Djiman Waidi Koukou (born 14 November 1990) is a

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 ...

ese 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 ...

who plays as a

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 boundarie ...

for French club

Les Herbiers VF Les Herbiers Vendée Football is a French football club based in Les Herbiers, Vendée. It was founded in 1919. They play at the Stade Massabielle, which has a capacity of 5,000 people. The colours of the club are red and black. From the 2015� ...

Club career

Born in

Porto-Novo Porto-Novo (Portuguese: "New Port", , ; yo, Àjàṣẹ́, ), also known as Hogbonu and Ajashe, is the capital of Benin. The commune covers an area of and as of 2002 had a population of 223,552 people. Situated on an inlet of the Gulf of G ...

, Koukou played for Requins de l'Atlantique FC and Soleil FC in his country. On 5 July 2009, he signed with Thonon Évian F.C. in France, going on to play two seasons in the third division. After a successful year with

US Créteil-Lusitanos Union Sportive Créteil-Lusitanos (commonly referred to as US Créteil, USC, or simply Créteil) is a French football club based in Créteil, a southeastern suburb of Paris. The club was founded in 1936 and currently play in the Championnat Nati ...

, Koukou joined Portuguese club

S.C. Beira-Mar Sport Clube Beira-Mar () is a Portuguese sports club based in Aveiro, Portugal. Its football team currently plays in the Campeonato de Portugal, the fourth national level, having gained promotion by winning the Aveiro FA First Division 2018/19 ...

in late June 2011, on a free transfer. He was immediately loaned to Segunda Liga team C.F. Os Belenenses, appearing in slightly more than half of the games during his only campaign. Koukou failed to break into the first team with the Aveiro side, and returned to France in the summer of 2012. He trained with amateurs UMS Montélimar for several months, and eventually signed in February 2013. In January 2013, Koukou went on trial with Chamois Niortais F.C. from Ligue 2. After training for 15 days, he was offered a contract until the end of the season by manager Pascal Gastien, and went on to compete with the team in three and a half second level seasons whilst playing 125 matches across all competitions. In early July 2016, Koukou joined

RC Lens Racing Club de Lens (, commonly referred to as RC Lens or simply Lens) is a French professional football club based in the northern city of Lens in the Pas-de-Calais department. Its nickname, ''les sang et or'' (''the blood and gold''), co ...

– also of the French division two – on a two-year deal. He scored his first and only league goal for them on 28 November 2017, helping the hosts defeat

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 ...

2–0. Koukou moved to the Romanian

Liga I The Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1, is a Romanian professional league for men's association football clubs. Currently Sponsor (commercial), sponsored by betting company Superbet, it is officially known as the SuperLiga. It ...

on 28 September 2018, agreeing to a two-year contract at

FC Astra Giurgiu Asociația Fotbal Club Astra Giurgiu (), commonly known as Astra Giurgiu or simply Astra, was a Romanian football club based in the city of Giurgiu, Giurgiu County. Founded in 1921 in Ploiești as ''Clubul Sportiv Astra-Română'', it spent the m ...

. One year later, he returned to France and its third tier by signing with recently relegated

Red Star FC Red Star Football Club, also known simply as Red Star (), is a French association football club founded in Paris in 1897, and is the fourth oldest French football club, after Standard AC of Paris, Le Havre AC and Girondins de Bordeaux. In t ...

International career

Koukou made his debut for

in 2008, being selected for that year's Africa Cup of Nations. He earned his first

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

on 7 September, in a 3–2 home win against

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

for 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 ...

qualifiers.

Career statistics

Club

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Koukou, Djiman 1990 births Living people People from Porto-Novo Beninese footballers Association football midfielders Ligue 2 players Championnat National players Championnat National 2 players Liga Portugal 2 players Liga I players Requins de l'Atlantique FC players Soleil FC players Thonon Evian Grand Genève F.C. players US Créteil-Lusitanos players S.C. Beira-Mar players C.F. Os Belenenses players UMS Montélimar players Chamois Niortais F.C. players RC Lens players FC Astra Giurgiu players Red Star F.C. players Les Herbiers VF players Benin international footballers 2008 Africa Cup of Nations players 2010 Africa Cup of Nations players Beninese expatriate footballers Beninese expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate footballers in France Beninese expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Expatriate footballers in Portugal Beninese expatriate sportspeople in Romania Expatriate footballers in Romania