Cheick Oumar Dabo (born 12 January 1981 in
Bamako
Bamako ( bm, ߓߡߊ߬ߞߐ߬ ''Bàmakɔ̌'', ff, 𞤄𞤢𞤥𞤢𞤳𞤮 ''Bamako'') is the capital and largest city of Mali, with a 2009 population of 1,810,366 and an estimated 2022 population of 2.81 million. It is located on the Niger Rive ...
) is a
Mali
Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mal ...
an
football player.
Club career
Bucheon SK
Dabo joined
Bucheon SK in 2002. One of very few Africans playing in
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...
, Dabo earned a spot in the
K-League All-Stars Soccer in 2002 and 2003, scoring in both games. He was selected for the team in 2004 as well, though was an unused substitute in that game. In the All-Stars Soccer, he played against
Lee Dong-Gook
Lee Dong-gook (, ; born 29 April 1979) is a South Korean former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is a record scorer in the K League 1, and had brief spells in Europe with Werder Bremen and Middlesbrough. He also played for ...
and
Lee Young-Pyo
Lee Young-pyo ( ko, 이영표; ; born 23 April 1977) is a retired South Korean professional footballer who played as a right-footed left back. Lee was recognized for his speed and dribbling skills. His former manager Martin Jol once called h ...
(in 2002) who both went on to play in the
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
in England.
JS Kabylie
Dabo would go on to score a penalty against
Asante Kotoko in his debut for JS Kabylie. In the
CAF Champions League 2006
The 2006 CAF Champions League was the 42nd edition of the CAF Champions League, the Africa's premier club football tournament prize organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). It was started on 17 February 2006 with a preliminary ...
Dabo scored 3 goals, 2 of which were against
Al Ahly
AL, Al, Ål or al may stand for:
Arts and entertainment Fictional characters
* Al (''Aladdin'') or Aladdin, the main character in Disney's ''Aladdin'' media
* Al (''EastEnders''), a minor character in the British soap opera
* Al (''Fullmetal ...
of
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
. It was in the
CAF Champions League 2006
The 2006 CAF Champions League was the 42nd edition of the CAF Champions League, the Africa's premier club football tournament prize organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). It was started on 17 February 2006 with a preliminary ...
. In the
CAF Champions League 2007 he scored 2 goals against
OS Balantas of
Guinea-Bissau
Guinea-Bissau ( ; pt, Guiné-Bissau; ff, italic=no, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫 𞤄𞤭𞤧𞤢𞥄𞤱𞤮, Gine-Bisaawo, script=Adlm; Mandinka: ''Gine-Bisawo''), officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau ( pt, República da Guiné-Bissau, links=no ), ...
. He scored twice against
Mangasport of
Gabon
Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the nort ...
and once in the away leg (3–1 loss) and once in the home leg (3–0 win). He scored once against
Cotonsport
Coton Sport Football Club de Garoua, or simply Coton Sport, is a Cameroonian football club based in Garoua. They play their home games at the Stade Omnisport de Garoua, commonly known as the Roumde Adjia Stadium. The club is chaired by Sadou Fern ...
of
Cameroon
Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...
and had an assist on the other to send
Kabylie
Kabylia ('' Kabyle: Tamurt n Leqbayel'' or ''Iqbayliyen'', meaning "Land of Kabyles", '','' meaning "Land of the Tribes") is a cultural, natural and historical region in northern Algeria and the homeland of the Kabyle people. It is part of th ...
to the Quarterfinals. He now has 5 goals in the
CAF Champions League 2007. He was voted player of the month in February, March, April and May in the
Algerian Championnat National and eventually was voted
MVP
In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...
of the league. Dabo ended as the top scorer in the League with 17 league goals in 27 appearances (2 as a sub). He was the first foreign player ever to be top scorer in Algeria. On 1 July it was announced that Dabo will join
Le Havre
Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very ...
in France's
Ligue 2, he will join them after his last match with JSK, against
ES Sahel
Es, ES, or similar may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* An alternate name for the musical note E♭ (E-flat)
* '' E's'', a manga series by Satoru Yuiga
* ''Es'' (film), the German title of ''It'', a 1966 West German film directed by Ulrich Sch ...
in the Champions League. Shortly after this announcement, Dabo was given the captain's armband for JSK's match against
FAR Rabat
Association sportive des Forces armées royales (, ar, الجمعية الرياضية للقوات المسلحة الملكية), commonly known as AS FAR ( ar, نادي الجيش الملكي), is a professional sport club based in Morocco's ...
