Serey Die

Serey Dié

Serey Dié with VfB Stuttgart (February 2015)
Personal information
Full name Sereso Geoffroy Gonzaroua Dié
Date of birth (1984-11-07) 7 November 1984
Place of birth Abidjan, Ivory Coast
Height 1.79 m (5 ft 10 1⁄2 in)
Playing position Defensive midfielder
Club information
Current team
 VfB Stuttgart
Number 26
Youth career
1998–2001 Centre Nationale des Sports de Haut Niveau
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2001–2002 Volcan Junior
2002–2003 CO Korhogo
2003–2006 Stade d'Abidjan
2006–2007 EO Goulette et Kram
2007–2008 ES Sétif
2008–2012 FC Sion 115 (4)
2013–2015 FC Basel 43 (3)
2015– VfB Stuttgart 29 (1)
National team‡
2013– Ivory Coast 22 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17:18, 13 February 2016 (UTC).
† Appearances (goals)

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 8 March 2015

Sereso Geoffroy Gonzaroua Dié (born 7 November 1984 in Abidjan), known as Serey Dié, is an Ivorian football midfielder currently playing for VfB Stuttgart in the Bundesliga.

Club career

Early career

Serey Dié started his football for Centre National des Sports de Haut Niveau in Abidjan.[1] He played one year for Volcan Junior and one year for CO Korhogo before moving to top team Stade d'Abidjan in 2003. Three years later he moved to EO Goulette et Kram in Tunisia. But this was also to remain a short stay, he cancelled his contract himself after just half a year.

ES Sétif

Then Serey Dié was invited for a trial with ES Sétif and therefore moved to Algeria. This adventure nearly started and ended as a farce on the same day. As the club's president saw Serey Dié he thought that the wrong player had been hired and sent him home. The coach asked Serey Dié to stay for the training, which he did and in a test match was able to convince the club's management to let him stay for a six-month trial. During this trial period Serey Dié played well and ES Sétif won the 2007–08 Arab Champions League. But he refused to sign the contact that he was subsequently offered.

Sion

Between 2008 and 2012 Serey Dié played for FC Sion, with whom he won the Swiss Cup twice. During March 2010, Serey Dié came under suspicion of corruption in connection with betting manipulation.[2] In May 2012, he was the subject of controversy after cameras filmed him slapping a thirteen-year-old ball-boy in the face. This was during the away game against FC Lausanne-Sport on 2 May. This assault resulted in an eight match suspension.[3]

Basel

On 13 December 2012, FC Basel announced that they had signed Serey Dié on a three and a half year contract.[4] Serey Dié played his debut for Basel on 10 February 2013 in the 3–0 home win in St. Jakob-Park against his former club Sion.[5] He scored his first goal for Basel, the first goal of the match, in the 4–0 away win against Luzern in the Swissporarena on 1 April 2013.[6] At the end of the Swiss Super League season 2012–13, he won the Championship title[7] and was Swiss Cup runner up with Basel.[8] In the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League Basel advanced as far as the semi-finals, there being matched against the reigning UEFA Champions League holders Chelsea, but were knocked out being beaten 2–5 on aggregate.[9]

At the end of the 2013–14 Super League season Serey Dié won his second league championship with Basel.[10] They also reached the final of the 2013–14 Swiss Cup, but were beaten 2–0 by Zürich after extra time. In the 2013–14 Champions League season Basel in the group stage finished the group in third position to qualify for Europa League knockout phase and here they advanced as far as the quarter-finals. In their season 2013–14 Basel played a total of 68 matches (36 Swiss League fixtures, 6 Swiss Cup, 6 Champions League and 10 Europa League and 10 test matches). Serey Dié totaled 38 appearances, 22 League, 3 Cup, 4 Champions League and 5 Europa League as well 4 in the test games. He scored 2 goals in these matches.[11]

The season 2014–15 was a successful one for Basel, but for Serey Dié it was an unlucky and unthankful one under trainer Paulo Sousa. Despite the fact that Basel won the championship for the sixth time in a row that season[12] and despite that Basel had entered the Champions League in the group stage reaching the knockout phase on 9 December 2014 as they managed a 1-1 draw at Anfield against Liverpool,[13] Serey Dié totaled just 13 appearances during the first half of the season (7 League, 2 Cup, and just 2 in the Champions League, as well 2 further appearances in test games).[14] Because Sousa did not rely on Serey Dié he was forced to leave the club during the winter break.

