Salif Alassane Diao (born 10 February 1977) is a Senegalese former 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, rugb ...

who played as a

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundari ...

. Diao moved from Senegal to France when he was seventeen and started his career at

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

with whom he helped with the

Trophée des Champions The Trophée des Champions (, ) is a French association football trophy contested in an annual match between the champions of Ligue 1 and the winners of the Coupe de France. It is equivalent to the super cups found in many other countries. His ...

and Division 1. He failed to hold down a regular place at Monaco and moved to Sedan in 2000. Diao then had an impressive

2002 World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial football world championship for men's national teams organized by FIFA. It was held from 31 May to 30 June 2002 at sites in South Korea an ...

with

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

which attracted the attention of several

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 ...

sides. It was

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

who won the race and signed Diao for £5 million in 2002. His time at Liverpool was unsuccessful and he was sent out on loan to

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most d ...

and

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

. He joined the latter Stoke permanently on a free transfer in 2007 and helped the club to promotion to the Premier League in 2008.

Career

Monaco

Diao was born in

Kédougou Kédougou ( Wolof: Keédugu) is a town in the Kédougou Region of south-eastern Senegal near the border with Mali and Guinea. It lies at an elevation of above sea level. Founded in the early 20th century by the Malinké people, Kédougou means ...

Tambacounda Region Tambacounda, formerly known as ''Sénégal Oriental'', is a region of Senegal. It used to be part of the Mali Empire before the borders were created to separate Mali from Senegal. Tambacounda is physically the largest of Senegal's 14 regions, but ...

. He began his career in his native country before moving to France at the age of seventeen. He begin his professional career playing for

in 1996 but did not feature for the club at all in the 1996–1997 season and was loaned out the Ligue 2 side

SAS Épinal Stade Athletique Spinalien Épinal is a French football club based in the commune of Épinal. They currently play in the Championnat National 2. Their kit colours are yellow and blue. They play their home matches at the Stade de la Colombière in ...

where he played 2 matches for the club. He returned to Monaco for the 1997–98 season where he 12 times in his second season at the club. he was also part of the AS Monaco side that won Division 1 in the 1999–2000 season. He also won a runner-up medal in the

2002 African Cup of Nations The 2002 African Cup of Nations was the 23rd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the association football championship of Africa ( CAF). It was hosted by Mali. Just like in 2000, the field of sixteen teams was split into four groups of four. C ...

, where Senegal lost in extra time to

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 ...

Sedan Ardennes

In 2001, he signed for Sedan Ardennes. He played 32 games in all competitions in his first season at Sedan Ardennes in the 2001–02 season including 3 matches in the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

. He made his first start of the on 28 July 2001 in their 1–1 draw away at

Bastia Bastia (, , , ; co, Bastìa ) is a commune in the department of Haute-Corse, Corsica, France. It is located in the northeast of the island of Corsica at the base of Cap Corse. It also has the second-highest population of any commune on the is ...

. He made 22 appearances for Sedan in his second season at the club with an extra 2 games in the UEFA Cup. His last game for Sedan came in their 1–1 draw with

FC Lorient Football Club Lorient Bretagne Sud (; commonly referred to FC Lorient or simply Lorient) is a French association football club based in Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town ('' commune'') and seaport in the Morbihan department of Brittany in we ...

on 6 April 2002 before joining English club

Liverpool

He was signed by former Liverpool manager

Gérard Houllier Gérard Paul Francis Houllier (; 3 September 194714 December 2020) was a French professional football manager and player. Clubs he managed include Paris Saint-Germain, Lens and Liverpool, where he won the FA Cup, League Cup, FA Charity Shield, U ...

from French club

CS Sedan Ardennes Club Sportif Sedan Ardennes, commonly referred to as CS Sedan or simply Sedan (), is a French association football club based in Sedan. The club was formed in 1919 and plays its home matches at the Stade Louis Dugauguez located within the ci ...

for £5 million (€7.5m) just before the

in South Korea and Japan. He helped

reach the quarter finals, most notably in scoring a memorable goal against

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

in the first round, although he was subsequently red-carded. At the club, he tended to be used out of position by Houllier, often played at

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either ...

or full back and as a result never had the chance to demonstrate whether he was capable of playing a central midfield role for the club, although the evidence did suggest he was somewhat out of his depth. His first Liverpool goal came against Spartak Moscow in the Champions League. He scored a total of three goals, only one coming in the league, in a 1–0 win at

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

in October 2002. He was left out of Liverpool's squad for the victorious

2003 Football League Cup Final The 2003 Football League Cup Final was a association football, football match played between Liverpool F.C., Liverpool and Manchester United F.C., Manchester United on 2 March 2003 at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. It was the final match of th ...

despite playing often in the earlier rounds, including the semi-final first leg against

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

. Diao was played in his correct position by

Rafa Benítez Rafa is a masculine given name, mostly as a diminutive form (hypocorism) of Rafael. It may refer to: People * Rafael Nadal (born 1986), Spanish tennis player * Rafa (footballer, born 1985), Spanish footballer Rafael López Gómez * Rafael Ben� ...

but several poor displays saw him displaced by

Xabi Alonso Xabier Alonso Olano (, ; born 25 November 1981) is a Spanish football coach and former professional player who is currently the head coach of Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen. Alonso began his career at Real Sociedad, the main team of his h ...

notably after a 4–2 win at

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandswor ...

