El-Hadji Diouf
Born in Senegal, El-Hadji Diouf arrived in France as a teenager and soon joined the FC Sochaux Academy. A few years later, he started his career in Division 1, and was recruited only one season later by Stade Rennais. After a nice start In Brittany, Diouf had difficulties to convince. With four goals scored (but only one in D1), he became especially famous for his off-pitch life. In 2000, Stade rennais loaned him to RC Lens and convinced the Artesian club to definitively keep him. A good move for RC Lens, since Diouf asserted himself as one of the best player of D1, coming close to win the title of French champion with RC Lens. Transferred to Liverpool for a comfortable transfer fee, he then started a long career in Great Britain, but his first experience with the Reds wouldn’t prove as successful as he hoped. Since then, Diouf has collected spells with second-rate English clubs, and continues to draw the media attention with his off-pitch antics and his controversial behaviour.
Surname : Ousseynou Diouf
Name : El-Hadji
Nationality : Senegalese
Date of birth : 15/01/1981
Place of birth : Dakar (Senegal)
Height : 1,80 m
Weight : 75 kg
Position : Forward
Number : 11
International : Senegal (69 caps, 21 goals)
Career :
Amateur :
FC Sochaux-Montbéliard
Professionnal :
FC Sochaux-Montbéliard (June 1998 - July 1999)
Stade Rennais FC (July 1999 - June 2001)
- Loaned to RC Lens (July 2000 - June 2001)
RC Lens (June 2001 - July2002)
Liverpool FC (England, July 2002 - June 2005)
- Loaned to Bolton Wanderers (England, August 2004 - June 2005)
Bolton Wanderers (England, June 2005 – July 2008)
Sunderland AFC (England, July 2008 – January 2009)
Blackburn Rovers (England, since January 2009)
- Loaned to Glasgow Rangers (Scotland, since January 2011)
Honours :
2003 England League Cup winner with Liverpool
2002 African Nations Cup runner-up with Senegal
2001 and 2002 African player of the year
Statistics :
- First match in Ligue 1 (with Sochaux) : Sochaux - Bastia (2-1), 11st November 1998
- First match with Rennes : Lustenau - Rennes (2-1), 17st July 1999
- 1999-2000 Season :
| Competition | Played | Started | Goals | Yellow | Red | Minutes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division 1 | 28 | 17 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 1621 |
| French Cup | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 296 |
| League Cup | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 90 |
| European Cup | 6 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 482 |
| Total | 38 | 27 | 4 | 8 | 1 | 2489 |
Goals for Stade Rennais :
- 1 - 17/07/99, Lustenau - Rennes (2-1), R3 Intertoto Cup (52’, 1-1)
- 2 - 20/08/99, Rennes - Bordeaux (2-1), Division 1, GW4 (44’, 1-1)
- 3 - 24/08/99, Rennes - Juventus (2-2), Intertoto Cup final (20’, 1-0)
- 4 - 12/02/00, Les Herbiers - Rennes (0-4), French Cup 1/16 (85’, 0-3)
- Photo : Serine Diagne via Flickr