Cheick Diabaté (footballer, born 1988)

Cheick Diabaté

Diabaté with Persepolis in 2023
Personal information
Full name	Cheick Tidiane Diabaté
Date of birth	(1988-04-25) 25 April 1988 (age 36)
Place of birth	Bamako, Mali
Height	1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)[1]
Position(s)	Forward
Youth career
2000–2006	Centre Salif Keita
2006–2008	Bordeaux
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2008–2016	Bordeaux	127	(50)
2008–2009	→ Ajaccio (loan)	30	(14)
2009–2010	→ Nancy (loan)	2	(0)
2016–2018	Osmanlıspor	8	(0)
2017	→ Metz (loan)	14	(8)
2018	→ Benevento (loan)	11	(8)
2018–2019	Emirates	19	(10)
2019–2021	Esteghlal	33	(17)
2021–2022	Al-Gharafa	16	(10)
2022–2023	Persepolis	9	(3)
International career
2005	Mali U-17	3	(3)
2005–2016	Mali	39	(15)
Medal record Men's football Representing  Mali Africa Cup of Nations 2012 Equatorial Guinea-Gabon 2013 South Africa
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 31 March 2023

Cheick Tidiane Diabaté (born 25 April 1988) is a Malian professional footballer. From 2005 to 2016, he played for the Mali national team internationally.

Club career

Bordeaux

Diabaté was promoted to the senior squad of Girondins de Bordeaux for the 2008–09 season following a successful season in the CFA, where he made 35 appearances and scored 18 goals. As Bordeaux preferred to field more experienced strikers, manager Laurent Blanc loaned Diabaté out to the Corsica-based and Ligue 2 club AC Ajaccio to enable him to get more playing time.

Ajaccio (loan)

Diabaté made his debut for AC Ajaccio in their opening match of the 2008–09 Ligue 2 season, in a loss to Châteauroux, playing the full 90 minutes. In the second match, he scored a brace in their 3–1 away win over Stade de Reims.^[2] Three weeks later, he scored another brace, this time in a 4–0 home thrashing of Vannes.^[3] He scored one goal in each of the following three Ligue 2 matches with Ajaccio earning wins over Brest^[4] and Clermont^[5] and drawing with Nîmes.^[6]

Diabaté's positive play continued throughout the season scoring important match-winning goals in Ligue 2 matches against Guingamp,^[7] Lens,^[8] Angers,^[9] and Boulogne.^[10] He also scored a goal in the Derby Corse against SC Bastia, in a 1–1 home Ligue 2 draw.^[11] Diabaté finished the season with 14 Ligue 2 goals, which made him the club's top scorer and placed him 4th among the top Ligue 2 scorers of the season; Ajaccio managed to stave off relegation only on the final day of the season.

While on loan to AC Ajaccio, Diabaté had his contract with Bordeaux extended until June 2013.^[12]

Nancy (loan)

Diabaté returned to Bordeaux on 1 July 2009. On 20 July, he was loaned out again, this time to fellow Ligue 1 club AS Nancy.^[13] The striker spent most of the season playing for the reserve team, playing only three matches (two matches in Ligue 1 and one match in the Coupe de la Ligue) for the first team.

Return to Bordeaux

Diabaté scored two goals in the final of the 2013 Coupe de France to help Bordeaux defeat Evian TG 3–2.

Diabaté had an excellent 2013–14 Ligue 1 season with Bordeaux, registering 12 goals in 25 Ligue 1 matches and scoring in a 1–1 away draw against Toulouse FC, one goal in each of the two rounds of matches against FC Lorient, and a second-half brace in a 4–1 home win against FC Sochaux-Montbéliard.

Osmanlıspor

On 27 May 2016, Diabaté joined Osmanlıspor on a three-year contract.^[14] Having returned from his loan to Metz in the summer, it was reported in mid-August 2017 that he had agreed to the termination of his contract.^[15]

Metz (loan)

On 30 December 2016, the Süper Lig club Osmanlıspor announced that Diabaté had been loaned to Ligue 1 club Metz until the end of the 2016–17 season, with Metz having an option to purchase him.^[16][17] Diabaté helped Metz avoid relegation scoring eight goals in 14 matches and the club expressed interest in signing him permanently in June 2017.^[18][19]

Benevento (loan)

