Cheick Tidiane

Cheick Tidiane Diabate is a professional football player from Mali who plays as a striker. As a 12-year old, Cheick had signed up with the Centre Salif Keita, a youth club founded by Mahamadou Diarra and Seydou Keita. He played at the club until 2006, and was picked up by French side FC Girondins de Bordeaux. Placed into their youth structure, this six-foot, four-inch striker towered over his team-mates with his dominance of the air and sound technical skill!

In 2008, Cheick was called into the first team and he made his debut but it was in his second game that he scored a couple of goals and made his impact felt. Cheick still needed a lot more playing time to get accustomed to the top level and went out on loan to AC Ajaccio in 2008-09, playing 30 games and scoring 14 goals. In 2009-10, he was sent on another loan move, this time to AS Nancy, but only played 2 games before being recalled to Bordeaux.

Since moving back to Bordeaux, Cheick has notched up around 40-odd appearances for the club, in the league, and has scored 12 times. At the international level, Cheick played for the Malian Under-17 team in 2005 but that same year, was called up to the senior national team. Since 2005, Mali has regularly looked at Cheick as a striking option, giving him 22 caps, which the striker has repaid with 10 goals. He was also the joint top-scorer at the 2012 African Cup of Nations.