THE 21st CENTURY ONLINE AWARDS NOMINEES FOR BEST FOOTBALL [SOCCER PLAYER] OF THE DECADE [CENTURY].

Salif alassane Diao

Date of birth - 10 February 1977 (age 44)

Place of birth - Kédougou, Senegal

Height - 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)

Position(s) - Defensive midfielder

[left defensive midfielder, central midfielder, centre back] - senegal.

Salif Alassane Diao (born 10 February 1977) is a Senegalese former professional footballer

who played as a defensive midfielder.

Diao moved from Senegal to France when he was seventeen and started his career at Monaco with whom he helped with the Trophée des Champions and Division 1. He failed to hold down a regular place at Monaco and moved to Sedan in 2000. Diao then had an impressive 2002 World cup with Senegal which attracted the attention of several Premier League sides. It was Liverpool who won the race and signed Diao for £5 million in 2002.

His time at Liverpool was unsuccessful and was sent out on loan to Birmingham City, Portsmouth and Stoke City. He joined the latter Stoke permanently on a free transfer in 2007 and helped the club to promotion to the Premier League in 2008.

Diao has appeared 39 times for Senegal, scoring four goals in the process since 2000, including a strike against Denmark at the 2002 FIFA World Cup after a series of quick passes by his team mates to set him up. He was later sent off in the same match was a high tackle. Diao was in the Senegal squad that went to the 2002 African Cup of Nations were Senegal finished second after losing in the final to Cameroon and was part of the Senegal side that went to the 2004 African Cup of Nations.

He was also in the side that reached the quarter finals of the 2002 FIFA World Cup and played games including their 1–0 win over then current champions France, as well as scoring in their 1–1 draw with Denmark before being sent off which meant he missed their next two games but returned for their quarter final exit to Turkey. He has also been involved in Senegal's qualification campaigns for the past three World Cups in 2002, 2006 and 2010. After Senegal failed to qualify for the 2010 World Cup Senegal fans went on a rampage, Diao, along with Stoke City team-mates Abdoulaye Faye and Ibrahima Sonko, were caught up in crowd trouble in Dakar.

Curtesy The Caffe Fashion Blog Global "&" Universal.