Cheick Tidiane Diabaté (born 25 April 1988) is a Malian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for

Persepolis , native_name_lang = , alternate_name = , image = Gate of All Nations, Persepolis.jpg , image_size = , alt = , caption = Ruins of the Gate of All Nations, Persepolis. , map = , map_type ...

in the

Persian Gulf Pro League The Persian Gulf Pro League ( fa, لیگ برتر خلیج فارس, ''Lig-e Bartar-e Xalij-e Fârs''), formerly known as the Iran Pro League ( fa, links=no, لیگ برتر ایران, ''Lig-e bartar-e Irân''), is the highest division of profe ...

. From 2005 to 2016, he represented the Mali national team internationally.

Club career

Bordeaux

Diabaté was promoted to the senior squad of

Girondins de Bordeaux Football Club des Girondins de Bordeaux (), commonly referred to as Girondins de Bordeaux ( oc, Girondins de Bordèu) or simply Bordeaux, is a French professional football club based in the city of Bordeaux in Gironde, Nouvelle-Aquitaine. The ...

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 Laurent Robert Blanc (born 19 November 1965) is a French professional football manager and former player who played as a centre-back, and is currently the manager of Ligue 1 club Lyon. He has the nickname ''Le Président'', which was given to him ...

loaned Diabaté out to the

Corsica Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...

-based and

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by Balkrishna Industries, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions ...

club

AC Ajaccio Athletic Club Ajaccio ( co, Athletic Club Aiacciu), commonly referred to as AC Ajaccio, ''ACA'' or simply Ajaccio, is a French association football club based in the city of Ajaccio on the island of Corsica. The club was founded in 1910 and ...

to enable him to get more playing time.

Ajaccio (loan)

Diabaté made his debut for

in their opening match of the

2008–09 Ligue 2 The Ligue 2 season 2008–09 was the sixty-seventh edition since its establishment, and began on 1 August 2008 and ended on 29 May 2009. The fixtures were announced on 23 May 2008. Promotion and relegation Teams relegated to Ligue 2 *FC Metz, re ...

season, in a loss to

Châteauroux Châteauroux (; ; oc, Chasteurós) is the capital city of the French department of Indre, central France and the second-largest town in the province of Berry, after Bourges. Its residents are called ''Castelroussins'' () in French. Climate Ch ...

, playing the full 90 minutes. In the second match, he scored a brace in their 3–1 away win over

Stade de Reims Stade de Reims () is a French professional association football, football club based in Reims. The club was formed in 1910 and plays in Ligue 1, the top level of Football in France, having been promoted from Ligue 2 in 2017–18 Ligue 2, 2018. ...

. Three weeks later, he scored another brace, this time in a 4–0 home thrashing of

Vannes Vannes (; br, Gwened) is a commune in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France. It was founded over 2,000 years ago. History Celtic Era The name ''Vannes'' comes from the Veneti, a seafaring Celtic people who lived ...

. He scored one goal in each of the following three Ligue 2 matches with Ajaccio earning wins over

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress *Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria *Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France **Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Brest, ...

and Clermont and drawing with

Nîmes Nîmes ( , ; oc, Nimes ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the prefecture of the Gard department in the Occitanie region of Southern France. Located between the Mediterranean Sea and Cévennes, the commune of Nîmes has an estimated population of 148,5 ...

. Diabaté's positive play continued throughout the season scoring important match-winning goals in Ligue 2 matches against

Guingamp Guingamp (; ) is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France. With a population of 6,895 as of 2017, Guingamp is one of the smallest towns in Europe to have a top-tier professional football team: En Avant Guinga ...

Lens A lens is a transmissive optical device which focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements''), ...

Angers Angers (, , ) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Anjou until the French Revolution. The inhabitants of both the city and the prov ...

, and

Boulogne Boulogne-sur-Mer (; pcd, Boulonne-su-Mér; nl, Bonen; la, Gesoriacum or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-Calais. Boulogne lies on the ...

. He also scored a goal in the ''

Derby Corse The Derby Corse ( en, Corsica derby) is a rivalry in French football between AC Ajaccio and SC Bastia, the two biggest clubs on the island of Corsica. The rivalry is intensified by the existing geographical rivalry of the island. Ajaccio is th ...

'' against

SC Bastia Sporting Club Bastiais ( co, Sporting Club di Bastia, commonly referred to as SC Bastia or simply Bastia) is a Corsican association football club based in Bastia on the island of Corsica. The club plays in Ligue 2, the second tier of Football ...

, in a 1–1 home Ligue 2 draw. 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 Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

extended until June 2013.

