Adama Traoré (footballer, born 1990)

Adama Traoré
Traoré with A-Leagues All Stars in 2022
Personal information
Date of birth (1990-02-03) 3 February 1990 (age 34)
Place of birth Bondoukou, Ivory Coast[1]
Height 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)[2]
Position(s) Left back
Team information
Current team
Melbourne Victory
Number 3
Youth career
2002–2004 Celtic Football Academie
2005–2006 ÉF Yéo Martial
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2008 ÉF Yéo Martial
2009–2012 Gold Coast United 69 (3)
2012–2014 Melbourne Victory 46 (1)
2014–2015 Vitória de Guimarães 15 (0)
2015–2017 Basel 59 (1)
2017–2019 Göztepe 27 (0)
2019–2021 Melbourne Victory 40 (0)
2021–2023 Western Sydney Wanderers 50 (0)
2023– Melbourne Victory 23 (1)
International career
2007 Ivory Coast U17 1 (0)
2006–2007 Ivory Coast U19 1 (0)
2007–2009 Ivory Coast U20 5 (1)
2015– Ivory Coast 13 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 26 May 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 10 September 2019

Adama Traoré (French pronunciation: [adama tʁaɔʁe]; born 3 February 1990) is an Ivorian professional footballer who plays for A-League Men club Melbourne Victory as a left back.

Club career

Adama Traoré training with Melbourne Victory FC in 2013.

First steps

Born in Bondoukou, Ivory Coast, Traoré began his career in his native Ivory Coast, where he played for Ecole de Football Yéo Martial.[3] Traoré later signed a three-year contract with former A-League club Gold Coast United, after impressing in trial matches. Gold Coast United invited him for a trial after having watched highlights of his performances at the 2007 Toulon Tournament.[4][5]

In 2010, Traore stated the move to the former A-League club Gold Coast United was a stepping stone in his ambitions of playing club football internationally. Due to Gold Coast United having its A-League license revoked, he had to leave the club.[6]

Melbourne Victory

On 15 March 2012, it was announced that Traore had signed a two-year contract with A-League club Melbourne Victory.[7] Traore made his debut for the Victory in their Round 1 clash with cross-town rivals Melbourne Heart, an encounter which the Victory lost 2–1. On 9 March 2013, Traore suffered a high grade, high ankle ligament rupture which sidelined him for the rest of the 2012–13 season.[8][9]

After Clive Palmer's club collapsed Adama Traore signed with Melbourne Victory – and stated his desire to play for Australia's national team.[10]

In May 2014, Traoré's contract with Melbourne expired after declining renewals in hopes of pursuit a career in Europe.[11][12]

The most prestigious award given to a Melbourne Victory player, the Victory Medal, was awarded to Adama Traore at the end of season awards ceremony on 10 May 2014.[13]

Vitória de Guimarães

On 14 June 2014, it was announced that Portuguese club Vitória de Guimarães had signed Traoré on a multi-year deal.[14]

Basel

But after spending just six months in Portugal, Traoré joined FC Basel on 10 January 2015 signing a three-and-a-half-year contract.[15] Traore joined Basel's first team for their 2014–15 season under head coach Paulo Sousa. After playing in two test games Traore played his domestic league debut for the club in the away game in the Stadion Wankdorf, in Bern, on 22 February 2015 as Basel were defeated 2–4 by Young Boys.[16][17] The season 2014–15 was a very successful one for Basel. The championship was won for the sixth time in a row that season[18] and in the 2014–15 Swiss Cup they reached the final, but finished as runners-up, losing 3–0 to FC Sion in the final. Basel entered the Champions League in the group stage and reached the knockout phase. But Basel then lost to Porto in the Round of 16. In the second half of the season Basel played 31 matches (18 Swiss League fixtures, 3 Swiss Cup, 2 Champions League and 8 test matches). Traoré totaled 17 appearances, 12 League, 2 Cup and 3 in test games.[19]

In the club's 2015–16 season Urs Fischer was appointed as new head coach. Traore scored his first goal for his club in the home game in the St. Jakob-Park on 1 August 2015. It was the second goal of the game as Basel won 3–0 against Sion.[20] Under trainer Fischer Traoré won the league championship at the end of the 2015–16 Super League season[21] and at the end of the 2016–17 Super League season for the third time. For the club this was the eighth title in a row and their 20th championship title in total.[22] They also won the Swiss Cup for the twelfth time, which meant they had won the double for the sixth time in the club's history.[23]

