# Zié Diabaté

Zié Diabaté (born 2 March 1989) is an Ivorian former professional footballer who plays as a defender.

## Club career

Zié Diabaté was born on 2 March 1989 in M'Pody, Ivory Coast and started to play junior level football in 2004 at IFER, then in 2007 he moved to Kabby Sport Bongouanou. He was noticed by Dinamo București's coach Mircea Rednic while playing for his youth national team at the 2007 Toulon Tournament, deciding to bring him to the team in August 2007. At Dinamo he first played for the satellite team in Liga II, making his Liga I debut for the senior squad on 23 April 2008 when coach Cornel Țălnar sent him on the field at halftime in order to replace Nino Pekarić in a 4–4 against Universitatea Craiova. He helped the club fulfill "The wonder from Liberec" after winning with 3–0 the away game against Slovan Liberec, as the first leg was lost with the same score, qualifying after the penalty shoot-out to the group stage of the 2009–10 Europa League. During his five seasons spell with The Red Dogs, Diabaté had to compete with Romanian international Cristian Pulhac to play in the starting 11, eventually after playing well and being used constantly by coach Liviu Ciobotariu in the first half of the 2011–12 season, the club sold him for €500.000 to Ligue 1 side, Dijon where he was wanted by coach Patrice Carteron.
He made his debut for Dijon on 21 January 2012 in a 2–1 victory against Istres in the Coupe de France, making his Ligue 1 debut one week later in a 3–1 loss in front of Lyon, gaining 14 appearances in the league by the end of the season, being unable to help the team avoid relegation. In the first half of the 2012–13 season he appeared in only one game for Dijon in Ligue 2, so the club decided to loan him at Belgian club Standard Liège where he would play for the rest of the season, reuniting with Mircea Rednic. In the following season, Diabaté came back to Dijon, but as he continued to be used rarely in the first half of the season, he was sent again on loan in Belgium at Rednic's new team, Gent.
After his contract with Dijon ended, Diabaté signed with fellow Ligue 2 side Ajaccio in June 2015, playing regularly in the one season spent with L'ours . Then he went for the 2016–17 Ligue 2 season to play for Nîmes, where he continued to play on a regular basis, scoring a goal in a 2–2 against Strasbourg. In the following season, Nîmes loaned him to Chamois Niortais where he would play his last games in Ligue 2, having a total of 80 appearances with one goal scored in the competition. After six months without a club, in January 2019, he joined Chauray in Championnat National 3, the fifth level in France, then in March 2019, he moved to Persian Gulf Pro League club Foolad where he did not play. He returned to France, playing eight games for Gazélec Ajaccio in Championnat National which is the third division, then in July 2021 he went to play in the fifth division at Pontarlier where he retired three years later.

## International career

Zié Diabaté was called to the Ivory Coast U-17 team and played in a 1–1 against United States U-17 at the 2005 FIFA U-17 World Cup. He played one game under coach Hervé Renard for Ivory Coast's senior team on 30 November 2014 in a 2–0 loss against South Africa in the friendly tournament called Nelson Mandela Challenge which took place outside FIFA's International Match Calendar, having his side's biggest opportunity to score as he executed a free kick over the crossbar.

## Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition :
| Club | Season | League | League | League | National Cup | National Cup | League Cup | League Cup | Continental | Continental | Total | Total |
| Club | Season | Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Dinamo București | 2007–08 | Liga I | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Dinamo București | 2008–09 | Liga I | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| Dinamo București | 2009–10 | Liga I | 8 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 6 | 0 | 17 | 0 |
| Dinamo București | 2010–11 | Liga I | 16 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 18 | 0 |
| Dinamo București | 2011–12 | Liga I | 17 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 4 | 0 | 24 | 0 |
| Dinamo București | Total | Total | 50 | 0 | 8 | 0 | — | — | 10 | 0 | 68 | 0 |
| Dijon | 2011–12 | Ligue 1 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 15 | 0 |
| Dijon | 2012–13 | Ligue 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 3 | 0 |
| Dijon | 2013–14 | Ligue 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 3 | 0 |
| Dijon | 2014–15 | Ligue 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 |
| Dijon | Total | Total | 19 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 23 | 0 |
| Standard Liège (loan) | 2012–13 | Pro League | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 10 | 0 |
| Gent (loan) | 2013–14 | Pro League | 9 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 11 | 0 |
| Ajaccio | 2015–16 | Ligue 2 | 30 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 32 | 0 |
| Nîmes | 2016–17 | Ligue 2 | 30 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 31 | 1 |
| Nîmes | 2017–18 | Ligue 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 3 | 0 |
| Nîmes | Total | Total | 33 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 34 | 1 |
| Chamois Niortais (loan) | 2017–18 | Ligue 2 | 12 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 15 | 0 |
| Chauray | 2018–19 | National 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 |
| Gazélec Ajaccio | 2019–20 | National | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 9 | 0 |
| Pontarlier | 2021–22 | National 3 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 9 | 0 |
| Pontarlier | 2022–23 | National 3 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 21 | 0 |
| Pontarlier | 2023–24 | National 3 | 18 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 18 | 1 |
| Pontarlier | Total | Total | 48 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 48 | 1 |
| Career total | Career total | Career total | 220 | 2 | 17 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 251 | 2 |
* 1 2 Appearances in the Europa League

## Honours

Dinamo București
* Cupa României: 2011–12