VfB Stuttgart

On 2 February 2015 Dié moved to VfB Stuttgart fee undisclosed .[15] After returning victorious from the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations he featured in all but one of Stuttgart's remaining games, becoming a key member of the midfield. His presence in the second half of the season was vital to VfB avoiding relegation from the Bundesliga.

International career

Serey Dié played his debut for the Ivory Coast national football team in the 3–0 home win in Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny on 23 March 2013 against the Gambia. He made three appearances in qualifying for the 2015 African Cup of Nations and Dié was named part of the squad which won the prestigious competition. He started all but one game in the tournament including every game in the knock out stage. In the final against Ghana the match went to penalties and Dié scored in sudden death.

Personal life

At the 2014 World Cup, during Ivory Coast's match against Colombia, Serey Dié was crying from the intensity and excitement he felt while representing his national team. Despite rumors of his emotional feelings was for his father's death, this was inaccurate. His father did not die that day, his father actually died in 2004[16][17]

Honours

Club

ES Sétif
FC Sion
FC Basel

Country

Ivory Coast

References

  1. ↑ Raz, Florian (13 December 2012). ""Voilà, da bin ich!" – FCB holt Serey Die" (in German). tageswoche. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
  2. ↑ Birrer, Peter M. (22 March 2010). "Sions Serey Die, der Wettverdacht und der neue Porsche" (in German). tagesanzeiger.ch. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
  3. ↑ "Serey Die für acht Spiele gesperrt" (in German). nzz.ch. 15 May 2012. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
  4. ↑ "Der FC Basel 1893 verpflichtet Geoffroy Serey Die vom FC Sion" (in German). FC Basel 1893. 15 May 2012. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
  5. ↑ Marti, Caspar (10 February 2013). "Drei wichtige Punkte zum Start ins 2013" (in German). FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
  6. ↑ Marti, Caspar (2013). "4:0 gegen Luzern: Der FCB festigt seine Tabellenführung" (in German). FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2013-04-01.
  7. ↑ Schifferle, Michael (10 June 2013). "Season review: Switzerland". UEFA. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
  8. ↑ "Telegramm Schweizer Cup Final" (in German). Schweizerischer Fussballverband. 20 May 2013. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
  9. ↑ Haylett, Trevor (3 May 2013). "Basel take heart after Chelsea defeat". UEFA. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
  10. ↑ Grossenbacher, Sacha (2014). "Fotos vom Spiel gegen Lausanne sowie den anschliessenden Feierlichkeiten" (in German). FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2014-05-18.
  11. ↑ Zindel, Josef (2014). Rotblau: Jahrbuch Saison 2014/2015. FC Basel Marketing AG. ISBN 978-3-7245-2027-6.
  12. ↑ Marti, Caspar (2015). "Der Meisterfreitag im bunten Zeitraffer". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2015-05-29. (German)
  13. ↑ "Liverpool 1 Basel 1". BBC Sport. 10 December 2014. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  14. ↑ Zindel, Josef (2015). Rotblau: Jahrbuch Saison 2015/2016. FC Basel Marketing AG. ISBN 978-3-7245-2050-4.
  15. ↑ "VfB sign Geoffroy Serey Die". vfb.de. VfB Stuttgart. 2 February 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  16. ↑ "Serey Die plays for Ivory Coast after shedding tears for father". The Guardian. 19 June 20143. Retrieved 20 June 2014. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  17. ↑ "Serey Die explains pre-match crying". ESPN. 19 June 20143. Retrieved 20 June 2014. Check date values in: |date= (help)

External links

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