In January 2018, Diabaté joined Serie A side Benevento on loan for the rest of the 2017–18 season.^[20][21] He scored his first goal in his first match for the Campanian team in a 3–2 win against Crotone.^[22] Diabate also scored two goals a piece against Hellas Verona, Juventus, and Sassuolo. His goal scoring form was such that with six goals in three games he equaled a long-standing Serie A record held since 2001 by Dario Hubner.^[23] He finished the season with eight goals in 11 games, having the best goal ratio among the players with more than one appearance in Serie A in 2010s, ahead of likes of Edinson Cavani, Romelu Lukaku, Cristiano Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimović.^[24][25]

Emirates Club

On 18 September 2018, Diabaté joined Emirates Club on a one-year contract.^[26]

Esteghlal

Diabaté (right) playing for Esteghlal in Tehran Derby (August 2020)

On 9 July 2019, Diabaté signed for Iranian club Esteghlal on a two-year contract.^[27] He was handed the number 7 shirt.^[28] He debuted for the club on 23 August, coming on as 67th-minute substitute for Farshid Esmaeili in a league match against Machine Sazi.^[29] Six days later, he made his first start in his first appearance at Azadi Stadium in a 1–1 draw against Foolad.^[30] On 1 November, he scored his first goals for Esteghlal, netting a hat-trick in a 4–2 away win against Tractor.^[31] He scored a brace in his AFC Champions League debut against Kuwait SC in a 3–0 victory.^[32] He ended the season with a tally of 18 goals in all competitions of which his 13 goals in the league made him the top scorer for that season.^[33]

Al-Gharafa

On 17 September 2021, Diabaté joined Qatari club Al-Gharafa.^[34]

Persepolis

On 2 September 2022, Diabaté joined Persian Gulf Pro League side Persepolis on a one-year deal.^[35][36][37] He received the squad number 25 shirt. Diabaté debuted for the club on 13 October, coming on as 85th-minute substitute for Jürgen Locadia in a league match against Mes Rafsanjan.^[38]

International career

Diabaté started out with Mali's national under-17 team where they participated in the 2005 African U-17 Championship. He scored a goal in each of their group stage matches but Mali failed to advance to the knock-out stage.^[39] Less than a month after that tournament, he made his senior debut against Liberia in a 2006 World Cup qualifier 5 June 2005, coming on as an 85th-minute substitute for Dramane Coulibaly; Mali won the match 4–1.^[40] Diabaté was a member of the Mali side that earned third place at the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations. He finished the tournament as one of the top scorers, having netted three goals in total, including two in the third place play-off against Ghana on 11 February 2012, which Mali won 2–0.^[41]

Career statistics

Club

As of 31 March 2023^[42][43][44]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup[a]		League cup[b]		Continental[c]		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Bordeaux	2010–11	Ligue 1	16	4	2	2	—		—		18	6
	2011–12		26	8	—		—		—		26	8
	2012–13		23	8	4	6	—		8	4	35	18
	2013–14		25	12	—		1	0	2	0	28	12
	2014–15		15	8	—		2	1	0	0	17	9
	2015–16		22	10	1	2	1	0	4	1	28	13
	Total		127	50	7	10	4	1	14	5	152	66
Ajaccio (loan)	2008–09	Ligue 2	30	14	—		—		—		30	14
Nancy (loan)	2009–10	Ligue 1	2	0	—		1	0	—		3	0
Osmanlıspor	2016–17	Süper Lig	8	0	3	5	—		5	1	16	6
Metz (loan)	2016–17	Ligue 1	14	8	—		—		—		14	8
Benevento (loan)	2017–18	Serie A	11	8	—		—		—		11	8
Emirates	2018–19	UAE Pro-League	19	10	3	4	—		—		22	14
Esteghlal	2019–20	Persian Gulf Pro League	21	15	2	1	—		5	4	28	20
	2020–21		12	2	1	1	—		6	5	19	8
	Total		33	17	3	2	—		11	9	47	28
Al-Gharafa	2021–22	Qatar Stars League	16	10	4	2	—		2	1	22	13
Persepolis	2022–23	Persian Gulf Pro League	9	3	0	0	—		—		9	3
Career total			269	120	20	23	5	1	32	16	326	160

1. Includes Coupe de France, Turkish Cup, Coppa Italia, UAE League Cup and Iranian Hazfi Cup.
2. Includes Coupe de la Ligue.
3. Includes UEFA Europa League and AFC Champions League.

International

Scores and results list Mali's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Diabaté goal.

