Papa Waigo N'Diaye (born 20 January 1984), often simplified as Papa Waigo, is a

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...

ese international

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 ...

who currently plays as a striker.

Club career

Early career

Born in Saint-Louis, Senegal, Waigo began his career at

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city municipality in the region and the second largest in nor ...

on 3 June 2002, before heading to

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had been ...

outfit

Cesena Cesena (; rgn, Cisêna) is a city and ''comune'' in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, served by Autostrada A14 (Italy), Autostrada A14, and located near the Apennine Mountains, about from the Adriatic Sea. The total population is 97,137. ...

in 2005. After a successful spell where he was the highest-scoring non-Italian in the 2006–07 season he was signed by

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

on 9 July 2007 for €5 million (cash plus Salvatore Aurelio valued at €500,000 and Dario Biasi at €100,000), signing a five-year contract.

Fiorentina

On 19 January 2008, Waigo joined

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fol ...

in a swap deal for Belgian defender Anthony Vanden Borre, with the two clubs co-owning both players' rights. Both Vanden Borre and Papa Waigo's 50% registration right was valued €2.1 million. He made his Serie A debut on 26 August 2007, Genoa 0–3 lost to

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

. He began his Fiorentina career in impressive style, with two goals in his first three games, including one in the 3–2 away victory against giants Juventus on 2 March.

Loan spells

On 27 January 2009, Waigo signed for

side Lecce on loan until the end of the season. While on loan he played six games but failed to score for the club. On 2 September 2009, Waigo signed a season long loan with Football League One side,

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

. The season long loan carried with it an option for Southampton to purchase the player which was not taken up. He made his debut on 13 September 2009 in a 1–1 draw at

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...

, replacing

Adam Lallana Adam David Lallana ( ; born 10 May 1988) is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for club Brighton & Hove Albion. Lallana began his youth career with AFC Bournemouth before transferring to Southampton in 200 ...

in the 90th minute. He scored his first goal for the club on 3 October 2009 in a 4–1 home win over Gillingham. He celebrated with his trademark 'Waigo Dance', involving him stepping ungainly thrice, before tapping his neck twice. He followed this up by scoring twice against

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

, as the Saints came from 2–0 down at half time to draw 2–2 and then win on penalties (with Waigo converting his) in the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...

. Waigo also scored twice in the Area Semi-final against

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

, which took the game to penalties. Waigo also took a penalty which he scored. He also scored in the Football League Trophy final which took place at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...

. He was able to lift up the trophy as Southampton won it 4–1. He finished that competition top goalscorer with five goals. On 4 January 2011, Waigo moved on loan to

Grosseto Grosseto () is a city and ''comune'' in the central Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of the Province of Grosseto. The city lies from the Tyrrhenian Sea, in the Maremma, at the centre of an alluvial plain on the Ombrone river. It is the ...

Ascoli Calcio

On his return from the latest loan spell, on 10 August 2011, he was transferred to Serie B side

Ascoli Ascoli may refer to: Places in Italy *Ascoli Satriano, a town and ''comune'' in the province of Foggia in the Apulia region *Province of Ascoli Piceno, a province of the Marche region ** Ascoli Piceno, a city which is the seat of the province above ...

on a free transfer.

Al Wahda

On 25 June 2012, Waigo moved to the UAE, to sign for Al-Wahda on a two-year deal.

International career

Waigo plays international football for North-West African nation

and was part of the Senegalese squad for the

2008 African Cup of Nations The 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the MTN Africa Cup of Nations due to the competition's sponsorship by MTN, was the 26th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial football tournament for nations affiliated to the Confederat ...

in Ghana. He played four matches (out of possible six) at 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification.

Honours

Southampton *

: 2010

References

External links

* *
Sky Sports Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Waigo, Papa 1984 births Living people Sportspeople from Saint-Louis, Senegal Senegalese footballers Senegal international footballers Senegalese expatriate footballers 2008 Africa Cup of Nations players Hellas Verona F.C. players A.C. Cesena players Genoa C.F.C. players ACF Fiorentina players U.S. Lecce players Southampton F.C. players F.C. Grosseto S.S.D. players Ascoli Calcio 1898 F.C. players Al Wahda FC players Ettifaq FC players Al-Raed FC players Al-Ittihad Kalba SC players Al Urooba Club players Al Dhaid SC players Masafi Club players Association football forwards Senegalese expatriate sportspeople in England Serie A players Serie B players English Football League players Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in the United Arab Emirates Expatriate footballers in Saudi Arabia Senegalese expatriate sportspeople in Italy Senegalese expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia UAE First Division League players UAE Pro League players Saudi Professional League players