. Liverpool were 2–0 down when Diao was substituted, he had been at fault for one of the goals Fulham scored whilst attempting a bizarre back heel. Despite not having featured for months Diao was present in

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

when Liverpool won the Champions League in 2005. He appeared only once in the campaign, coming on as a substitute away at

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a numbe ...

in the group stage. It was during the 2004–05 season that Diao scored his last Liverpool goal against

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, eas ...

in the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

, and he played his last game for Liverpool at

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 ...

in January 2005. In January 2005

took Diao, who had struggled to make Liverpool's first team, on loan for the rest of the season but he had his spell at Birmingham ended by injury almost immediately. The arrival of Rafael Benítez and defensive midfielder

Mohamed Sissoko Mohamed Lamine Sissoko (born 22 January 1985) is a former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. Born in France, he could have elected to play for France internationally, but chose instead to play for the national side of ...

, signalled the end of his Liverpool career. Althougu Sissoko was branded the "new

Vieira Vieira is a Portuguese and Galician term which in Portuguese and Galician stands for the Great Pilgrim Mussel from the scallop family (Pectinidae). The term derives its use as a place and family name. History The use of the term can be traced, ...

" by Benítez, Diao had received this same tag from Houllier upon his arrival at Liverpool. Diao was not issued a squad number by Liverpool for the 2005–06 season, with his number 15 being given to new signing

Peter Crouch Peter James Crouch (born 30 January 1981) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. He was capped 42 times by the England national team between 2005 and 2010, scoring 22 goals for his country during that time, and ...

. He joined

in August 2005 on a season long loan but spent much of the season out injured. At the end of the season Pompey manager

Harry Redknapp Henry James Redknapp (born 2 March 1947) is an English former football manager and player. He has previously managed AFC Bournemouth, West Ham United, Portsmouth, Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur, Queens Park Rangers and Birmingham City. In h ...

decided not to take up the option to sign him permanently because of his injury-proneness. In July 2006 Diao was taken on trial by Premiership side

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 ...

. He failed a medical at the club, thus ending his chances of signing.

Stoke City

On 10 October 2006, Diao joined

on loan. He made his debut for Stoke four days latter in a 4–0 win away at

. He became a consistent player for Stoke, holding the team together, slowing down the tempo and speed of the game. It is thought that the revival of Stoke City during the 2006–07 season was in a large part due to Salif's hard-working performances. On 25 January 2007, his contract at Stoke was extended until the end of the season. At the end of the 2006–07 season Diao was released by Liverpool and was expected to sign for Stoke but did not sign a deal with the club because he was worried about his fitness levels. He eventually signed permanently for Stoke on a one and a half-year deal in December 2007. Diao put in some decent performances for Stoke including games against former club

and man of the match performances against

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

and

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

. In June 2009 he was offered a new one-year contract to stay at the

Britannia Stadium The Bet365 Stadium (stylised as ''bet365 Stadium'') is an all-seater football stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England and the home of EFL Championship club Stoke City. The stadium was previously called the Britannia Stadium but was ...

, which he accepted. He scored his first goal for the club in an away win at

in February 2010. It was only Diao's second ever league goal and with his first coming six years before. Diao left Stoke after he rejected a new contract which would have given a joint role as a club ambassador and player. However Diao changed his mind and agreed to sign a new contract with Stoke. During the 2010–11 season Diao played eleven times for Stoke and was an unused substitute in the

2011 FA Cup Final The 2011 FA Cup Final was the 130th final of the FA Cup, the world's oldest domestic football cup competition. The final took place on 14 May 2011 at Wembley Stadium in London in front of 88,643 spectators and a British television audience of m ...

. In the 2011–12 season Diao has been used sparingly by Pulis with Diao playing mostly in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

and is set to leave the club at the end of the campaign after turning down a coaching role. He left Stoke at the end of the 2011–12 season.

International career

Diao has appeared 39 times for Senegal, scoring four goals in the process since 2000, including a strike against

at the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

after a series of quick passes by his team mates to set him up. He was later sent off in the same match for a high tackle. Diao was in the Senegal squad that went to the

where Senegal finished second after losing in the final to Cameroon and was part of the Senegal side that went to the

2004 African Cup of Nations The 2004 African Cup of Nations, known as the NOKIA African Cup of Nations, Tunisia 2004 for sponsorship reasons (also referred to as AFCON 2004 or CAN 2004) is the 24th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's foo ...

. He was also in the side that reached the quarter finals of the

and played games including their 1–0 win over then current champions

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, as well as scoring in their 1–1 draw with

before being sent off which meant he missed their next two games but returned for their quarter final exit to

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...

. He has also been involved in Senegal's qualification campaigns for the past three World Cups in 2002, 2006 and 2010. After Senegal failed to qualify for the 2010 World Cup Senegal fans went on a rampage, Diao, along with Stoke City team-mates Abdoulaye Faye and

Ibrahima Sonko Ibrahima Sonko (born 22 January 1981) is a Senegalese former professional footballer who played as a centre back. Sonko moved to France from Senegal at a young age and began his career with Olympique Noisy-le-Sec and AS Saint-Étienne, before ...

, were caught up in crowd trouble in

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.94 million in 2 ...

Personal life

Diao a founder of non-profit organisation, Sport4Charity. He is also involved with Caap-Afrika.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

Club

:Source: Monaco * Division 1: 1999–2000 *

: 1997–98 Liverpool *

Football League Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by t ...

: 2002–03 Stoke City *

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...

runner-up: 2007–08 *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football compet ...

runner-up:

2010–11 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. ...

National

Senegal *

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 internat ...

runner-up:

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

References

External links

*
Player profile at LFChistory.netBBC Profile of Salif Diao
{{DEFAULTSORT:Diao, Salif 1977 births Living people People from Kédougou Association football midfielders Senegalese footballers Senegal international footballers Senegalese expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in England AS Monaco FC players SAS Épinal players CS Sedan Ardennes players Liverpool F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Premier League players English Football League players Senegalese expatriate sportspeople in England 2002 FIFA World Cup players 2002 African Cup of Nations players 2004 African Cup of Nations players