Monday, May 25, 2020

Kalidou Koulibaly

Kalidou Koulibaly


Kalidou Koulibaly (born 20 June 1991) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Serie A club Napoli and the Senegal national team. He is the vice-captain of Napoli.
Koulibaly began his professional club career with French team Metz in 2010, before moving to Belgian club Genk in 2012, winning the Belgian Cup in his first season. He joined Italian team Napoli in 2014, where he immediately won the Supercoppa Italiana title.
As Koulibaly was born in France to Senegalese parents, he was eligible to represent both nations at the international level, and initially played for the France national under-20 football team. He later made his senior debut with Senegal in 2015 and was a member of the Senegal squad that took part at the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations. He was named to the side that represented Senegal at the 2018 FIFA World Cup the following year and subsequently helped his team to the final of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.

Early life

Koulibaly was born on 20 June 1991, to Senegalese parents in Saint-Dié-des-Vosges, France. His father worked in a textile mill in Senegal for seven days a week and never took weekends off for five years before he saved enough money to bring his mother to France. He grew up in Saint-Dié-des-Vosges, France, revealing that: "When you grow up in this environment, you see everyone as your brother. We are black, white, Arab, African, Muslim, Christian, yes — but we are all French. We are all hungry, so let’s go have a Turkish meal together. Or tonight, let’s all go to my house and eat Senegalese food. Yes, we have differences, but we are all equal." Koulibaly says his upbringing was "heavily influenced by the multi-cultural nature" growing up.
Koulibaly revealed that he first started playing football, saying: "All the kids were running around playing football with no shoes, and I was really upset by this, I guess. My mom says that I was begging her to go to the store and buy shoes for everybody, so I could play football with them. But my mother said, “Kalidou, just take your shoes off. Go play like they do.” In the end, I threw off my shoes and went to play barefoot with my cousins — and this is where my football story begins. When we got back to France, I was playing every day in the little park by our house." His footballing career began with local club SR Saint-Dié. He then joined FC Metz in his first spell but when was released at fifteen, which according to the club’s Academy Manager, Denis Schaeffer, Koulibaly was let go "because he was too introverted, and his level was a little below our expectations."

Club career

Early career

Koulibaly began his career playing for his hometown club SR Saint-Dié's youth team; he spent two seasons playing for the club's senior team in the Championnat de France Amateur 2, before joining the youth academy of professional club Metz on 1 July 2009. While at Metz, Koulibaly helped the club's under-19 team win the 2009–10 Coupe Gambardella after the team defeated Sochaux 5–4 on penalties in the final. He also played for the club's amateur team in the Championnat de France Amateur appearing in 15 matches as Metz were crowned champions of the league finishing with 107 points.

Metz

Prior to the start of the 2010–11 season, Koulibaly signed his first professional contract agreeing to a one-year deal. He was, subsequently, promoted to the senior team by new manager Dominique Bijotat. Koulibaly made his professional debut on 20 August 2010 in a league match against Vannes. He appeared as a substitute in a 1–0 victory. Following this, Kouliably became a first-team regular for the side after dispatching the place from Nuno Frechaut. On 15 April 2011, he scored his first goal for FC Metz, as they drew 3–3 against Clermont. Three days later, Koulibaly signed a three–year contract extension with the club, keeping him until 2014. At the end of the 2010–11 season, he went on to make nineteen appearances and scoring once in all competitions. Reflecting on his first season at FC Metz, Manager Bijotat said of him, quoting: "Kalidou Koulibaly is perhaps the one who surprised the most people while being the one who surprised me the least personally. I knew that it would come to him because it was already showing a good maturity. He's always in the right mood and does not catch fire, it's important to the job he's doing. He also knows how to analyze his own matches, which brings him to a certain regularity in his performances. Conversely, we thought Yeni Ngbakoto was the closest to the group, but it took longer to come. He had a difficult start, between suspension and injury. It took him longer to settle on the team. His game was not settled, in this area, he has progressed in recent weeks and must still win inconsistency."
However, at the start of the 2011–12 season, Koulibaly missed the first five league matches of the season, due to international commitment. His first appearance of the 2011–12 season came on 9 September 2011, coming as a substitute in the 60th minutes, in a 2–2 draw against Stade Lavallois. However, he served a two-match suspension after being sent–off for unprofessional conduct on Guillaume Moullec, as FC Metz lost 1–0 on 30 September 2011. Despite this, Koulibaly returned to the first team and then captained the side for the first time on 2 December 2011, in a 2–0 win over AS Monaco. He continued to regain his first-team place until suspension and injury, which eventually kept him out for the rest of the 2011–12 season. At the end of the 2011–12 season, Koulibaly went on to make twenty–three appearances in all competitions, including 10 alongside his future international teammate Sadio Mané.

