Djimi Traoré (born 1 March 1980) is a 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 ...

and was an assistant coach for

Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders Football Club is an American professional men's soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete as a member of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The club was established on November 13, 2007, and began ...

. He played as a

left 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 s ...

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 s ...

. Born in France, Traoré was a member of the

Malian national team Malian may refer to: * Malian, Iran (disambiguation), places in Iran with the name * Something of, from, or related to Mali, a country in West Africa * Something of, from, or related to the Malians (Greek tribe) in Ancient Greece * Something o ...

and at club level, he played for Laval,

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 ...

– with whom he won multiple honours including the 2004–05 Champions League –

Lens A lens is a transmissive optical device which focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements'' ...

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 ...

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is admi ...

Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine departm ...

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 ...

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign ''Sovereign'' is a title which can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word ...

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fran ...

, and Seattle.

Club career

Liverpool

Traoré started his career at home club Laval before moving on to

. He spent the 2003–04 season, Houllier's last at the club, in the reserve team, of which he was captain, and almost left Liverpool for their

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Mersey Estuary and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral ...

neighbours Everton on the 2004 transfer deadline day but remained at Liverpool. He scored his first and what turned out to be his only Liverpool goal during this season, 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, cla ...

against

FC Steaua București FC Steaua București was a Romanian professional football club of which two current entities are claiming the records. The original ''FC Steaua București'' team was part of the namesake CSA Steaua București sports club and belonged to the Minist ...

. Traoré's career appeared to have been revitalised by

Rafael Benítez Rafael Benítez Maudes (born 16 April 1960) is a Spanish professional football manager and former player who most recently managed club Everton. Benítez joined Real Madrid's coaching staff at the age of 26, going on to work as the under- ...

. While the defender had appeared poor positionally, and seemed reluctant to attack, particularly during the 2004–05 season, he showed more willingness to support the left winger, as well as improving his positional play. Traoré scored an own goal in the third round of the

2004–05 FA Cup The 2004–05 FA Cup was the 124th season of the world's oldest football competition, the FA Cup. The competition began on 28 August 2004, with the lowest-ranked of the entrants competing in the Extra Preliminary Round. For England's top 44 clubs, ...

against then Championship side

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River ...

, as he attempted a turn and drag-back within his own six-yard box. It turned out to be the only goal of the game and handed Burnley a 1–0 victory over their Premiership opponents. Traoré remained a regular at Liverpool, and eventually made the starting line-up as Liverpool qualified for the

2005 Champions League Final The 2005 UEFA Champions League Final was the final match of the 2004–05 UEFA Champions League, Europe's primary club football competition. The showpiece event was contested between Liverpool of England and Milan of Italy at the Atatürk Ol ...

against

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

. After conceding the free kick that led to

Paolo Maldini Paolo Cesare Maldini (; born 26 June 1968) is an Italian former professional footballer who played primarily as a left back and centre back for AC Milan and the Italy national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest defenders of ...

's goal in the opening minute, In the second half his play improved, and a goalline clearance to deny

Shevchenko Shevchenko (alternative spellings Schevchenko, Ševčenko, Shevcenko, Szewczenko, Chevchenko; ua , Шевченко), a family name of Ukrainian origin. It is derived from the Ukrainian word ''shvets'' ( uk, швець), " cobbler/shoemaker", and ...

a likely winner contributed to his winning a Champions League medal as Liverpool fought back from 3–0 down to draw 3–3 and beat Milan 3–2 on penalties. In the 2005–06 season, Traoré found his first team appearances limited, with

John Arne Riise John Arne Semundseth Riise (born 24 September 1980) is a Norwegian professional football manager and former player who played as a left back and a left midfielder. He is currently the manager of Toppserien club Avaldsnes. With 110 caps, Riise ...

and

Stephen Warnock Stephen Warnock (born 12 December 1981) is an English former professional footballer who played as a defender. Starting off his career at Liverpool, he went on to also represent Coventry City, Bradford City, Blackburn Rovers, Aston Villa, Bolt ...

also starting regularly at left back. It was to be his last season with Liverpool, and, although he had played some part in Liverpool's pre-season in 2006, he was sold to

for £2 million on 8 August 2006.

Charlton Athletic and Portsmouth

Traoré was sent off on his Addicks debut on 19 August, after receiving two yellow cards, the latter of which was for preventing a free kick being taken. This was the fifth time in eight seasons a Charlton player had been sent off in the first game of the season. On 16 December he conceded a penalty against Liverpool, his former club, for a tackle on

Jermaine Pennant Jermaine Lloyd Pennant (born 15 January 1983) is an English former professional footballer who played as a winger. Pennant made over 350 league appearances for 15 clubs, and scored 25 league goals. Born in Nottingham, Pennant played for his lo ...

