: 2009–10, 2010–11
Trophée des Champions: 2010

International

Senegal

Africa Cup of Nations four place:2006^[4]

Individual

Ligue 1 Team of the Year: 2008–09, 2009–10

References

^ http://www.rsssf.com/tables/06a.html
^ "Senegal expel Diawara". BBC Sport. 16 August 2006. Retrieved 9 August 2007.
^ "Souleymane Diawara Raccroche". Sofort (in French). 10 September 2015. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
^ http://www.rsssf.com/tables/06a.html

[1] ttp://www.rsssf.com/tables/06a.html

[CSenegal_expel_Diawara-2] "Senegal expel Diawara". BBC Sport. 16 August 2006. Retrieved 9 August 2007.

[3] "Souleymane Diawara Raccroche". Sofort (in French). 10 September 2015. Retrieved 20 August 2016.

[4] ttp://www.rsssf.com/tables/06a.html

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