Baba Diawara

Baba Diawara
Personal information
Full name:	Papa Babacar Diawara
Date of birth:	January 5, 1988 (1988-01-05)
Place of birth:	Dakar, Senegal
Height:	1.82 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in)
Playing position:	Striker
Nationality:	Senegalese
Club information
Current club	Adelaide United
Number:	9
Senior clubs
Years	Club	App (Gls)
2006–2007 2007–2008 2008–2012 2012–2015 2013–2014 2014–2015 2015–16 2017–	Jeanne d'Arc Marítimo B Marítimo Sevilla → Levante (loan) → Getafe (loan) Marítimo Adelaide United	024 00(9) 023 00(6) 0103 0(37) 030 00(3) 020 00(3) 021 00(1) 025 00(4) 015 00(4)

Papa Babacar 'Baba' Diawara (born 5 January 1988) is a Senegalese professional footballer who plays as a striker for Australian club Adelaide United FC.

Career

Marítimo

Born in Dakar, Diawara started his career with Senegal Premier League club ASC Jeanne d'Arc, moving to Europe aged just 19 to sign for C.S. Marítimo in Portugal. Having risen to prominence in the B-side, he made his debut for the main squad late into the 2007–08 season, appearing in the second half of a 1–1 Primeira Liga home draw against C.F. Estrela da Amadora.

Promoted to the first team the following summer, Diawara scored ten goals in the 2008–09 campaign, in 25 league games. His form attracted the attention of several clubs, including Sporting Clube de Portugal, Olympiacos F.C. from Greece and Scotland's Heart of Midlothian, with the latter however being put off by Marítimo's £2.5 million (€2.75 million) valuation of the player.

Diawara bettered his individual totals to 11 goals in 2010–11, with Marítimo finishing in ninth position. Celtic came close to signing him in August 2011, but the deal collapsed on the last day of the transfer window due to visa issues.

Diawara netted ten goals in only 15 matches in the first half of the 2011–12 season, including the last-minute winner at Sporting in a 3–2 win.

Sevilla

Diawara signed with Sevilla FC on 17 January 2012, penning a 4½-year contract. He made his La Liga debut on the 29th, coming on as a substitute for José Antonio Reyeslate into the first half of a 1–2 loss at Málaga CF. His first goal came on 3 March, starting the first time due to Álvaro Negredo's injury and equalising in a 1–1 draw against Atlético Madrid at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium.

On 17 April 2012, Diawara scored the opening goal in the new National Stadium in Warsaw, during a friendly with local Legia Warsaw, adding another in a 2–0 win. He netted twice on 5 May as Sevilla won 5–2 in their final home match of the season, against Rayo Vallecano. In the following campaign he did not find the net, featuring mainly from the bench.

In July 2013, Diawara was one of three Sevilla players deemed surplus to requirements by coach Unai Emery. On 19 August, he was loaned to fellow Spaniards Levante UDfor the duration of 2013–14.

Adelaide United

In February 2017, after one-and-a-half seasons with former club Marítimo, Diawara joined Adelaide United FC in the Australian A-League.

==Club statistics=='

As of 1 June 2013

Club	League	Season	League			Cup			League Cup			Europe			Total
			Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists
Marítimo	Primeira Liga	2007–08	4	0	0	0	0	0	—			—			4	0	0
		2008–09	25	10	3	2	0	1	2	0	1	—			29	10	5
		2009–10	30	6	6	3	2	0	2	1	0	—			35	9	6
		2010–11	29	11	5	2	1	0	1	0	0	6	2	3	38	14	8
		2011–12	15	10	2	4	1	0	3	4	0	—			22	15	2
		Maritimo Total	103	37	16	11	4	1	8	5	1	6	2	3	128	48	21
Sevilla	La Liga	2011–12	11	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—			11	3	0
		2012–13	19	0	0	4	1	1	0	0	0	—			23	1	1
		Sevilla Total	30	3	0	4	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	34	4	1
Career Total			133	40	16	15	5	2	8	5	1	6	2	3	162	52	22

External links

• Baba Diawara at TheFinalBall.com

Senegal

Senegalese competitions · Senegalese coaches · Senegalese players · Senegalese stadiums