Didier Zokora

Personal information
Full name	Déguy Alain Didier Zokora[1]
Date of birth	(1980-12-14) 14 December 1980 (age 31)
Place of birth	Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position	Defensive midfielder
Club information
Current club	Trabzonspor
Number	15
Youth career
1994–1999	Académie MimoSifcom
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1999–2000	ASEC Mimosas
2000–2004	Racing Genk	122	(1)
2004–2006	Saint-Étienne	66	(0)
2006–2009	Tottenham Hotspur	88	(0)
2009–2011	Sevilla	49	(0)
2011–	Trabzonspor	27	(0)
National team‡
2000–2012	Cote d'Ivoire	102	(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 11 May 2012. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 25 June 2010

Déguy Alain Didier Zokora (born on 14 December 1980 in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire) is an Ivorian footballer who plays for Turkish club Trabzonspor.

Club career[link]

Early career[link]

Zokora started his career in Côte d'Ivoire at Académie MimoSifcom.^[2] He was offered a professional contract along with his younger brother, Armando, with Ivorian club ASEC Mimosas. Tragedy struck though as Armando drowned to death celebrating at the beach in Grand-Bassam; in memory of his brother and hero, Zokora has Armand tattoed on his right forearm.^[3]

In 2000 he moved abroad to play for Belgian team Racing Genk and won the Belgian Jupiler League during the 2001–02 campaign, as manager Sef Vergoossen was named coach of the year and Wesley Sonck won top goal-scorer honors. Zokora went on to feature in 126 matches for the club and was memorably part of the squad that recorded a 1-1 home draw with Real Madrid on 12 November 2002.^[4][3] In the summer of 2004 he went to play for AS Saint-Étienne in France.

Tottenham Hotspur[link]

Zokora joined Tottenham in the summer of 2006 following his performances for the national side at the World Cup in Germany. The deal was reported by media as being worth £8.2m.^[3][5][6] Shortly after joining the Premier League club, it was announced on 24 October 2006 that Zokora had contracted malaria after falling ill on the morning of a UEFA Cup group match against Beşiktaş in Istanbul.^[7] Zokora was in the hospital for four days and then spent a period of two weeks recovering,^[8] missing the win over Beşiktaş, two Premier League games and a Carling Cup fixture as well. It was announced on 31 October that Zokora had returned to training with first-team.^[9]

He won the 2008 Football League Cup Final with Tottenham, their first major title in 9 years, as a header from Jonathan Woodgate secured a 2-1 extra time victory over London rivals Chelsea.^[10] He was also part of the Tottenham side which returned to Wembley Stadium the following year to play in the League Cup Final, this time against Manchester United. Tottenham lost this game on penalties after the sides drew 0–0 after extra time with Zokora playing the full 120 minutes.^[11] Zokora managed to score a penalty in the shoot-out against PSV Eindhoven in the UEFA Cup.^[12][13]

On 30 August 2008, Zokora signed a new four year deal with Spurs that tied him to White Hart Lane until the summer of 2012.^[14] In January 2009 though, the club signed Honduran defensive midfielder Wilson Palacios from Wigan. The signing relegated Zokora to the sub's bench and he played the full 90 minutes just three times since January.^[15] On 15 March, Zokora started at left back for Spurs to try and curtail the pace and trickery of Aston Villa winger Ashley Young, Zokora picked up an early booking and was subbed off after 30 minutes for Vedran Corluka.^[16] Although he was at the club for three years, Zokora failed to score in 134 appearances.

Sevilla FC[link]

In the summer transfer period of 2009 Zokora signed for Sevilla FC for a undisclosed fee, including a reported €30 million release clause.^{[17][18][19][20]} He made his debut for the Spanish side on 30 August 2009 in the first round of the La Liga season in a 2-0 loss to Valencia CF, coming on as a 21st minute sub for the injured Romaric.^[21] In his first season in Andalusia, Zokora managed to help take Sevilla back into the Champions League after finishing the league in 4th position. In addition to the league success, he helped his side claim their fifth Copa del Rey title by defeating Europa League winners Atletico de Madrid 2-0 in the final at the Nou Camp.^[22][23]

On 29 January 2011, Zokora came on as a 77th minute substitute for Federico Fazio and provided his only assist of the season to Álvaro Negredo, as Sevilla battled back from 2-0 down to claim a 3-3 draw with Deportivo La Coruña.^[24]

Trabzonspor[link]

Zokora joined Turkish side Trabzonspor on 2 June 2011 on a four-year deal.^[25][26] The Turkish club announced that the transfer fee was €5 million,^[27] with the player earning €1.625 million a season.^[28] He made his debut on 10 September 2011, against Manisaspor.

