Diafra Sakho facts for kids
Sakho with West Ham United in 2015
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Diafra Sakho | ||
| Date of birth | 24 December 1989 | ||
| Place of birth | Guédiawaye, Senegal | ||
| Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Striker | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2006–2007 | Génération Foot | ||
| 2007–2009 | Metz | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2009–2014 | Metz | 114 | (44) |
| 2012 | → Boulogne (loan) | 7 | (0) |
| 2014–2018 | West Ham United | 62 | (18) |
| 2018–2020 | Rennes | 15 | (2) |
| 2018–2019 | → Bursaspor (loan) | 20 | (3) |
| 2020 | Neuchâtel Xamax | 8 | (0) |
| 2021–2022 | Arta/Solar7 | ||
| 2022–2023 | Nancy | 15 | (4) |
| International career | |||
| 2014–2018 | Senegal | 12 | (2) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Diafra Sakho (born 24 December 1989) is a former professional footballer from Senegal. He played as a striker, which means he was mainly focused on scoring goals.
Sakho started his football journey in the lower leagues of French football. He played for Metz and also spent some time on loan at Boulogne. In August 2014, he joined the English club West Ham United. He also played for the Senegal national team from May 2014. Later, in January 2018, he moved to Rennes and was loaned to Bursaspor in August 2018.
Contents
Club Career Highlights
Starting at Metz
Diafra Sakho was born in Guédiawaye, Senegal. He began his football career at the age of 16 in Dakar with a football academy called Génération Foot. This academy was a special place that helped young players join FC Metz in France.
After six months, Sakho moved to France in 2007 to train with Metz. He played very well for Metz's reserve team, scoring 17 goals in 22 games during the 2009–10 season. Because of his great performance, he earned a spot on the first team.
He played his first game for the main team on 19 January 2010. His first goal came on 10 September of the same year. In his first three seasons, he often came on as a substitute. In January 2012, he was loaned to Boulogne.
In May 2012, Metz was in the third tier of French football. A new manager, Albert Cartier, gave Sakho a regular starting position. The next season, Sakho scored 19 goals in 33 league games. Metz finished second and moved back up to Ligue 2. In the 2013–14 season, he scored 20 goals in 36 games as Metz won the Ligue 2 title. For his amazing efforts, Sakho was named the Ligue 2 Player of the Year for that season.
Time at West Ham United
On 14 August 2014, Sakho signed a four-year contract with West Ham United. He was their seventh new player for the 2014–15 season. He was very excited to join, saying he loved English football and had always dreamed of playing for a big English club.
First Season: 2014–15
Sakho played his first game for West Ham on 23 August 2014. He came on as a substitute in a 3–1 win against Crystal Palace. On 26 August, he scored his first goal for the club in a League Cup match against Sheffield United.
His first league goal came on 15 September against Hull City. He scored his second goal against Liverpool on 20 September, helping West Ham win 3–1. On 29 September, Sakho scored against Manchester United. This was his fourth goal in his first four starts, which was a new club record!
On 25 October 2014, Sakho scored in a 2–1 win against Manchester City. This made him the first West Ham player to score in six straight Premier League games. He was even named the Premier League Player of the Month for October 2014.
Sakho got injured on 1 January 2015. This meant he could not play for Senegal in the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations. He recovered and played in an FA Cup game, scoring the only goal. West Ham was later fined by FIFA for playing him while he was supposed to be with his national team. Sakho ended the 2014–15 season as West Ham's top scorer with 12 goals.
Second Season: 2015–16
Sakho started the 2015–16 season by scoring two goals in a UEFA Europa League game on 2 July. West Ham won 3–0 against Lusitanos. In the next game, he was sent off.
His first goal in the 2015–16 Premier League season was on 29 August 2015, in a 3–0 win against Liverpool. This was West Ham's first win at Anfield in 52 years! On 19 September, he scored against Manchester City in a 2–1 win. Manchester City had not let in any goals before that game.
On 29 November 2015, Sakho got a thigh injury that kept him out for three months. In June 2016, West Ham turned down a big offer for him from Sunderland. In July, Sakho asked to leave West Ham. In August 2016, a move to West Bromwich Albion did not happen because he failed a medical check.