, which was his last match in which he scored twice. Dabo was the first ever non-Algerian to be captain for JSK.
Le Havre
Dabo made his debut for
Le Havre
Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very ...
on 20 August 2007, coming on as a sub for
Nikola Nikezić against
Nantes. He scored his first goal and got his first assist in the same game, after coming on as a sub against
Ajaccio on 28 September. Le Havre were champions of
Ligue 2 in 2007/08, Dabo's first year, but Dabo only made six appearances that season, scoring one goal. Despite having scored one goal and getting one assist in 180 minutes for Le Havre in 2007, Dabo was never again given a chance to prove himself and was released in the summer of 2010 after three loans, two of which could be considered successful.
Tours
Dabo was loaned to
Championnat National
The Championnat de France National ( en, French National Championship), commonly referred to as simply National or Division 3, serves as the third division of the French football league system behind Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. Contested by 18 clubs, ...
side
Tours
Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the prefecture of the department of Indre-et-Loire. The commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabitants as of 2018 while the population of the whole metro ...
on 29 January 2008 after a lack of first team opportunities at
Le Havre
Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very ...
. He scored on his debut in a 4–2 win against
Cherbourg. Dabo's five game scoring streak near the end of the season helped Tours to a 2nd-place finish in 2007/08 to ensure their promotion back to
Ligue 2. Despite interest from Tours and Dabo, Dabo did not make the move to Tours in the summer of 2008, due to Dabo's high price tag set by president of Le Havre, Jean-Pierre Louvel.
Niort
Dabo was again loaned to a
Championnat National
The Championnat de France National ( en, French National Championship), commonly referred to as simply National or Division 3, serves as the third division of the French football league system behind Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. Contested by 18 clubs, ...
side on 29 August 2008. This time it was
Niort
Niort (; Poitevin: ''Niàu''; oc, Niòrt; la, Novioritum) is a commune in the Deux-Sèvres department, western France. It is the prefecture of Deux-Sèvres.
The population of Niort is 58,707 (2017) and more than 177,000 people live in the ...
. He made his debut against
Cherbourg in a 3–3 draw on 12 September, coming on in the 46th minute for
Romain Jacuzzi
Romain Jacuzzi (born 16 December 1984 in Mont-de-Marsan, France) is a striker currently playing for French side Vendée Poiré sur Vie.
From 2002 to 2009, Jacuzzi played for Chamois Niortais, where he experienced one promotion and three relega ...
. He had a rough time for the next few months with a combination of playing more on the wing while dealing with a foot injury and then eventually injuring his ankle and needing
arthroscopic surgery
Arthroscopy (also called arthroscopic or keyhole surgery) is a minimally invasive surgical procedure on a joint in which an examination and sometimes treatment of damage is performed using an arthroscope, an endoscope that is inserted into the ...
to repair it. He finished the season with two goals and Niort were relegated.
El Jadida
Despite scoring three goals (and one assist) in three matches for Le Havre's reserves at the start of the 2009–10 season, Dabo was not considered for Le Havre's senior team. On 14 December 2009,
Difaa El Jadida signed the
Mali
Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mal ...
an forward on loan until the end of the season. He made his debut for DHJ on 13 February in an
African Champions League
The CAF Champions League, known for sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League and formerly the African Cup of Champions Clubs, is an annual football club competition organized by the Confederation of African Football and co ...
match against OS Balantas, and scored twice in the return leg two weeks later. Dabo scored on his league debut for DHJ against FAR Rabat on 18 February 2010. At the end of the season, Dabo scored four league goals and four goals in the Champions League to total eight goals in seventeen matches for DHJ, who finished third. When combined with his goals for Le Havre's reserves, he scored eleven goals in twenty matches in 2009–10.