Genk

Koulibaly joined Belgian club Genk on 29 June 2012 after agreeing on a four-year contract. Among interested was Anderlecht but Genk won the race to sign him.
On 23 August 2012, Koulibaly made his Genk debut in a UEFA Europa League play-off qualifying round, in which they were defeated by Swiss team Luzern 2–1 in the first leg of two. Since joining the club, he became a first-team regular for the side, playing mostly in the centre–back position. In a match against OH Leuven on 25 November 2012, Koulibaly made a foul in the penalty box at the last minute of the game, which was successfully converted by Ibou, as Genk drew 1–1. On 23 December 2012, Koulibaly scored his first Racing Genk goal in a 4–2 home defeat to Anderlecht, in which he scored a free header from a corner, to make amends for his mistake. He later helped Genk win the 2012–13 Belgian Cup after starting the whole game to beat Cercle Brugge. At the end of the 2012–13 season, Koulibaly went on to make forty–six appearances and scoring once in all competitions.
The 2013–14 season saw Koulibaly began playing in the centre–back position, where he continued to form a partnership with Kara Mbodji. He then scored two goals in two matches between 6 October 2013 and 19 October 2013. Koulibaly started in every match since the start of the season until he suffered a knee injury during a 2–0 loss against Lokeren on 8 December 2013. A month later on 19 January 2014, Koulibaly returned to the starting lineup from injury, starting the whole game, in a 1–0 loss against Zulte Waregem. Koulibaly continued to regain his place in the first team for the rest of the season. However, he missed the remaining three league matches of the season, due to his imminent transfer move to Napoli. Despite this, Koulibaly went on to make forty-six appearances and scored two times in all competitions.

Napoli

Koulibaly joined Serie A club S.S.C. Napoli on 2 July 2014 on a five-year contract, for a fee around the margin of £6.5 million.
He made his debut on 19 August 2014 in a UEFA Champions League play-off round qualifier, in which Napoli drew 1–1 with Athletic Bilbao. Napoli went on to lose the second leg 3–1, thus sending them out of the competition.
Koulibaly made his Serie A debut in the opening game of the season against Genoa, playing the whole match as Napoli won 2–1. He scored his first goal for the side on 24 September in a 3–3 draw with Palermo. Koulibaly played in every match from the start of the season, before being sent off for a second bookable offence in a 1–1 draw against Sampdoria on 1 December 2014.
In the 2014 Supercoppa Italiana against Juventus in Doha, Qatar, on 22 December, Koulibaly scored the winning penalty in the shootout to secure Napoli victory. Towards the end of the 2014–15 season, Koulibaly found himself placed in and out of the starting eleven for the side, as manager Rafael Benítez preferred Raúl Albiol and Miguel Britos as his preferred choices in the central defensive positions. In his first season at Napoli, Koulibaly went on to make thirty-nine appearances and scored one goal in all competitions.

International career

Koulibaly was born and raised in France by Senegalese parents and was therefore eligible for both nations. He played for the French under-20 team starting in 2011 and played six times during the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Colombia.
However, in early September 2015, Koulibaly changed federations and joined the Senegal national football team, despite the interest to call him for Les Bleus from Didier Deschamps. He later explained his decision, saying: "I don't have any regrets because I want to write the story of the future of Senegal football and I hope I'll be able to do that." Koulibaly made his debut on 5 September 2015 in an AFCON qualifier against Namibia in a 2–0 victory. He was a member of the Senegal squad that took part at the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations.
In May 2018, he was named in Senegal's 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. Koulibaly played all three matches, as Senegal were knocked out in the group stage of the tournament after becoming the first team in FIFA World Cup history to be eliminated due to fair play tiebreaker rules.

Style of play

A large, aggressive, quick, and physically strong yet elegant player, Koulibaly is recognised for his aerial prowess, anticipation, positioning, tackling, character, technique, and passing ability as a defender. He has also been praised by pundits for his overall solidity as a player, and his ability to make interceptions; however, he has also drawn criticism for giving away too many fouls. Due to his versatility, he can play both in his usual role as a central defender, or as a full-back on either the right or left flank, in both a three or four-man defence; he has even been deployed as a defensive midfielder. During his time at Napoli, his ability to play the ball out from the back saw him function as a ball-playing centre-back in manager Maurizio Sarri's attacking, possession based-system. Currently considered to be one of the best and most complete defenders in world football in the media, his ability, playing style, tall stature, and imposing physique has earned him the nicknames K2 and The Wall from his fans.

Personal life

In May 2019, it was announced that Koulibaly was named as an honorary citizen of Naples. In April 2015, he was previously named as an honorary citizen of Saint-Dié-des-Vosges. He was also popular in Naples that an entrepreneur created a pizza after him and Koulibaly, himself, spoke his fondness of the city.
Koulibaly and his wife, Charline Oudenot, have a son together named Seni on 16 January 2016. He became a second-time father when his daughter Nessa was born on 28 August 2019.
He is a Muslim and states that his name derived from the Quran. In addition to speaking French, Koulibaly also speaks English and Italian.
Throughout his time at Napoli, Koulibaly spoke out about racism in Italian football. In October 2019, Koulibaly called on the Italian football authorities to tackle racism by giving offenders a lifetime ban from entering the stadium. He had previously criticised the Italian football authorities for their lack of effort to tackle racism in January of that year.

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