Traoré left the club in August 2017. Between the years 2014 and 2017 he played a total of 95 games for Basel scoring a total of three goals. 59 of these games were in the Swiss Super League, seven in the Swiss Cup, ten in the UEFA competitions (Champions League and Europa League) and 19 were friendly games. He scored one goal in the domestic league, one in the cup and the other was scored during the test games.[24]

Göztepe

Traoré joined Göztepe on 14 August 2017.[25] In October 2018 he damaged knee ligaments and was ruled out for the rest of the season.[26]

Melbourne Victory

On 12 September 2019, Traoré rejoined Melbourne Victory on a one-year contract.[27][28] He was released on 11 June 2021.[29]

International career

Traoré has had spells with the Ivory Coast U-17, Ivory Coast U-19, and Ivory Coast U-20, playing a total of seven games for his country, scoring only one goal. He has played two games in the CAF-organised 2007 African Youth Championship (versus Congo and The Gambia) which doubled as a qualifier for the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup.[30][31] During the same year, Traoré also participated in the Toulon Tournament and the UEMOA Tournament.

After arriving in Australia, Traoré stated that he would like to play for the Socceroos.[32] However it later became clear that this was impossible as he had represented Ivory Coast at youth level.[33][34] Under the regulations of FIFA, a player's national allegiance cannot change after they have represented their country of origin at national youth level unless the player held dual nationality upon their original call-up.[34]

Traoré has also previously been selected for the senior national team to play against Senegal. However, having not yet played a game he has not received a full international cap, he turned down the opportunity to play this game as he had the ambition to play for the Socceroos.

Traore was called up by Ivory Coast for the first time on 7 November 2014 for their matches against Sierra Leone and Cameroon but did not play.[35] He was again called up for the match on 6 September 2015 against Sierra Leone in the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium, Port Harcourt (Nigeria) for an Africa Cup of Nations qualification game. Traoré made his national team debut in the starting eleven but was substituted out after he injured himself. The match ended in a goalless draw.

A possibly unique situation occurred in a match in February 2022 in which Traoré played for an Australian invitational XI against a touring FC Barcelona side. Traoré scored for the Australian side, and his namesake Adama Traoré scored for Barcelona.

Personal life

Growing up in Ivory Coast, Traoré said football was his passion and wanted to play the sport, even finishing school.[3]

In March 2014, Traoré became an Australian citizen after staying in the country for five years.[36][3] He stated that: "Australia has felt like home ever since my first few years in the Gold Coast."[3]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 6 December 2020
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup League cup Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Gold Coast United 2009–10 A-League 11 0 0 0 11 0
2010–11 29 2 2 0 31 2
2011–12 27 1 0 0 27 1
Total 67 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 69 3
Melbourne Victory 2012–13 A-League 22 0 0 0 22 0
2013–14 24 1 4 0 2 0 30 1
Total 46 1 0 0 0 0 4 0 2 0 52 1
Vitória de Guimarães 2014–15 Primeira Liga 15 0 2 0 1 0 18 0
Basel 2014–15 Swiss Super League 11 0 2 0 0 0 13 0
2015–16 24 1 2 0 4 0 30 1
2016–17 23 0 3 1 6 0 32 1
Total 58 1 7 1 0 0 10 0 0 0 75 2
Göztepe 2017–18 Süper Lig 19 0 0 0 19 0
2018–19 8 0 0 0 8 0
Total 27 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 27 0
Melbourne Victory 2019–20 A League 23 0 8 0 - 31 0
2020–21 0 0 0 0 - - 0 0
Total 23 0 0 0 0 0 8 0 0 0 31 0
Career total 236 5 9 1 1 0 22 0 4 0 272 6

International

As of match played 10 September 2019
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Ivory Coast 2015 1 0
2016 4 0
2017 6 0
2018 1 0
2019 0 0
Total 12 0

