Bruce Djité

Adelaide United

2006–07 season

In November 2006 at age 19 years old, Djite unsuccessfully trialled for two weeks at SV Werder Bremen of the Bundesliga in Germany. Upon his return to Australia, Djite signed for Adelaide United for the remainder of the 2006–07 A-League season, scoring three goals with an assist in thirteen matches.

2007–08 season

Djite signed a three-year contract with Adelaide United in March 2007 and Djite scored his first goal for Adelaide United in a competitive fixture on 11 April 2007 in AFC Champions League against South Korea K-League champions Seongnam Ilhwa, deftly controlling the ball in the penalty box to volley it into the back of the goal net. Djite scored his first goal in the A-League for Adelaide United against Brisbane Roar in a 2–2 draw on 25 August 2007 at Suncorp Stadium in 2007–2008 A-League followed by Adelaide United reaching 2008 AFC Champions League final and Djite scoring an increased strike ratio of 10 goals in 22 matches.

Gençlerbirliği

Djite was bought by business magnate and Gold Coast United owner Clive Palmer from Turkish Süper Lig club Gençlerbirliği to re-play in the A-League in 2010–11 season, Djite had scored 10 goals and registered three assists in 23 matches for Clive Palmer's Gold Coast United.

2008–09 season

On 15 May 2008, it was reported that Djite had been released from his contract with Adelaide United to sign for an unnamed European club. On 21 May 2008, Djite…

Djite is an American Australian and chose to play for Australia, although he would also have been eligible for the Ivory Coast national football team, United States national football team and Togo national football team.

Australia U20 national team

Djite was a star striker for the Young Socceroos during their 2006 tournament in South America scoring five goals in thirteen caps and was also chosen in the Australia Under-20 squad to compete at the 2006 AFC Youth Championships, in India.

Australia Olympic team

Djite was the key striker and a mainstay in the Australia Olympic football team qualification matches for the 2008 Olympics and helped the Australia Olympic football team, the Olyroos squad, to qualify for the Beijing Olympics contributing thirteen caps and scoring two goals.

Australia national team

Three days before his 21st birthday, on 22 March 2008, Djite received his first international cap for the Australia national team, the Socceroos, against Singapore, courtesy of national coach Pim Verbeek, as the replacement for, and heir apparent to Mark Viduka for the Australia national football team. Djite was substituted on at half-time and his best chance to score a goal for Australia came when he rounded the Singapore goalkeeper but his shot in the penalty area was blocked by Lionel Lewis, the ball going out for a corner kick. Djite's first cap for Australia in a competitive match was when he came on as a substitute for Harry Kewell in…

As a player, Djite was known for his speed, strength and good height with ball heading skills and played in Turkey for professional football team, Gençlerbirliği S.K. of the Süper Lig. Djité was a quick bustling left forward or striker with great footspeed and acceleration who kicks and shoots the ball well with either foot. He used his extreme physical strength and footspeed to out-run defenders in an A-League 2007–08 season, where he was crowned and awarded with the Rising Star Award, after scoring 10 goals in his first full season and then followed by registering six goals and two assists in his first Süper Lig 2008–09 season in Turkey. In 2011, Djité was among the top-goalscorers in the league, registering 10 goals and three assists in twenty-three matches.

Bruce José Djité was born on 25 March 1987 in Arlington County, Virginia, United States. He moved to Sydney, Australia, with his parents when he was three years old, when his Ivorian-born father, Paulin, was appointed professor at the University of Western Sydney. His mother, Lyn, was born in Togo. He has two brothers. Djite first played soccer during a four-month stay with his family in Ivory Coast in 1993, and loved it, so registered with his local amateur club. He later said "By the time I was 8 I knew soccer was all I wanted to do". He joined the Marconi Stallions in 2004 at the age of 16, after the demise of Northern Spirit FC, whom Djite signed for in 2002–03 National Soccer League season. He continued to play with Marconi Stallions until the end of the 2005–06 season (August 2006). He trained at the NSW Institute of Sport in Sydney. Djite completed all of his schooling in Sydney, and then attended Macquarie University for six months, before being offered an Australian Institute of Sport football scholarship, which took him to Canberra for nine months. There, in 2006, he attended the FFA Centre of Excellence on a football scholarship with Nikita Rukavytsya. He undertook a Bachelor of Business degree as an external student through Open Universities Australia, at the Griffith Business School at Griffith University over eight years, starting in 2011. He won Griffith Award for Academic Excellence, for maintaining a GPA of above 6.0.