Nancy (loan)

Diabaté returned to Bordeaux on 1 July 2009. On 20 July, he was loaned out again, this time to fellow

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

club

AS Nancy Association Sportive Nancy Lorraine (), commonly known as AS Nancy Lorraine, or simply Nancy, is a French association football club founded in 1967 in Nancy, Grand Est and located in Tomblaine, in the inner suburbs of Nancy. The club currently ...

. 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 Evian ( , ; , stylized as evian) is a French company that bottles and commercialises mineral water from several sources near Évian-les-Bains, on the south shore of Lake Geneva. It produces over 2 billion plastic bottles per year. Today, Evia ...

3–2. Diabaté had an excellent 2013–14 Ligue 1 season with Bordeaux, registering 12 goals in 25

matches and scoring in a 1–1 away draw against

Toulouse FC Toulouse Football Club is French professional football club based in Toulouse. The club was founded in 1970 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the premier division of French football. Toulouse plays its home matches at the Stadium de Toulouse lo ...

, one goal in each of the two rounds of matches against

FC Lorient Football Club Lorient Bretagne Sud (; commonly referred to FC Lorient or simply Lorient) is a French association football club based in Lorient, Brittany. The club was founded in 1926 and currently competes in Ligue 1, the top flight of French ...

, and a second-half brace in a 4–1 home win against

FC Sochaux-Montbéliard Football Club Sochaux-Montbéliard (; commonly referred to as FCSM or simply Sochaux) is a French association football club based in the city of Montbéliard. The club was founded in 1928 and currently plays in Ligue 2, the second tier of Frenc ...

Osmanlıspor

On 27 May 2016, Diabaté joined

Osmanlıspor Ankaraspor Kulübü (), formerly known as Osmanlıspor (), is a Turkish professional football club based in the country's capital Ankara. Founded in 1978, the club competes in the TFF Second League. History Ankaraspor was founded as "Ankara Bele ...

on a three-year contract. 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.

Metz (loan)

On 30 December 2016, the

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

club

announced that Diabaté had been loaned to

club

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand E ...

until the end of the 2016–17 season, with Metz having an option to purchase him. Diabaté helped Metz avoid relegation scoring eight goals in 14 matches and the club expressed interest in signing him permanently in June 2017.

Benevento (loan)

In January 2018, Diabaté joined

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

side

Benevento Benevento (, , ; la, Beneventum) is a city and ''comune'' of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill above sea level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino (or Beneventano) and the ...

on loan for the rest of the 2017–18 season. He scored his first goal in his first match for the

Campania Campania (, also , , , ) is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islands and the i ...

n team in a 3–2 win against

Crotone Crotone (, ; nap, label= Crotonese, Cutrone or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Calabria, Italy. Founded as the Achaean colony of Kroton ( grc, Κρότων or ; la, Crotona) in Magna Graecia, it was known as Cotrone from the Middle Ages until ...

. Diabate also scored two goals a piece against

Hellas Verona Hellas Verona Football Club, commonly referred to as Hellas Verona or simply Verona, is a professional Italian football club based in Verona, Italy, that currently plays in Serie A. The team won the Serie A Championship in 1984–85. His ...

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

, and

Sassuolo Sassuolo (; egl, label=Modenese dialect, Modenese, Sasól ) is an Italian town, ''comune'', and industrial centre of the Province of Modena in Emilia-Romagna. Standing on the right bank of the river Secchia some southwest of Modena, the town ...

. 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. He finished the season with eight goals in 11 games, having the best goal ratio among the players with more than one appearance in

in 2010s, ahead of likes of

Edinson Cavani Edinson Roberto Cavani Gómez (; born 14 February 1987) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a striker for La Liga club Valencia and the Uruguay national team. Nicknamed ''El Matador'' ('The Bullfighter'), being known for his i ...

Romelu Lukaku Romelu Lukaku Bolingoli (; born 13 May 1993) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Inter Milan, on loan from club Chelsea, and the Belgium national team. Lukaku began his senior club career playing for Ander ...

Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward and captains the Portugal national team. He is currently a free agent. Widely regarded as one of the greatest p ...

and

Zlatan Ibrahimović Zlatan Ibrahimović (, ; born 3 October 1981) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a striker for club AC Milan and the Sweden national team. Ibrahimović is renowned for his acrobatic strikes and volleys, powerful long-range sho ...

Emirates Club

On 18 September 2018, Diabaté joined

Emirates Club Emirates Club ( ar, نادي الإمارات) is a professional football club based in the city of Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. They play in the UAE Pro League after being promoted from the UAE First Division League. They play their h ...

on a one-year contract.

