Abdul Kader Keïta (born 6 August 1981) is an Ivorian 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, rugby le ...

who played as a winger. He represented the

Ivory Coast national football team The Ivory Coast national football team ( French: ''Équipe de football de Côte d'Ivoire'', recognized as the Côte d'Ivoire by FIFA) represents Ivory Coast in men's international football. Nicknamed ''the Elephants'', the team is managed by ...

from 2000 to 2012.

Club career

Keïta, also known as 'Popito', began his career at homeland club

Africa Sports Africa Sports d'Abidjan is an Ivorian multi-sports club founded in 1947 and based in Abidjan. The club fields teams in the sports of track and field, handball, basketball and association football, of these the football team is the most promine ...

, before moving on to Tunisian Club Etoile du Sahel. Following spells in United Arab Emirates with

Al Ain Al Ain ( ar, ٱلْعَيْن, , ) is a city in the western side of Tawam (region), Tuwwam region and the seat of the administrative division of its namesake, Al-Ain Region, Abu Dhabi, Al Ain in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. ...

and

Qatar 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 sh ...

with

Al Sadd Al Sadd Sports Club ( ar, نادي السد الرياضي, lit=Dam Sports Club) is a Qatari sports club based in the Al Sadd district of the city of Doha. It is best known for its association football team, which competes in th ...

, he moved to France with Ligue 1 club

OSC Lille Lille Olympique Sporting Club (), commonly referred to as LOSC, LOSC Lille or simply Lille, is a French professional association football, football club based in Lille, Hauts-de-France that competes in Ligue 1, the top flight of Football in Fra ...

in 2005.

Lyon

On 31 May 2007,

Olympique Lyonnais Olympique Lyonnais (), commonly referred to as simply Lyon () or OL, is a men and women's French professional football club based in Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. The men play in France's highest football division, Ligue 1. Founded in 1950, th ...

chairman

Jean-Michel Aulas Jean-Michel Antoine Aulas (born 22 March 1949) is a French businessman. He is the founder and CEO of :fr:Cegid, Cegid (Compagnie Européenne de Gestion par l'Informatique Décentralisée) and serves as the owner and president of French Associatio ...

revealed that the club had made bids for both Keïta and his fellow teammate

Mathieu Bodmer Mathieu Bodmer (born 22 November 1982) is a French retired professional footballer who played as a midfielder. A former French youth international, he is known for his technique, playmaking skills and striking ability. Club career Early career ...

. On 16 June 2007, Lyon confirmed the signing of Keïta from Lille for €18 million, with Bodmer also moving to Lyon. During his two seasons at the club, he made 52 appearances in all competitions, scoring 5 goals.

Galatasaray

On 2 July 2009,

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other de ...

officially announced that Keïta joined the Turkish club and signed a three-year contract, for €8.5 million transfer fee plus €500,000 variable. He scored his first goal for Galatasaray in a

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. It ...

qualification match against

Maccabi Netanya Maccabi Netanya F.C. ( he, מועדון כדורגל מכבי נתניה, ''Football Club Maccabi Netanya'') is an Israeli football club based in Netanya. Established in 1934, the club was a founding member of the Israeli League in 1949. Afte ...

in the 5th minute. On 12 December, Keïta scored for Galatasaray in a 3–2 victory over

Antalyaspor Antalyaspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional football club located in the city of Antalya. The club's colours are red and white. They play their home matches at the Antalya Stadium. In Turkey, the club won the First League twice in 1982 and 1 ...