During a 2-0 loss on 15 April 2012 to reigning league champions Fenerbahçe, Zokora was racially abused by former Premier League rival Emre Belözoğlu. Zokora was quoted as saying that Emre called him a "f****** n*****"; national papers including Hürriyet blasted Emre and he later received a 2 match ban by the Turkish Football Federation following the incident.^[29][30] Zokora dished out his own retribution against the former Newcastle midfielder when the two clubs met again on 6 May in Trabzonspor's 3-1 loss,^[31] kicking Emre "with the full force of his right boot" into his crotch with Zokora receiving a yellow card for the challenge.^[32]

International career[link]

Zokora representing Côte d'Ivoire

Zokora played 102 international matches for the Côte d'Ivoire national football team.^[33] He scored his only goal at the international level in a 4-0 thumping of Botswana on 22 June 2008 that moved Ivory Coast to the top of their group in World Cup qualifiers.^[34]

During his twelve years with the national side, Zokora helped Les Éléphants to their first two World Cup finals appearances in 2006 and 2010.^[35][36] On both occasions Côte d'Ivoire were unfortunately drawn into the supposed "Group of Death," valiantly bowing out in third place each time.^{[37][38][39][40]} In the 2010 edition of the tournament, Zokora was forced to play in a new position, center back, against Portugal to bolster and compact the defense against the strong attacking side; Zokora helped his side earn a 0-0 draw.^[41]

During the Cup of Nations in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, Zokora said he would retire from international football should the Ivory Coast win the title.^[42] Zokora did in fact retire from international football on the 28th February 2012,^[43] following the end of the tournament. But Les Elephantes went down in an 8-7 penalty shoot-out loss to Zambia in the Africa Cup of Nations final.^[44]

Goals for Senior National Team[link]

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
	22 June 2008	Abidjan, Ivory Coast	Botswana	4–0	Won	2010 FIFA World Cup Qualification

Honours[link]

KRC Genk

• Jupiler League: 2002

Tottenham Hotspur

• Football League Cup: 2008

Sevilla

• Copa del Rey: 2010

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Sevilla profile

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Didier Zokora

• Didier Zokora – FIFA competition record
• Didier Zokora career stats at Soccerbase
• Statistics at TFF.org (Turkish)
• Zokora interview at The Guardian

Côte d'Ivoire squads v t e Côte d'Ivoire squad – 2002 Africa Cup of Nations 1 Konaté 2 Touré 3 Coulibaly 4 Diabaté 5 Akassou 6 Bl. Kouassi 7 Guel 8 Koné 9 Traoré 10 Bakayoko 11 Kante 12 Keïta 13 Aliou 14 Dindane 15 Kalou 16 Barry 17 Yapi Yapo 18 Djire 19 Zokora 20 Tiéné 21 Zoko 22 Be. Kouassi Coach: Bamba v t e Côte d'Ivoire squad – 2006 Africa Cup of Nations Runners-up 1 Tizié 2 Akalé 3 Boka 4 Touré 5 Zokora 6 Kouassi 7 Faé 8 Kalou 9 Arouna Koné 10 Yapi 11 Drogba 12 Méïté 13 Zoro 14 Koné 15 Dindane 16 Gnanhouan 17 Domoraud 18 Keïta 19 Touré Yaya 20 Demel 21 Eboué 22 Romaric 23 Barry Coach: Michel v t e Côte d'Ivoire squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup 1 Tizié 2 Akalé 3 Boka 4 Touré 5 Zokora 6 Kouassi 7 Faé 8 Kalou 9 Arouna Koné 10 Yapi 11 Drogba (c) 12 Méïté 13 Zoro 14 Koné 15 Dindane 16 Gnanhouan 17 Domoraud 18 Keïta 19 Touré Yaya 20 Demel 21 Eboué 22 Romaric 23 Barry Coach: Michel v t e Côte d'Ivoire squad – 2008 Africa Cup of Nations Fourth Place 1 Barry 2 Djakpa 3 Boka 4 Touré 5 Zokora 6 Gohouri 7 Faé 8 Kalou 9 Arouna Koné 10 Gervinho 11 Drogba 12 Méïté 13 Romaric 14 Koné 15 Dindane 16 Loboué 17 Tiéné 18 Keïta 19 Touré Yaya 20 Sanogo 21 Eboué 22 Zoro 23 Koné Coach: Gili v t e Côte d'Ivoire squad – 2010 Africa Cup of Nations 1 Barry 2 Angoua 3 Boka 4 K. Touré 5 Zokora 6 Y. Touré 7 Faé 8 Kalou 9 Tioté 10 Gervinho 11 Drogba 12 Méïté 13 Gosso 14 B. Koné 15 Dindane 16 Zogbo 17 Yapi 18 Keïta 19 E. Koné 20 Demel 21 Eboué 22 Bamba 23 Angban Coach: Halilhodžić v t e Côte d'Ivoire squad – 2010 FIFA World Cup 1 Barry 2 Angoua 3 Boka 4 Kolo Touré 5 Zokora 6 Gohouri 7 Doumbia 8 Kalou 9 Tioté 10 Gervinho 11 Drogba (c) 12 Gosso 13 Romaric 14 Koné 15 Dindane 16 Zogbo 17 Tiéné 18 Keïta 19 Touré Yaya 20 Demel 21 Eboué 22 Bamba 23 Yeboah Coach: Eriksson v t e Côte d'Ivoire squad – 2012 Africa Cup of Nations Runners-up 1 Barry 2 Angoua 3 Boka 4 K. Touré 5 Zokora 6 Gosso 7 Doumbia 8 Kalou 9 Tioté 10 Gervinho 11 Drogba 12 Bony 13 Ya Konan 14 Coulibaly 15 Gradel 16 Yeboah 17 Tiéné 18 Keïta 19 Y. Touré 20 Lolo 21 Eboué 22 Bamba 23 Gnanhouan Coach: Zahoui