List of international goals scored by Cheick Diabaté^[45]

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	18 November 2008	Stade Robert Diochon, Rouen, France	Algeria	1–0	1–1	Friendly
2	26 March 2011	Stade du 26 Mars, Bamako, Mali	Zimbabwe	1–0	1–0	2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
3	10 August 2011	Stade Mustapha Ben Jannet, Monastir, Tunisia	Tunisia	4–2	4–2	Friendly
4	3 September 2011	Stade du 26 Mars, Bamako, Mali	Cape Verde	1–0	3–0	2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
5				2–0
6	8 October 2011	Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex, Monrovia, Liberia	Liberia	1–1	2–2	2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
7	5 February 2012	Stade d'Angondjé, Libreville, Gabon	Gabon	1–1	1–1	2012 Africa Cup of Nations
8	11 February 2012	Estadio de Malabo, Malabo, Equatorial Guinea	Ghana	1–0	2–0	2012 Africa Cup of Nations
9				2–0
10	8 October 2012	Stade du 26 Mars, Bamako, Mali	Botswana	1–0	3–0	2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
11	13 October 2012	Lobatse Stadium, Lobatse, Botswana	Botswana	1–0	4–1	2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
12	13 June 2013	Stade du 26 Mars, Bamako, Mali	Benin	2–2	2–2	2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
13	5 March 2014	Stade Municipal Saint-Leu.-la-Forêt, Saint-Leu-la-Forêt, France	Senegal	1–1	1–1	Friendly
14	7 September 2014	Stade du 26 Mars, Bamako, Mali	Malawi	2–0	2–0	2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
15	11 November 2015	Stade du 26 Mars, Bamako, Mali	Botswana	1–0	2–0	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Bordeaux

• Coupe de France: 2012–13

Esteghlal

• Hazfi Cup runner-up: 2019–20, 2020–21

Persepolis

• Persian Gulf Pro League: 2022–23
• Hazfi Cup: 2022–23
• Iranian Super Cup: 2023

Mali

• Africa Cup of Nations third Place: 2012, 2013

Individual

• Africa Cup of Nations top scorer: 2012 (three goals)
• Coupe de France top scorer: 2012–13 (six goals)
• Persian Gulf Pro League top scorer: 2019–20 (15 goals)