. On 18 February 2010, Keïta scored a late equalizer to secure a 1–1 away draw for Galatasaray against

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish profess ...

in the

. Later, in the second leg he equalized again to make it 1–1, but Galatasaray failed to qualify. On 28 February, he scored the second and fourth goals in a 4–1 victory over Kasımpaşa. His first goal was a volley from just inside the penalty area. In Galatasaray's 3–0 victory over

MKE Ankaragücü MKE Ankaragücü or fully Makina ve Kimya Endüstrisi Ankaragücü (), is a Turkish sports club located in the city of Ankara. The football team wears a yellow and navy kit and plays its home matches at Eryaman Stadium following the closure of th ...

in March, Keïta scored the second goal as well as assisting the final goal. On 11 April 2010, he assisted two of

Milan Baroš Milan Baroš (; born 28 October 1981) is a Czech footballer who plays as a striker. He currently plays for FK Vigantice at amateur level. In 2005, he was part of the Liverpool team which won the UEFA Champions League. He went on to win Ligue ...

' goals in a 4–1 victory over

Diyarbakırspor Diyarbakırspor is a Turkish professional football club located in the city of Diyarbakır. Formed in 1968, they are nicknamed ''Diyar'' ("land"). Their colours are red and green, and they play their home matches at Diyarbakır Stadium. Diyarba ...

. A week later, he scored the first goal in a 1–2 victory over

Manisaspor Manisaspor is a Turkish professional football club located in the city of Manisa. Originally formed in 1931 as Sakaryaspor, the club changed its name to Manisaspor on 15 June 1965.Al Sadd SC Al Sadd Sports Club ( ar, نادي السد الرياضي, lit=Dam Sports Club) is a Qatari sports club based in the Al Sadd district of the city of Doha. It is best known for its association football team, which competes in the ...

in July 2010, for €8.15 million. Keïta was involved in a melee which ensued on 19 October in the 2011 AFC Champions League semi final first-leg between

Suwon Samsung Bluewings ''(The Blue, White and Reds)''Tricolor'' , short name = SSB , image = , caption = , founded = , ground = Suwon World Cup Stadium , capacity = 44,031 , owner = Cheil Worldwide(Samsung's subsidiary) , chairma ...

and Al Sadd. Suwon player Choi Sung-Hwan was inadvertently kicked in the head by an Al Sadd defender, and Suwon's Yeom Ki-hoon let the ball out after Choi Sung-hwan went down with a head injury inside Al Sadd's box. While Choi was being tended to by medics, Keïta took the free kick quickly, and passed it to teammate

Mamadou Niang Mamadou Hamidou Niang (born 13 October 1979) is a Senegalese former professional footballer who played as a striker. He has represented Senegal at international level, participating in the 2004, 2006, and 2008 African Cup of Nations. He is t ...

unknowingly to the Suwon defense who thought possession would be returned to them according to FIFA fair play rules. Niang sprinted down the center half past the goalkeeper to score a second goal for Al Sadd. The chaos was further elevated when a Suwon fan ran onto the pitch, causing a brawl to erupt between the two teams. Afterwards, Keïta received a red card, allegedly for running towards the fan, slapping him in the back of the head and grabbing him by his throat. His teammate

Lee Jung-Soo Lee Jung-soo ( ko, 이정수; born 8 January 1980) is a South Korean former professional association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football)#Centre-back, centre-back. Club career Career in South Korea After gra ...

had told the press that Keïta had apologized for assisting Niang in scoring the goal, and admitted it was wrong. Al Sadd's coach, Jorge Fossati, suggested that Al Sadd was annoyed that Suwon had not immediately put the ball out of play, and decided to take actions into their own hands. Keïta was later suspended by AFC for the return leg. Keïta scored a goal in the AFC Champions League Final on 5 November, as his side defeated Jeonbuk Motors on penalties after the match ended 2–2 and was named as

Man of the Match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

. He left the team at the end of the 2011–12 season, and was linked with several teams in England and stated his interest of playing 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 Foo ...

International career

Keïta had a distinguished international career with 72

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

for the

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

, representing the team at the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

and at four

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 ...

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 ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, and

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 ...

, helping them finish runner-up in 2012. Keïta was selected for 2010 African Nations Cup and played three matches, scoring once against

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

during the quarter-final match.