Honours

Basel

Ivory Coast

Individual

References

  1. ^ Iain Strachan (28 September 2013). "Top 15 A-League players: No. 12 Adama Traore". Goal.com.
  2. ^ "Adama Traore". Melbourne Victory FC. 27 August 2019. Archived from the original on 16 March 2020. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d "Adama Traore: Life in Australia". Melbourne Victory FC. 24 January 2024. Archived from the original on 31 August 2024. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
  4. ^ "35ème Festival Foot "Espoirs"" (in French). Festival Foot Esports. Archived from the original on 4 October 2013.
  5. ^ "Sport". goldcoast.com.au.
  6. ^ "Clive Palmer reveals Gold Coast United A-League licence revoked by Football Federation Australia".
  7. ^ "Victory confirm Traore signing @ Football Australia 2011". Archived from the original on 21 March 2012. Retrieved 16 March 2012.
  8. ^ Melbourne Victory. "Melbourne Victory Home". Melbourne Victory. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
  9. ^ "FourFourTwo". Archived from the original on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
  10. ^ "Soon-to-be Aussie Adama Traore ready to solve Socceroos' left-back conundrum". NewsComAu. Archived from the original on 9 September 2013. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
  11. ^ "500". Archived from the original on 13 January 2016. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
  12. ^ "Melbourne Victory suffers a blow with gun left-back Adama Traore quitting the A-League club".
  13. ^ Melbourne Victory. "Melbourne Victory Home". Melbourne Victory. Archived from the original on 20 May 2014. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
  14. ^ "Adama Traoré reforça defesa". Vitória S.C. (in Portuguese). 14 June 2014. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
  15. ^ FC Basel 1893 (10 January 2015). "FCB verpflichtet Linksverteidiger Adama Traore". FCB signs left-back Adama Traore (in German). FC Basel 1893 AG. Retrieved 16 November 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  16. ^ Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv” (22 February 2015). "BSC Young Boys - FC Basel 4:2 (2:0)". Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv”. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  17. ^ Marti, Caspar (2015). "Zu harmloser FCB verliert in Bern 2:4". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
  18. ^ Marti, Caspar (2015). "Der Meisterfreitag im bunten Zeitraffer" (in German). FC Basel 1893. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
  19. ^ Zindel, Josef (2015). Rotblau: Jahrbuch Saison 2015/2016. FC Basel Marketing AG. ISBN 978-3-7245-2050-4.
  20. ^ Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv” (1 August 2015). "FC Basel - FC Sion 3:0 (1:0)". Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv”. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  21. ^ Marti, Casper (2016). "Es ist vollbracht ! Der FCB ist zum 19. Mal Meister". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  22. ^ Marti, Casper (2017). "Der Saisonabschluss im Zeitraffer". FC Basel 1893. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
  23. ^ a b "Swiss football: FC Basel wins 3-0 over Sion in Geneva; police extra vigilant after game". allaboutgeneva.com. 25 May 2017. Archived from the original on 17 May 2019. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
  24. ^ Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv” (2022). "Adama Traoré - FCB statistic". Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv”. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  25. ^ "Every done deal you might have missed from Monday – August 14".
  26. ^ "Ivory Coast's Traore out for the season". BBC Sport.
  27. ^ "Victory re-sign former fan favourite Adama Traore". The World Game. Special Broadcasting Service. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  28. ^ "Adama Traore returns to A-League's Victory". Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. 12 September 2019. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  29. ^ "Players depart Victory first team". Melbourne Victory FC. 11 June 2021. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
  30. ^ "Technical Details – Congo – Côte d'Ivoire". CAFU20.com. Confederation of African Football. Archived from the original on 29 May 2007. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
  31. ^ "Technical Details – Côte d'Ivoire – Gambia". CAFU20.com. Confederation of African Football. Archived from the original on 29 May 2007. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
  32. ^ "Adama Traore eyes Socceroos". Archived from the original on 6 April 2012. Retrieved 13 September 2010.
  33. ^ "Adama Traore not an option for Socceroos". Goal.com.
  34. ^ a b "FourFourTwo". Archived from the original on 14 October 2013.
  35. ^ FIFA.com. "Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) – FIFA.com". Archived from the original on 10 November 2014.
  36. ^ "Melbourne Victory faces challenge keeping Archie Thompson, Gui Finkler, Adama Traore". The Daily Telegraph. 4 March 2014. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
    "Melbourne Victory sweating on futures of Gui Finkler, Adama Traore and Archie Thompson". The Herald Sun. 28 April 2014. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
  37. ^ "Tournoi de l'UEMOA 2007". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  38. ^ "Traore wins Victory medal". The World Game. 10 May 2014. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  39. ^ Harrington, Anna (20 May 2022). "ALM young guns get shot against Barcelona". The Canberra Times. Retrieved 20 May 2022.