Djimi Traoré

Djimi Traoré (born 1 March 1980) is a Malian former professional footballer. A left back or centre back, he was a member of the Malian national team and at club level, he played for Laval, Liverpool – with whom he won multiple honours including the 2004–05 Champions League – Lens, Charlton Athletic, Portsmouth, Rennes, Birmingham City, Monaco, Marseille and Seattle Sounders FC.

Club career

Liverpool

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

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 neighbours Everton on the 2004 transfer deadline day but remained at Liverpool. He scored his first and what turned out to be only Liverpool goal during this season, in the UEFA Cup against FC Steaua Bucureşti. Traoré's career appeared to have been revitalised by Rafael Benítez. 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.

FA Cup

The FA Cup is an annual knockout cup competition in English football; first held in 1871–72, it is the oldest association football competition in the world. It is organised by and named after the Football Association, its official name being The Football Association Challenge Cup. For sponsorship reasons, from 2015 through to 2018 it is also known as The Emirates FA Cup. A concurrent women's tournament is also held, known as the FA Women's Cup.

The competition is open to any eligible club down to Level 10 of the English football league system, i.e. all 92 professional clubs (the Premier League and the three levels of the The Football League), as well as several hundred "non-league" teams in Steps 1 to 6 of the National League System. A record 763 clubs competed in 2011–12. The tournament is unseeded, although a system of byes based on league level ensures most competitors enter at progressively later stages. Played over 12 randomly drawn rounds followed by the semi-finals and final, the first six rounds are the Qualifying Competition, followed by six rounds of the Competition Proper, where 32 qualifiers meet professional sides for the first time.