Alahly Benghazi
Dabo joined Al Ahly Benghazi of the
Libyan Premier League
The Libyan Premier League ( ar, الدوري الليبي الممتاز) is the men's top professional football division of the Libyan football league system. Administered by the Competition Organizing Committee in the Libyan Football Federati ...
in the summer of 2010 after leaving Le Havre. He scored on his debut against
Al Hilal on 18 August.
Clubs
He played for Konate
then for
Djoliba in
Bamako
Bamako ( bm, ߓߡߊ߬ߞߐ߬ ''Bàmakɔ̌'', ff, 𞤄𞤢𞤥𞤢𞤳𞤮 ''Bamako'') is the capital and largest city of Mali, with a 2009 population of 1,810,366 and an estimated 2022 population of 2.81 million. It is located on the Niger Rive ...
,
Mali
Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mal ...
's capital,
Gençlerbirliği in 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 ...
and then
Bucheon SK in the
K-League
K League (Hangul: K리그) is South Korea's professional football league. It includes first division K League 1 and second division K League 2.
History
Until the 1970s, South Korean football operated two major football leagues, the National ...
. He left
Dubai Club
Dubai Cultural Sports Club () was a football club based in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
In 2017 merged with Al Shabab to join Al-Ahli to rebrand the club into Shabab Al-Ahli Dubai FC.
History
The club was relegated in 2007 to the UAE ...
, in the
UAE League
The UAE Pro League ( ar, دوري المحترفين الإماراتي), known for sponsorship reasons as the ADNOC Pro League, is the top professional football league in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The first team to win the title was Al O ...
in the summer of 2006, and he joined
Kabylie
Kabylia ('' Kabyle: Tamurt n Leqbayel'' or ''Iqbayliyen'', meaning "Land of Kabyles", '','' meaning "Land of the Tribes") is a cultural, natural and historical region in northern Algeria and the homeland of the Kabyle people. It is part of th ...
of
Algerian Championnat National.
International career
Dabo was in
Mali
Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mal ...
's
African Nations Cup
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 ...
Squad in 2002 (the year Mali hosted the tournament). He came on for Mali in the 79th minute for
Mamadou Bagayoko
Mamadou Bagayoko (born 21 May 1979) is a former professional footballer who played as a forward. Born in France, he represented Mali at international level.
Club career
Bagayoko was born in Paris. His debut at senior level came in 1999 for ...
in their 0–1 loss to
Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
. Dabo's great play for
Kabylie
Kabylia ('' Kabyle: Tamurt n Leqbayel'' or ''Iqbayliyen'', meaning "Land of Kabyles", '','' meaning "Land of the Tribes") is a cultural, natural and historical region in northern Algeria and the homeland of the Kabyle people. It is part of th ...
earned him a call up to the national team for their African Nations Cup Qualifier against
Benin
Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the nort ...
on 3 June 2007 and against
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierr ...
on 16 June 2007. Dabo started both matches.
International goals
Honors
*K-League All-Star: 2002, 2003
*Algerian Championnat National Top Scorer: 2006/07
*Algerian Championnat National Most Valuable Player: 2006/07
*Ligue 2 Champion: 2007/08 (only made 6 appearances)
Additional Links
Official Fan Site–
Site dedicated to Dabo in English and French. (site moved to Facebook)
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dabo, Cheick Oumar
1981 births
Living people
Malian footballers
Malian expatriate footballers
Mali men's international footballers
Gençlerbirliği S.K. footballers
Jeju United FC players
Dubai CSC players
JS Kabylie players
Le Havre AC players
Tours FC players
Chamois Niortais F.C. players
Expatriate footballers in Morocco
Süper Lig players
K League 1 players
Ligue 2 players
Expatriate footballers in Turkey
Expatriate footballers in South Korea
Malian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey
Expatriate footballers in the United Arab Emirates
Expatriate footballers in Algeria
Difaâ Hassani El Jadidi players
Expatriate footballers in France
Malian expatriate sportspeople in Algeria
Djoliba AC players
2002 African Cup of Nations players
Footballers from Bamako
Men's association football forwards
UAE Pro League players
21st-century Malian people