Lassina Diabaté is a former Ivorian

Côte d'Ivoire

The Republic of Côte d'Ivoire or Ivory Coast is a country in West Africa. It has an area of , and borders the countries Liberia, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana; its southern boundary is along the Gulf of Guinea. The country's population was 15,366,672 in 1998 and was estimated to be...

 football player.He played for Côte d'Ivoire

Côte d'Ivoire national football team

The Côte d'Ivoire National Football Team or Ivory Coast National Football Team, nicknamed Les Éléphants , represents Côte d'Ivoire in international football and is controlled by the Fédération Ivoirienne de Football...

 and a few clubs in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

.

Diabaté played for several clubs in France, including FC Perpignan, Bordeaux

FC Girondins de Bordeaux

Football Club des Girondins de Bordeaux is a French association football club based in the city of Bordeaux. The club currently play in Ligue 1, the first division of French football, and won its last Ligue 1 title in the 2008–09 season....

 and Auxerre

AJ Auxerre

Association de la Jeunesse Auxerroise is a French association football club based in the commune of Auxerre in Burgundy. The club was founded in 1905 and currently play in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. Auxerre plays its home matches at the Stade l'Abbé-Deschamps on the banks of the...

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He was a participant at the 1998

1998 African Cup of Nations

The 1998 African Cup of Nations in Burkina Faso was the 21st edition of the African Cup of Nations , the national football championship of Africa, administered by the Confederation of African Football . Just like in 1996, the field of sixteen teams was split into four groups of four...

, 2000

2000 African Cup of Nations

The 2000 African Cup of Nations was the 22nd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the association football championship of Africa . It was co-hosted by Ghana and Nigeria, who jointly replaced Zimbabwe as host. Just like in 1998, the field of sixteen teams was split into four groups of four...

 and 2002 African Cup of Nations. He is best known for wearing fluorescent orange soccer boots, before such designs became fashionable. During his time in the Premier League with Portsmouth

Portsmouth F.C.

Portsmouth Football Club is an English football club based in the city of Portsmouth. The club is nicknamed Pompey. Portsmouth's home matches have been played at Fratton Park since the club's formation in 1898. The team currently play in the Football League Championship after being relegated from...

 his manager Harry Redknapp

Harry Redknapp

Henry James "Harry" Redknapp is a former English footballer who has enjoyed a long career in football management starting in 1983 with Bournemouth. He is the current manager of Tottenham Hotspur....

 described him as being as hard as iron and said I wouldn't want to be a striker playing against him, he is a wonderfully aggressive player who controls the midfield for us.

He often struggled with injuries at various points in his career, which limited the amount of time he spend at each club. He failed to score a single goal in the last 7 years of his career.

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