Later Seasons: 2016–17 and 2017–18
Sakho did not play for West Ham until November 2016. He scored in his second game back against Manchester United. However, he then got a hamstring injury. In March 2017, West Ham said Sakho would miss the rest of the season due to a back injury that needed surgery. He briefly returned in April but was again out for the rest of the season in May.
In the 2017–18 season, Sakho played 14 league games, mostly as a substitute. He scored two goals in the league and two in the EFL Cup. He left West Ham at the end of January 2018, having played 71 games and scored 24 goals in total.
Moving to Rennes
On 29 January 2018, Sakho joined Rennes in France. He scored in his very first game for Rennes, in a 3-2 loss against PSG on 30 January 2018.
Loan to Bursaspor
On 31 August 2018, Sakho went on loan to Süper Lig team Bursaspor in Turkey for the season.
Later Clubs
On 19 June 2020, Sakho joined Swiss Super League team Neuchâtel Xamax. He left the club after playing eight games without scoring.
On 7 August 2022, Sakho joined Championnat National team Nancy on a two-year deal. On 28 July 2023, Nancy announced that he had retired from playing football.
International Career
Sakho played his first international game for Senegal on 21 May 2014, in a friendly match against Burkina Faso. He scored his first goal four days later in a 3–1 win over Kosovo.
In November 2014, he was called back to the Senegal squad for World Cup qualification games. Sakho missed the main tournament due to a back injury. In November 2017, Sakho scored the first goal in a 2–0 win against South Africa. This win meant Senegal qualified for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. It was their first time in the World Cup since 2002!
In May 2018, he was chosen for Senegal's 23-player squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Career Statistics
Club
| Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Continental | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Metz | 2009–10 | Ligue 2 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 6 | 0 | |
| 2010–11 | Ligue 2 | 30 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 33 | 5 | ||
| 2011–12 | Ligue 2 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | 10 | 2 | ||
| 2012–13 | Championnat National | 33 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | — | 37 | 20 | ||
| 2013–14 | Ligue 2 | 37 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 38 | 20 | ||
| Total | 114 | 44 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 1 | — | 124 | 47 | |||
| Boulogne (loan) | 2011–12 | Ligue 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 7 | 0 | |
| West Ham United | 2014–15 | Premier League | 23 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | — | 26 | 12 | |
| 2015–16 | Premier League | 21 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 24 | 7 | |
| 2016–17 | Premier League | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | |
| 2017–18 | Premier League | 14 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | — | 17 | 4 | ||
| Total | 62 | 18 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 71 | 24 | ||
| Rennes | 2017–18 | Ligue 1 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | — | 14 | 3 | |
| 2018–19 | Ligue 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | ||
| Total | 15 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 3 | ||
| Bursaspor (loan) | 2018–19 | Süper Lig | 20 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 20 | 3 | ||
| Neuchâtel Xamax | 2019–20 | Super League | 8 | 0 | — | — | — | 8 | 0 | |||
| Arta/Solar7 | 2021–22 | Djibouti Premier League | 0 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
| Nancy | 2022–23 | Championnat National | 13 | 4 | 1 | 1 | — | — | 14 | 5 | ||
| Career total | 239 | 71 | 9 | 4 | 10 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 262 | 82 | ||
International
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Senegal | 2014 | 2 | 0 |
| 2015 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2017 | 2 | 2 | |
| 2018 | 5 | 0 | |
| Total | 12 | 2 | |
- Scores and results list Senegal's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Sakho goal.
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 October 2017 | Estádio Nacional de Cabo Verde, Praia, Cape Verde |  Cape Verde |
1–0 | 2–0 | 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 2 | 10 November 2017 | Peter Mokaba Stadium, Polokwane, South Africa |  South Africa |
1–0 | 2–0 | 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification |
Honours and Awards
Metz
- Ligue 2: 2013–14 (This means his team won the second division league title.)
Arta/Solar7
- Djibouti Premier League: 2021–22 (His team won the top league in Djibouti.)
- Djibouti Cup: 2021–22 (His team also won the main cup competition.)
Individual Awards
- Ligue 2 Player of the Year: 2013–14 (He was voted the best player in the French second division.)
- Premier League Player of the Month: October 2014 (He was recognized as the best player in the English Premier League for that month.)
See also
In Spanish: Diafra Sakho para niños
