Lamine Diarra
Diarra with Antalyaspor in 2012
Personal information
Full name Lamine Diarra
Date of birth (1983-12-20) 20 December 1983 (age 40)
Place of birth Bignona, Senegal
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Striker
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2001–2003 Dakar UC
2003–2005 Jeanne d'Arc
2005–2007 Zrinjski Mostar 27 (12)
2007 → Beira-Mar (loan) 5 (0)
2007–2012 Partizan 112 (56)
2010–2011 → Al Shabab (loan) 8 (3)
2012–2017 Antalyaspor 104 (38)
2016 → Göztepe (loan) 14 (3)
2017–2019 Elazığspor 52 (18)
Total 322 (130)
International career
2009 Senegal 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Lamine Diarra (born 20 December 1983) is a Senegalese former footballer who played as a striker. He was capped once for Senegal at full level.

Nicknamed Black Mamba and Mamba Di,[1][2] due to his speed and clinical finishing, Diarra is best remembered for his time at Partizan and Antalyaspor.

Club career

Early career

Born in Bignona, Diarra began his senior career with Dakar UC, becoming the Senegal Premier League top scorer with nine goals in the 2002–03 season.[3] He subsequently moved to Jeanne d'Arc, partnering Dame N'Doye on the team that reached the CAF Champions League semi-finals during the 2004 campaign.[4] Diarra was the team's highest scorer with six goals in the process.[5]

In the second half of 2005, Diarra was acquired by Bosnia and Herzegovina club Zrinjski Mostar. He was initially unable to play competitive football due to paperwork issues, which lasted for several months.[6] However, after obtaining the certificate, Diarra was cleared to debut for the club, making 13 league appearances and netting four goals in the second half of the 2005–06 season.[7] He improved his numbers in the fall of 2006, scoring nine goals in 17 games across all competitions. In early 2007, Diarra was loaned to Portuguese club Beira-Mar until the end of the season.[8]

Partizan

On 4 July 2007, Diarra signed a three-year contract with Partizan and was given the number 26 shirt.[9] Already that season, he became a mainstay of Partizan and part of the great trio of foreigners Juca – Moreira – Diarra, which brought the club dominance in domestic competitions. He made his competitive debut for the side in a UEFA Cup qualifier against his former club Zrinjski Mostar, on 19 July, scoring a hat-trick in a 6–1 away victory.[10] On 16 April 2008, Diarra netted a brace in the Serbian Cup semi-final in what would be an eventual 3–2 away success over Red Star Belgrade.[11] He later bagged three goals in the competition's final, a 3–0 win over Zemun.[12] Throughout the league campaign, Diarra made 31 appearances and scored 12 goals, as Partizan won the title. He was also the team's overall top scorer with 20 goals in all competitions and signed a two-year extension to his contract.[13]

On 6 August 2008, Diarra scored his first goal of the season in a 2–0 home win over Inter Baku in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League second qualifying round.[14] He also netted a goal in a 2–1 victory over their crosstown rivals Red Star Belgrade on 5 October.[15] Diarra continued his good form by equalizing the score versus Sampdoria in the UEFA Cup group stage, on 24 October, however Partizan would go on to lose the game 2–1.[16] He made his 50th league appearance for Partizan on 7 March 2009, scoring the winning goal in a 1–0 win against Javor Ivanjica. In addition to helping the club defend the double, Diarra became the Serbian SuperLiga top scorer with 19 goals. He was also one of eight Partizan players named in the league's Best XI.[17] Thanks to his speed and goal-scoring skills, he earned himself the nickname "Black mamba" among Partizan fans.

On 1 November 2009, Diarra made his 100th competitive appearance for the club in a league game versus Napredak Kruševac, which Partizan won 3–1. He subsequently scored the opening goal in an eventual 2–1 away victory against Red Star Belgrade on 28 November.[18] Diarra also netted the winning goal to give his team a 1–0 home win over Shakhtar Donetsk in the last game of the UEFA Europa League group stage on 16 December.[19] He later bagged a hat-trick in the final round of the domestic league on 16 May 2010, a 6–0 home win over Mladi Radnik to clinch their third consecutive title. During his third season at Partizan, Diarra appeared in 43 games and tallied 21 goals across all competitions.

