Didier Zokora

Early career

Zokora was born in Abidjan, and started his career at Académie MimoSifcom. He was offered a professional contract along with his younger brother, Armando, with Ivorian club ASEC Mimosas. Tragedy struck though as Armando drowned to death celebrating at the beach in Grand-Bassam; in memory of his brother and hero, Zokora has Armand tattooed on his right forearm. In 2000, Zokora moved abroad to play for Belgian side Genk, where he won the Jupiler League during the 2001–02 campaign, as manager Sef Vergoossen was named Coach of the Year and Wesley Sonck won top goal-scorer honors in the league. Playing as a sweeper, Zokora went on to feature in 126 matches for the club and was memorably part of the squad that recorded a 1–1 home draw with Real Madrid on 12 November 2002. In the summer of 2004, he joined Saint-Étienne in the French Ligue 1.

Tottenham Hotspur

Zokora joined Tottenham Hotspur in the summer of 2006 following his performances for the Ivory Coast at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. The deal was reported by media as being worth £8.2 million. Shortly after joining the Premier League club, it was announced on 24 October 2006 that Zokora had contracted malaria after falling ill on the morning of a UEFA Cup group match against Beşiktaş in Istanbul. Zokora was in the hospital for four days and then spent a period of two weeks recovering, missing the win over Beşiktaş, two Premier League matches and a League Cup fixture as well. It was…

Zokora has played 123 international matches for the Ivory Coast and is their most capped player of all time. He scored his only goal at the international level in a 4–0 defeat of Botswana on 22 June 2008 that moved the Ivory Coast to the top of their group in 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. During his 12 years with the national side, Zokora helped Les Éléphants to their first two FIFA World Cup finals appearances, in 2006 and 2010. On both occasions, the Ivory Coast were drawn into the so-called "Group of Death", bowing out in third place each time. In the 2010 edition of the tournament, Zokora was forced to play in a new position, centre back, against Portugal to bolster and compact the defence against the strong attacking side; Zokora helped his side earn a 0–0 draw. During the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, Zokora said he would retire from international football should the Ivory Coast win the title. Zokora did in fact retire from international football on 28 February 2012, following the end of the tournament, but Les Elephants went down in an 8–7 penalty shoot-out loss to Zambia in the Africa Cup of Nations final. Despite earlier announcing his retirement, on 1 June 2014 Zokora was included by manager Sabri Lamouchi in the Ivory Coast's 23-man squad for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. On 8 September 2014, Zokora announced his second retirement from the national team.

Club

International

ASEC Mimosas

CAF Super Cup: 1999 Genk

Belgian First Division A: 2001–02 Tottenham Hotspur

Football League Cup: 2007–08; runner-up: 2008–09 Sevilla

Copa del Rey: 2009–10 Ivory Coast

Africa Cup of Nations runner-up: 2006, 2012 Individual

CAF Team of the Year: 2005, 2006