2010 World Cup incident

During the

in South Africa, Keïta was involved in an off-the-ball incident with

Kaká Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite (; born 22 April 1982), commonly known as Kaká () or Ricardo Kaká, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. In his prime as a playmaker at AC Milan, a period marke ...

during a group game against

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. Keïta ran into Kaká and fell onto the floor, clutching his face, as if in great pain. Kaká was shown a yellow card, his second of the match, and sent off.

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

wrote "Abdul Kader Keïta's embarrassing reaction to a love-tap in the midriff from the Brazilian playmaker was both laughable and disgraceful. Obviously hoping to get Kaka in further hot water after he had only just earlier been shown his first yellow card, Keïta fell to the ground and clutched his face as if he'd been shot from close range. He blatantly cheated to ensure the Brazilian was given his marching orders." The incident has been named by numerous journalists as among the most shameful in the World Cup and was called "disgraceful" by the sports announcer, and Keïta's actions named in the ten worst moments of the World Cup. Keïta was named to the 2010 World Cup "Infamous 11" as one of the all-around worst sportsmen in the tournament.

Personal life

Keïta's older brother,

Fadel Fadel (also spelled Fadl ar, فضل or Fadil, ar, فاضل) is an Arabic masculine given name, meaning "generous, honorable, superior". Notable people with the name include: Given name Fadl * Fadl ibn Abbas (611–639), cousin of the Islamic pr ...

, is also a former professional footballer and Ivorian international.

Honours

Africa Sports *

African Cup Winners' Cup The African Cup Winners' Cup was a football competition that started in 1975 and merged with the CAF Cup in 2004 to form the CAF Confederation Cup. It was a competition between the winning clubs of domestic cups in CAF-affiliated nations and was ...

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

Al-Ain *

UAE Pro 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 ...

: 2001–02 *

GCC Champions League The GCC Champions League ( ar, دوري أبطال الخليج للأندية), formerly known as the Gulf Cup for Clubs ( ar, كأس الخليج للأندية), was an annually organized football league tournament for clubs of the Arabian penin ...

: 2001 Al-Sadd *

Qatar Stars League The Qatar Stars League ( ar, دوري نجوم قطر), or the QSL, also called QNB Stars League for sponsorship reasons, is the top level football league in Qatar football league system. Contested by 12 teams, it operates on a system of promotio ...

: 2003–04 *

Emir of Qatar Cup Emir of Qatar Cup ( ar, كأس أمير قطر), also known as the Emir Cup, but changed to Amir Cup starting in 2019, is an association football tournament played every season by 18 first and second division teams. The most successful is Al Sad ...

: 2002–03, 2004–05 *

Qatar Crown Prince Cup The Qatar Cup is a tournament in men's football. It is played by the top 4 teams of the Qatar Stars League The Qatar Stars League ( ar, دوري نجوم قطر), or the QSL, also called QNB Stars League for sponsorship reasons, is the top l ...

: 2003 *

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 ...

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

Lyon *

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 ...

: 2007–08 *

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 ...

: 2007–08 *

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 ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

References

External links

* * * * *
Keïta is runner up for Ivorian Player of the Year award, BBC Sport, 6 January 2007
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keita, Abdul Kader 1981 births Living people Sportspeople from Abidjan Ivorian footballers Association football midfielders Ivory Coast international footballers 2002 African Cup of Nations players 2006 FIFA World Cup players 2008 Africa Cup of Nations players 2010 Africa Cup of Nations players 2010 FIFA World Cup players 2012 Africa Cup of Nations players Africa Sports d'Abidjan players Étoile Sportive du Sahel players Al Ain FC players Al Sadd SC players Lille OSC players Olympique Lyonnais players Galatasaray S.K. footballers Budapest Honvéd FC players Persib Bandung players Qatar Stars League players Ligue 1 players Süper Lig players Nemzeti Bajnokság I players UAE Pro League players Ivorian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Tunisia Expatriate footballers in the United Arab Emirates Expatriate footballers in Qatar Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in Turkey Expatriate footballers in Hungary Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in Tunisia Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in France Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in Hungary