Loan to Al Shabab

On 27 June 2010, it was announced that Diarra would be joining Al Shabab on a season-long loan.[20] He scored his first competitive goal for the club on 3 September in the second round of the UAE Pro League, a 2–0 away win over Dubai CSC. On 27 October, in a league game against Al Wahda, Diarra suffered a fracture in his lower left leg,[21] spending the rest of the season in the process of recovering. He failed to make any more appearances for Al Shabab, before returning to Partizan in June 2011.[22]

Return to Partizan

After completing his loan spell, Diarra returned to Serbia and made his first appearance back for Partizan in a 5–0 home win over Novi Pazar on 13 August 2011. He came on as a substitute in the 74th minute, receiving a standing ovation upon his introduction.[23] On 28 August, Diarra bagged a brace in a 3–0 home win over OFK Beograd.[24] He also netted two goals versus Jagodina on 17 March 2012, as Partizan won 4–0.[25] Two weeks later, Diarra scored a brace against Rad, becoming the league's joint all-time leading scorer with 52 goals.[26] He played his last match for Partizan on 20 May, scoring the team's only goal in a 1–0 home win over Metalac Gornji Milanovac, celebrating his fourth league title. In his four seasons at Partizan, Diarra made 151 official appearances and scored 75 goals across all competitions.

Antalyaspor

In the 2012 summer transfer window, Diarra signed a two-year contract with Turkish club Antalyaspor on a free transfer. He immediately established himself as the club's leading striker, scoring 13 league goals in his debut Süper Lig season, missing only one out of 34 matches. In the following 2013–14 campaign, Diarra appeared in all 34 league fixtures and scored 10 goals, as the club suffered relegation to the 1. Lig. He helped them win promotion back to the top flight after only one season, being the team's top scorer with 15 goals in 29 league appearances (plus one goal in three playoff games).

Loan to Göztepe

On 1 February 2016, Diarra was loaned to 1. Lig club Göztepe until the end of the 2015–16 season.[27] He scored three times in 14 league games, as the side finished 13th among 18 teams.

Later career

On 28 January 2017, Diarra signed with 1. Lig side Elazığspor on a one-and-a-half-year contract.[28]

International career

Diarra represented Senegal with the national under-23 team at the 2003 All-Africa Games. He scored one goal for the side in a 2–1 loss to Zambia, as they exited the tournament in the group stage.[29] Two months later in December, Diarra netted the second goal of a 2–0 home win over Egypt in the Olympic qualifiers.[30] However, Senegal failed to qualify for the final tournament.

On 14 October 2009, Diarra made his full international debut for Senegal after coming on as a 79th-minute substitute for Demba Ba in a 2–0 friendly loss to South Korea.[31]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[32][33]
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Zrinjski Mostar 2005–06 Bosnian Premier League 13 4 0 0 — 0 0 — 13 4
2006–07 Bosnian Premier League 14 8 1 0 — 2[a] 1 — 17 9
Total 27 12 1 0 — 2 1 — 30 13
Beira-Mar (loan) 2006–07 Primeira Liga 5 0 1 1 0 0 — — 6 1
Partizan 2007–08 Serbian SuperLiga 31 12 4 5 — 2[b] 3 — 37 20
2008–09 Serbian SuperLiga 29 19 4 1 — 10[c] 2 — 43 22
2009–10 Serbian SuperLiga 29 14 4 3 — 10[d] 4 — 43 21
2010–11 Serbian SuperLiga 0 0 0 0 — 0 0 — 0 0
2011–12 Serbian SuperLiga 23 11 5 1 — 0 0 — 28 12
Total 112 56 17 10 — 22 9 — 151 75
Al Shabab (loan) 2010–11 UAE Pro League 8 3 1 1 1 0 0 0 — 10 4
Antalyaspor 2012–13 Süper Lig 33 13 8 5 — — — 41 18
2013–14 Süper Lig 34 10 7 5 — — — 41 15
2014–15 1. Lig 29 15 0 0 — — 3[e] 1 32 16
2015–16 Süper Lig 8 0 5 0 — — — 13 0
Total 104 38 20 10 — — 3 1 127 49
Göztepe (loan) 2015–16 1. Lig 14 3 0 0 — — — 14 3
Elazığspor 2016–17 1. Lig 12 2 0 0 — — — 12 2
2017–18 1. Lig 17 8 0 0 — — — 17 8
2018–19 1. Lig 23 8 0 0 — — — 23 8
Total 52 18 0 0 — — — 52 18
Career total 322 130 40 22 1 0 24 10 3 1 390 163
  1. ^ Appearances in UEFA Intertoto Cup
  2. ^ Appearances in UEFA Cup
  3. ^ Four appearances and one goal in UEFA Champions League, six appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League
  4. ^ Four appearances and two goals in UEFA Champions League, six appearances and two goals in UEFA Europa League
  5. ^ Appearances in promotion/relegation playoffs