References

1. "CHEICK DIABATÉ - L'Équipe".
2. Reims v. Ajaccio Match Report^{[permanent dead link‍]}. Ligue de Football Professionnel. Retrieved on 22 September 2011.
3. Ajaccio v. Vannes Match Report^{[permanent dead link‍]}. Ligue de Football Professionnel. Retrieved on 22 September 2011.
4. Brest v. Ajaccio Match Report^{[permanent dead link‍]}. Ligue de Football Professionnel. Retrieved on 22 September 2011.
5. Ajaccio v. Clermont Match Report^{[permanent dead link‍]}. Ligue de Football Professionnel. Retrieved on 22 September 2011.
6. Nîmes v. Ajaccio Match Report^{[permanent dead link‍]}. Ligue de Football Professionnel. Retrieved on 22 September 2011.
7. Ajaccio v. Guingamp Match Report^{[permanent dead link‍]}. Ligue de Football Professionnel. Retrieved on 22 September 2011.
8. Lens v. Ajaccio Match Report^{[permanent dead link‍]}. Ligue de Football Professionnel. Retrieved on 22 September 2011.
9. Angers v. Ajaccio Match Report^{[permanent dead link‍]}. Ligue de Football Professionnel. Retrieved on 22 September 2011.
10. Boulogne v. Ajaccio Match Report^{[permanent dead link‍]}. Ligue de Football Professionnel. Retrieved on 22 September 2011.
11. Ajaccio v. Bastia Match Report^{[permanent dead link‍]}. Ligue de Football Professionnel. Retrieved on 22 September 2011.
12. Bordeaux: Trois prolongations Archived 10 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine. Mercato365.com (31 August 2011). Retrieved on 22 September 2011.
13. Trois Bordelais à Nancy Archived 24 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine. L'Equipe. Retrieved on 22 September 2011.
14. "Cheick Diabaté file en Turquie" (in French). www.sofoot.com. 28 May 2016.
15. "Football : Cheick Diabaté est libre !". Le Républicaine Lorrain (in French). 17 August 2017. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
16. "Transfert : Cheick Diabaté prêté à Metz". L'Equipe (in French). 30 December 2016. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
17. "Metz add striker Cheick Diabate on loan from Osmanlispor". ESPN. 5 January 2017.
18. "Football : le FC Metz joue l'attaque". Le Républicain Lorrain (in French). 22 June 2017. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
19. "Metz ponder Cheick Diabate permanent deal". Goal. 28 June 2017. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
20. "Cheick Diabaté à Benevento, c'est officiel". L'Équipe (in French). 13 January 2018. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
21. Marino, Guido (13 January 2018). "Calciomercato Benevento, chi è Cheick Diabaté: un ariete per il sogno salvezza". Goal.com (in Italian). Retrieved 13 January 2018.
22. AS, Diario (18 February 2018). "Benevento vs. Crotone live: Serie A 2017/2018 - AS.com". AS.com. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
23. "Diabate equals 17-year Serie A goalscoring record". ESPN.com. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
24. "SERIE A : CHEIKH DIABATÉ DEVANCE CRISTIANO RONALDO!" (in French). Onze Mondial. 23 December 2019. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
25. "0.73 - Among players with more than one appearance in the #decade (2010-2019), Cheick Diabaté is the one with the best goal ratio in Serie A: 0.73, eight goals scored in 11 games. Surprise. #Opta2010s". Twitter. 23 December 2019. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
26. "رسمياً..المالي "دياباتي" رابع الأجانب في الإمارات الإماراتي" [Official .. Malian, "Diabate" is the fourth foreigner in Emirates Club] (in Arabic). 18 September 2018. Retrieved 28 January 2021.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
27. Validoost, Ehsan (9 July 2019). رسمی؛ شیخ دیاباته با قراردادی 2 ساله به استقلال پیوست [Official, Cheick Diabaté joined Esteghlal on a two-year contract.] (in Persian). Tarafdari. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
28. "بازیکنان استقلال در فصل پیش روی با چه پیراهنی به میدان می‌روند؟". Esteghlal. 28 July 2019. Archived from the original on 28 July 2019. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
29. Alishah, Mehdi (23 August 2019). ماشین سازی 1-0 استقلال؛ شروع ناامیدکننده تیم استراماچونی در روز هنرنمایی تعویض طلایی خطیبی [Machine Sazi 1-0 Esteghlal] (in Persian). Tarafdari. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
30. Alishah, Mehdi (29 August 2019). استقلال 1-1 فولاد خوزستان؛ سکته لحظه آخری تیم استراماچونی در آزادی! [Esteghlal 1-1 Foolad] (in Persian). Tarafdari. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
31. Hossein Zadeh, Reza (1 November 2019). تراکتور 2-4 استقلال؛ شیخ دیاباته، فاتح دره‌ گرگ‌ها [Tractor 2-4 Esteghlal] (in Persian). Tarafdari. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
32. Kalhori, Ali (25 January 2020). استقلال 3-0 الکویت؛ شروع طوفانی فرهاد مجیدی در کشور ثالث [Esteghlal 3-0 Kuwait SC] (in Persian). Tarafdari. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
33. ""شیخ دیاباته" آقای گل لیگ نوزدهم شد" «شیخ دیاباته» آقای گل لیگ نوزدهم شد [Cheick Diabaté the top scorer of the nineteenth league]. سازمان لیگ فوتبال ایران (in Persian). 21 August 2020. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
34. "Cheick Diabate Signs for Al-Gharafa - Sports news". Tasnim News Agency. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
35. "شیخ دیاباته رسما به پرسپولیس پیوست" [Cheich Diabate officially joined Persepolis]. خبرگزاری مهر | اخبار ایران و جهان | Mehr News Agency (in Persian). 2 September 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
36. "انتقال دیاباته به پرسپولیس رسمی شد". ورزش سه (in Persian). Retrieved 2 September 2022.
37. "Cheick Diabate joins Persepolis". Tehran Times. 3 September 2022. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
38. جهان, Fararu | فرارو | اخبار روز ایران و. "(عکس) نخستین بازی یاغی با پیراهن پرسپولیس؛ دیاباته جایگزین لوکادیا شد". fa (in Persian). Retrieved 13 October 2022.
39. Díaz Rubio, Julian; Kalumiana, Kalumiana. "African U-17 Championship 2005". RSSSF. Retrieved 24 January 2012.
40. "Match Report: Mali – Liberia". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Archived from the original on 21 July 2012. Retrieved 24 January 2012.
41. Agencies. "Mali beat Ghana to finish third". Daily Monitor. Uganda. Retrieved 13 February 2012.
42. "Cheick Diabaté (Mali) - Profile and career statistics". Soccerway. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
43. "Cheick Diabaté - Mali". National Football Teams. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
44. "Cheick Diabaté - Football : la fiche de Cheick Diabaté". L'Equipe (in French). Retrieved 22 August 2016.
45. "Diabaté, Cheick". National Football Teams. Retrieved 12 December 2016.

External links

• Cheick Diabaté at L'Équipe Football (in French)
• Cheick Diabaté at National-Football-Teams.com
• Cheick Diabaté at Soccerway