Esteghlal

On 9 July 2019, Diabaté signed for Iranian club Esteghlal on a two-year contract. He was handed the number 7 shirt. He debuted for the club on 23 August, coming on as 67th-minute substitute for

Farshid Esmaeili Farshid Esmaeili ( fa, فرشید اسماعیلی; born 23 February 1994) is an Iranian footballer who plays as a midfielder for the Iran national team. Club career Early career Born in Bandar Lengeh, Esmaeili started his career with Badr Hor ...

in a league match against Machine Sazi. Six days later, he made his first start in his first appearance at

Azadi Stadium The Azadi Stadium ( fa, ورزشگاه آزادی Varzešgâh''-è Âzâdi''), opened as the Aryamehr Stadium ( fa, ورزشگاه آریامهر Varzešgâh-è ''Âryâmehr''), is an all-seater football stadium in Tehran, Iran. The stadium wa ...

in a 1–1 draw against

Foolad Foolad Khuzestan Football Club ( fa, باشگاه فوتبال فولاد خوزستان, ''Bāshgāh-e Futbāl-e Fulād-e Khuzestān'') is an Iranian football club, based in Ahwaz, Khuzestan that plays in Persian Gulf Pro League. Foolad F.C. ...

. On 1 November, he scored his first goals for Esteghlal, netting a hat-trick in a 4–2 away win against

Tractor A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or construction. Most common ...

. He scored a brace in his

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League (abbreviated as ACL) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious club competition ...

debut against

Kuwait SC Kuwait Sporting Club ( ar, نادي الكويت الرياضي) is a Kuwaiti professional association football, football club based in Kuwait City. The football team has won Kuwaiti Premier League 17 times. Kuwait SC also has over 50 trophies ...

in a 3–0 victory. 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.

Al-Gharafa

On 17 September 2021, Diabaté joined

Qatari Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sha ...

club

Al-Gharafa Al-Gharafa Sports Club ( ar, نادي الغرافة الرياضي) is a Qatari multisports club based in the Al Gharrafa district of Al Rayyan. It is best known for its football team, although it also has teams for other sports. It was estab ...

Persepolis

On 2 September 2022, Diabaté joined

side

on a one-year deal. He received the squad number 25 shirt. Diabaté debuted for the club on 13 October, coming on as 85th-minute substitute for

Jürgen Locadia Jürgen Leonardo Locadia (born 7 November 1993) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a striker or winger. Club career Early career Locadia, who is of Curaçaoan descent, was born in Emmen, Netherlands, and began playing football ...

in a league match against Mes Rafsanjan.

International career

Diabaté started out with Mali's national under-17 team where they participated in the

2005 African U-17 Championship The 2005 African U-17 Championship was a football competition organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). The tournament took place in Gambia. The top three teams qualified for the 2005 FIFA U-17 World Championship. Qualification ...

. He scored a goal in each of their group stage matches but Mali failed to advance to the knock-out stage. Less than a month after that tournament, he made his senior debut against

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

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. Diabaté was a member of the Mali side that earned third place at the

2012 Africa Cup of Nations The 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 28th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa organized by the Confederation of African Football ( ...

. 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 Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

on 11 February 2012, which Mali won 2–0.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

Bordeaux *

Coupe de France The Coupe de France, formerly known as the Coupe Charles Simon, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is open to all amateur and profession ...

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

Esteghlal *

Hazfi Cup Hazfi Cup (Jām-e Hazfi; ) is the Iranian football knockout cup competition, run by the Iranian Football Federation. The Iranian football league was not held during the 1980s, hence the winner of Hazfi Cup represented Iran in the Asian Club Cha ...

runner-up: 2019–20,

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

Mali *

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internati ...

third Place:

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

Individual *

top scorer:

(three goals) *

top scorer:

(six goals) * Persian Gulf Pro League top scorer: 2019–20 (15 goals)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Diabate, Cheick 1988 births Living people Sportspeople from Bamako Malian footballers Association football forwards Mali international footballers Mali youth international footballers 2012 Africa Cup of Nations players 2013 Africa Cup of Nations players JS Centre Salif Keita players FC Girondins de Bordeaux players AC Ajaccio players AS Nancy Lorraine players Ankaraspor footballers FC Metz players Benevento Calcio players Emirates Club players Esteghlal F.C. players Al-Gharafa SC players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Süper Lig players Serie A players UAE Pro League players Persian Gulf Pro League players Qatar Stars League players Malian expatriate footballers Malian expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate footballers in France Malian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate footballers in Turkey Malian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate footballers in Italy Malian expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates Expatriate footballers in the United Arab Emirates Malian expatriate sportspeople in Iran Expatriate footballers in Iran Malian expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Expatriate footballers in Qatar 21st-century Malian people Persepolis F.C. players