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Senegal 2009 1 0
Total 1 0

Honours

Partizan

Individual

References

  1. ^ "Full focus crucial for derby game". partizan.rs. 31 October 2013. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
  2. ^ "Kakav Drogba, 'Mamba Di' je zakon!" (in Serbian). sportske.net. 29 November 2013. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
  3. ^ "Senegal 2002/03". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  4. ^ "Jeanne d'Arc into last four". BBC. 17 October 2004. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  5. ^ "African Club Competitions 2004". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  6. ^ "SENEGALAC DIARRA NAPOKON PLEMIĆ!" (in Bosnian). blog.dnevnik.hr. 10 November 2005. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
  7. ^ "2005/06" (in Bosnian). hskzrinjski.ba. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
  8. ^ "Lamine Diarra até final da época em Aveiro" (in Portuguese). oln.pt. 31 January 2007. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
  9. ^ "Potpisali Diarra i Sikimić" (in Serbian). partizan.rs. 4 July 2007. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
  10. ^ "Partizan deklasirao Zrinjski – 6:1!" (in Serbian). b92.net. 19 July 2007. Retrieved 26 March 2011.
  11. ^ "Partizan u finalu Lav kupa" (in Serbian). sportskacentrala.com. 16 April 2008. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  12. ^ "Het-trik Dijare za jubilarni pehar Partizana" (in Serbian). blic.rs. 8 May 2008. Retrieved 24 February 2011.
  13. ^ "Diarra produžio ugovor!" (in Serbian). partizan.rs. 21 June 2008. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
  14. ^ "Classy Partizan seal progress". UEFA. 6 August 2008. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  15. ^ "Dijara i Žuka za pobedu Partizana" (in Serbian). b92.net. 5 October 2008. Retrieved 12 July 2011.
  16. ^ "Dessena decider breaks Sampdoria spell". UEFA. 23 October 2008. Retrieved 24 February 2011.
  17. ^ "Izabran najbolji tim Jelen Super lige Srbije!" (in Serbian). partizan.rs. 28 May 2009. Retrieved 24 February 2011.
  18. ^ "Partizan sa desetoricom bolji od Zvezde" (in Serbian). sportskacentrala.com. 28 November 2009. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  19. ^ "Partizan bow out with Shakhtar scalp". UEFA. 16 December 2009. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
  20. ^ "Diarra i zvanično potpisao za Al Shabab Al Arabi Club" (in Serbian). partizan.rs. 27 June 2010. Retrieved 1 July 2010.
  21. ^ "Dijara: Biću spreman za Partizan" (in Serbian). novosti.rs. 10 November 2010. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  22. ^ "Dijara: Lepo je vratiti se u Partizan, odbranićemo duplu krunu" (in Serbian). blic.rs. 14 June 2011. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  23. ^ "Partizanova petarda Novom Pazaru, ovacije Dijari" (in Serbian). blic.rs. 13 August 2011. Retrieved 28 August 2011.
  24. ^ "Dva gola Dijare za ubedljivu pobedu" (in Serbian). b92.net. 28 August 2011. Retrieved 28 August 2011.
  25. ^ "Dijara: Biće golova...ako Bog da" (in Serbian). mondo.rs. 18 March 2012. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  26. ^ "Dijara izjednačio rekord Kaluđerovića" (in Serbian). blic.rs. 31 March 2012. Retrieved 29 September 2018.
  27. ^ "Lamine Diarra Göztepe'mizde" (in Turkish). goztepe.org.tr. 1 February 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  28. ^ "Elazığspor, Diarra ile 1.5 yıllık sözleşme imzaladı". Hürriyet (in Turkish). 28 January 2017. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  29. ^ "African Games 2003". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  30. ^ "SA dominate in Olympic qualifiers". BBC. 20 December 2003. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  31. ^ "Diarra debitovao" (in Serbian). partizan.rs. 17 October 2009. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
  32. ^ Lamine Diarra at Soccerway
  33. ^ Lamine Diarra at ForaDeJogo (archived)

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