. He was soon deemed surplus to requirements at Charlton. After only half a season at the Valley, Traoré was allowed to leave the club by new manager

Alan Pardew Alan Scott Pardew (born 18 July 1961) is an English football manager and former professional footballer, who is the current manager of Greek Super League club Aris. Pardew's highest achievements in the sport include reaching the FA Cup Final t ...

, joining

Birmingham City (loan)

On 10 February 2009 Traoré joined

, then of the

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 ...

, on a three-month emergency loan. He sustained a hamstring injury later the same month, and finally made his debut for the club in April as a late substitute against

Watford Watford () is a town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal en ...

Monaco

On 18 June 2009 Traore signed a two-year deal with

, moving from Portsmouth after his loan period at Birmingham expired.

Marseille

On 18 August 2011 Traoré signed a one-year contract with

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. ...

club

Olympique de Marseille Olympique de Marseille (, ; oc, Olimpic de Marselha, ), also known simply as Marseille or by the abbreviation OM (, ), is a French professional men's football club based in Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. Founded in 1899, the club p ...

. He was an unused substitute as Marseille won the

2012 Coupe de la Ligue Final The 2012 Coupe de la Ligue Final was the 18th final of France's football league cup competition, the Coupe de la Ligue, a football competition for the 42 teams that the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) manages. The final took place on 14 A ...

, and left the club at the end of the season.

Seattle Sounders FC

On 23 February 2013 Traoré signed with

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Cana ...

club

after a successful preseason trial. He scored his first goal for the club in spectacular fashion, a volley off the underside of the crossbar, during a

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions League, known officially as the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons, is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF. The tournament is contested by clubs from North Amer ...

quarterfinal match against Tigres. Traoré's goal equalized their Champions League match with Tigres 2–2 on aggregate, and preceded

Eddie Johnson Edward, Eddie or Ed Johnson may refer to: Politicians * Edward Johnson (founder of Woburn, MA) (1598–1672), colonial military officer and writer * Edward Johnson (mayor) (1767–1829), mayor of Baltimore *Edward A. Johnson (1860–1944), first A ...

's 75th-minute game-winning goal, allowing the Sounders to become the first MLS club to eliminate a Mexican side in the history of the CONCACAF Champions League. Traoré's first ever league goal came on 8 May 2013 as the Sounders beat

Sporting Kansas City Sporting Kansas City, often shortened to Sporting KC, is an American men's professional soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The administrative offices are located in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and the team clubhouse an ...

1–0 in Kansas City. The goal was a game-winning volley in the 94th minute to give the Sounders just their second win of the 2013 season in their first eight games. Traoré retired at the end of the 2014 season. Traoré was an assistant coach with the team until 12 August 2021.

Club statistics

Honours

Liverpool *

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

: 2004–05 *

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 competit ...

: 2005–06 *

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 th ...

: 2002–03; runner-up 2004–05 *

FA Charity Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier L ...

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanistan ...

; 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 independence from Indonesia and ...

FIFA Club World Championship The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested in 200 ...

runner-up:

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris (dwarf planet), Er ...

Marseille *

Coupe de la Ligue The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a knockout cup competition in French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was established in 1993 and, unlike the Coupe de France, w ...

: 2011–12 Seattle Sounders FC *

MLS Supporters' Shield The Supporters' Shield is an annual award given to the Major League Soccer team with the best regular season record, as determined by the MLS points system. The Supporters' Shield has been annually awarded at the MLS Supporters' Summit since 19 ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

References

External links

* * *
Profile, stats & pics of Djimi Traoré
*

at Sitercl.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Traore, Djimi 1980 births Living people French people of Malian descent People from Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine Footballers from Seine-Saint-Denis Malian footballers French footballers Association football defenders Stade Lavallois players Liverpool F.C. players RC Lens players Charlton Athletic F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players Stade Rennais F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players AS Monaco FC players Olympique de Marseille players Seattle Sounders FC players Ligue 2 players Premier League players Ligue 1 players English Football League players Major League Soccer players UEFA Champions League winning players UEFA Cup winning players Mali international footballers Malian expatriate footballers Malian expatriate sportspeople in England Malian expatriate sportspeople in the United States French expatriate footballers French expatriate sportspeople in England French expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate soccer players in the United States Seattle Sounders FC non-playing staff