Johan Djourou

Early career

Djourou was born in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, to Ivorian parents Joachim and Angeline, and was later adopted by his father's first wife, Danièle, a Swiss woman. Djourou later acknowledged that he has two mothers in his life. They moved to Geneva when he was 17 months old. According to his father, Djourou began playing football when he was a baby, saying: "I would grab balls in stores and play football in the store." Djourou enrolled at the Payerne Training Center when he was 13 and then, in 2002, Djourou joined local second division side Étoile Carouge as a midfielder at 15. He joined Arsenal on 1 August 2003.

Arsenal

Djourou made his first senior start for Arsenal in a 3–1 victory against Everton in the League Cup, having made his first appearance after 89 minutes of the corresponding match in the previous round against Manchester City on 27 October 2004. He later made three appearances at the end of the 2004–05 season. On 21 January 2005, Djourou signed a two-year contract extension with the club. His first appearance of the 2005–06 season came on 29 November 2005 against Reading in the Round of 16 of the League Cup, starting the whole game, in a 3–0 win. He then played in the third round clash with Cardiff City. Djourou made his full Premiership debut for Arsenal in the 7–0 victory over Middlesbrough on 14 January 2006, playing at centre-back with Philippe Senderos. He started Arsenal's FA Cup fourth round clash with Bolton Wanderers as part of…

Youth career

Djourou represented Switzerland up to the U21 levels. He was a member of the Swiss under-19 squad that reached the semi-finals of the 2004 European Championships. Following the end of the tournament, UEFA said about Djourou's performance, saying: " A substitute in Switzerland's first three matches, he produced a fine display after coming on against Ukraine and was his country's best player in the semi-final defeat by Turkey." He went on to make eight appearances and scoring once for the U19 side. The following year, Djourou was called up to the Switzerland U20 for the FIFA World Youth Championship in Netherlands. He went on to play three times in the tournament, as the U20 side were eliminated in the Group Stage. In September 2006, Djourou made two appearances during Swiss U21's qualification campaign for the UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification.

Senior career

Having been eligible to play for Switzerland and Ivory Coast, Djourou opted to play for Switzerland. He made his senior Switzerland international debut in a friendly away to Scotland on 1 March 2006, coming on as a half-time substitute for Valon Behrami in the 3–1 win.

Djourou was called up to the Switzerland 2006 FIFA World Cup squad, despite not playing in the qualifiers. Upon being called up, he said: "It's going to be amazing because I was born in Ivory Coast and still feel there is an African part of me. My biological mother still lives there and I have a lot of contact…

Club

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International

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Scores and results list Switzerland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Djourou goal.

Djourou's younger brother, Olivier, was playing football for Urania Genève Sport in 2008. He also has two sisters. Djourou married his long-term girlfriend, Emile, and together, they have three daughters. In addition to speaking German and French, Djourou speaks English, having learnt from his time in England. He is good friends with Fabrice Muamba, having been teammates at Arsenal and Birmingham City. In February 2014, Djourou, along with teammate Jacques Zoua, had their watches stolen during HSV's training camp in Austria. Djourou said in an interview that he would like to become an actor once his playing career is over. Regarding his nationality, Djourou said: "I am so happy and grateful that I have both of them and that I can combine the best of both cultures. I am 100 percent African. That includes eating, dancing, music. And I'm also 100 percent Swiss, very punctual and disciplined when it matters."