Lacina Traoré

Early career

Growing up in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Traoré began his career with Jean-Marc Guillou's football school ASEC Mimosas, before joining Stade d'Abidjan in 2006. He played in Abidjan until January 2008, when he joined the Romanian club CFR Cluj.

CFR Cluj

Traoré made his European debut with CFR, scoring a second goal in the first match of the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League group stage, against Copenhagen. He then scored another goal in the 3–2 home loss against Sparta Prague. The following season for Traoré continued smoothly for him at CFR Cluj, when he was constantly in the first squad as a full-time regular. He scored his first league goal of the season and set up Cristian Bud in a match against Astra Ploiești on 13 August 2010. Traoré received his first red card of his career after a brutal foul in the second half as CFR lost 3–0 against Sportul Studențesc on 20 August 2010. On 15 November 2010, he scored his first brace of his career in a 3–0 win over Gloria Bistrița. In the 2010–11 UEFA Champions League group stage, Traoré scored one goal in the 2–1 win against Basel and one goal in the 1–1 draw against Roma (after hitting the post twice in Italy against the same team in the first match), both matches in the group phase and home.

Kuban Krasnodar

In February 2011, Traoré was transferred to Kuban Krasnodar in the Russian Premier League for a reported fee of €6 million. In the opening game of the season on 13 March 2011, Traoré made his…

2011 CAF U-23 Championship

Traoré was involved in Ivory Coast's successful 2011 CAF U-23 Championship qualification campaign. Traoré scored against Liberia U23 in a 4–0 win. He was also named in the Ivory Coast squad for the final stage of the tournament, which acted as CAF's qualification for the Summer Olympics football tournament. Ivory Coast did not fare too well in the competition, finishing third in the Group stage behind Egypt and Gabon. Traoré scored a consolation goal against Gabon in a 3–1 loss.

2013 CAF Africa Cup of Nations

Traoré was selected in the final squad for the Ivorians, playing in two games. He played for 68 minutes versus Tunisia, before he was replaced by Didier Drogba. Then, he had a 7-minute cameo versus Nigeria in the quarter final stage which ended the Ivorians' campaign following a 2–1 loss. At the end of the 2013–14 season, Traoré was initially featured as part of the country's World Cup squad, but was then left out after the national team's manager selected the final squad.

Club

International

Scores and results list Ivory Coast's goal tally first.

Traoré is a Muslim and he has 16 brothers. Two of them were also footballers: Messa, who had a spell in Romania at Politehnica Timișoara, and Lajo Ménéné, who started his European career at CFR Cluj, being brought there by Lacina.