Papakouli Diop

Papakouli "Pape" Diop (born 19 March 1986) is a Senegalese professional footballer who plays for Spanish club SD Eibar as a defensive midfielder.

Not to be confused with Papa Bouba Diop.
Pape Diop
Diop as a Levante player (2013)
Personal information
Full name Papakouli Diop
Date of birth (1986-03-19) 19 March 1986
Place of birth Kaolack, Senegal
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Position(s) Defensive midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Eibar
Number 8
Youth career
2004–2006 Rennes
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006 Rennes 1 (0)
2006–2008 Tours 36 (3)
2008–2009 Gimnàstic 43 (4)
2009–2012 Racing Santander 76 (3)
2012–2015 Levante 85 (4)
2015–2017 Espanyol 53 (3)
2018– Eibar 73 (2)
National team‡
2010– Senegal 20 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 02:06, 31 July 2020 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 23 January 2017

After starting out at Rennes in France, he went on to spend most of his career in Spain.

Club career

Born in Kaolack, Diop moved to France at early age and played youth football for Stade Rennais, making his first-team – and Ligue 1 – debut on 5 August 2006, in a 1–2 home loss against Lille OSC. In the summer of 2006 he joined Tours FC, being relegated from Ligue 2 in his first season.

On 31 January 2008, Diop signed with Gimnàstic de Tarragona in Spain.[2] After one-and-a-half seasons with the Catalans he moved to La Liga with Racing de Santander, for €1.5 million.[3]

On 12 September 2009, Diop played his first game in the Spanish top level, starting in a 1–1 away draw against Atlético Madrid.[4] His first league goal came on 21 March of the following year, netting the last of a 3–1 success at CA Osasuna.[5]

In the 2011–12 campaign, Diop played all but four matches for the Cantabrians and totalled 2,864 minutes of action,[6] but his team was relegated nonetheless after finishing 20th. Shortly after, he joined fellow league club Levante UD, which paid €100,000 for his services.[7]

On 4 May 2014, Diop appeared to be subjected to monkey chants from a section of Atlético Madrid fans, and provided a unique response by dancing in front of his abusers.[8][9] On 5 June of the following year, he left the Granotes after his contract expired.[10]

On 31 August 2015, Diop signed a three-year deal with RCD Espanyol also in the top tier.[11] On 22 December 2017, after cutting ties with the club, he agreed to an 18-month contract at fellow league team SD Eibar.[12]

International career

In January 2017 he was part of the team's successful performance at the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations.[13][14]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 31 July 2020[15]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Rennes 2006–07 Ligue 1 10000010
Tours 2006–07 Ligue 2 1830000183
2007–08 National 1800000180
Total 3630000363
Gimnàstic 2008–09 Segunda División 30400—304
Racing Santander 2009–10 La Liga 23161—292
2010–11 19010—200
2011–12 34120—361
Total 7629100853
Levante 2012–13 La Liga 320009[lower-alpha 1]1411
2013–14 34420—364
2014–15 19000—190
Total 8542091965
Espanyol 2015–16 La Liga 30320—323
2016–17 18010—190
2017–18 5020—70
Total 5335000583
Eibar 2017–18 La Liga 15000—150
2018–19 28110—291
2019–20 30100–301
Total 7321000741
Career total 323181719134919
  1. Appearances in the Europa League

International goals
As of 23 January 2017 (Senegal score listed first, score column indicates score after each Diop goal)[16]
GoalDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.21 May 20144-Août, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso Burkina Faso1–01–1Friendly
2.23 January 2017Stade de Franceville, Franceville, Gabon Algeria1–12–22017 Africa Cup of Nations

References
  1. "Pape Diop" (in Spanish). SD Eibar. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  2. El Nástic ficha al senegalés Diop (Nástic sign Senegalese Diop); Marca, 31 January 2008 (in Spanish)
  3. Diop se va al Racing y el Nàstic ingresará 1'5 'kilos' (Diop goes to Racing and Nàstic make 1'5 'kilos'); Diario AS, 24 July 2009 (in Spanish)
  4. Atletico remain winless; ESPN FC, 12 September 2009
  5. Racing rediscover scoring touch; ESPN FC, 21 March 2010
  6. Diop, el 'fichaje' de enero del Racing (Diop, Racing's January 'signing') Archived 14 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine; El Diario Montañés, 28 December 2011 (in Spanish)
  7. El Levante paga al Racing de Santander 100.000 euros por Pape Diop (Levante pay 100,000 euros to Racing de Santander for Pape Diop); Goal, 19 July 2012 (in Spanish)
  8. "Atletico Madrid fans accused of racist chants by Levante's Diop". BBC Sport. 4 May 2014. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  9. "Senegal's Diop complains of racist abuse from Atletico fans". BBC Sport. 4 May 2014. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  10. "Carta de agradecimiento de Pape Diop tras su estancia en el Levante U.D." [Thankful letter of Pape Diop after his spell at Levante U.D.] (in Spanish). Levante UD. 5 June 2015. Archived from the original on 7 June 2015. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  11. "Pape Diop fitxa per l'Espanyol" [Pape Diop signs for Espanyol] (in Catalan). RCD Espanyol. 31 August 2015. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  12. "Pape Diop, segundo refuerzo de invierno" [Pape Diop, second winter addition] (in Spanish). SD Eibar. 22 December 2017. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  13. "Afcon 2017: Mane to lead Senegal's England-based stars". bbc.com. 30 December 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  14. "Senegal:Cameroon". Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  15. "P. Diop". Soccerway. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
  16. "P. Diop – Matches". Soccerway. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
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