 Baldé withValenciennes in July 2010 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Dianbobo Baldé | ||
| Date of birth | (1975-10-05)5 October 1975 (age 49) | ||
| Place of birth | Marseille, France | ||
| Height | 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)[1] | ||
| Position(s) | Defender | ||
| Youth career | |||
| CA Gombertois | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1995–1999 | Marseille | 0 | (0) |
| 1997–1998 | →Mulhouse (loan) | 33 | (1) |
| 1998–1999 | →Cannes (loan) | 29 | (4) |
| 1999–2001 | Toulouse | 52 | (1) |
| 2001–2009 | Celtic | 161 | (9) |
| 2009–2011 | Valenciennes | 25 | (1) |
| 2011–2013 | Arles-Avignon | 40 | (0) |
| Total | 340 | (16) | |
| International career | |||
| 2002–2012 | Guinea | 52 | (2) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2014–2016 | CA Gombertois (player-assistant) | ||
| 2016–2019 | CA Gombertois (assistant) | ||
| 2019–2021 | Guinea U20 | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Dianbobo "Bobo" Baldé (born 5 October 1975) is a former professionalfootballer who played as adefender.
He played forMulhouse,Cannes,Toulouse,Celtic,Valenciennes andArles-Avignon. Born in France, Baldé was aGuinean international and represented them 52 times scoring two goals.
Baldé started his career in 1995 at centre back forMarseille, where he stayed until 1997 but could not make the first-team breakthrough, so he had to leave his hometown club to join second division outfitMulhouse for the 1997–98 season, staying only that year. When Mulhouse were relegated, he joinedCannes on loan in 1998, where he had little success in the league, making 29 appearances and scoring four goals.[2] He left Marseille, moving toToulouse, whom he helped to promotion during the 1999–00 season. In total, he made 52 league appearances for Toulouse, scoring one goal.[3]
Baldé signed forCeltic on 21 July 2001[4] and became a regular player in Celtic's team. Baldé made 232 appearances (51 as a sub) during his spell as a Hoops' player.[5]
He made his debut on 8 September in a 3–1 win at home toDunfermline Athletic.[6] Four SPL games later, he scored his first Celtic goal on 20 October 2001 againstDundee United atCeltic Park. In that entire season Baldé scored a total of six goals, including one in theScottish Cup final againstRangers, when he rose aboveLorenzo Amoruso to score from aNeil Lennon free kick from six yards in the 50th minute. Celtic lost that game 3–2.[7] Baldé also scored in the League Cup semi-final defeat to Rangers.
Baldé scored his first goal of the2002–03 season on 1 September 2002 againstLivingston. He was booked in the firstOld Firm game of the season which ended 3–3 but at the end of the season Baldé was subsequently voted theCeltic Player of The Year for 2003 by the Celtic fans in which 40,000[8] Celtic fans voted. He was the inaugural winner of that award. In his acceptance speech, he paid tribute to his teammates and managerMartin O'Neill. Speaking just after winning the award, Baldé said: "It means a lot to win this award. Its good to know the fans are behind you and they are happy with what you do for them". He also won the Player of The Month Award for April.[9] He played in 12 of Celtic's 13UEFA Cup games in that season, where Celtic got to the final. In the final they played againstPorto at the Olympic Stadium inSeville. During the final, Baldé was sent off in the 95th minute[10] after picking up his second booking. Celtic lost that final 3–2, withHenrik Larsson getting both of Celtic's goals.
In the2003–04 season, Baldé's first goal came againstDundee in the fifth SPL game of the season. In the next game, he received a red card in the 70th minute. Throughout that season, he received seven yellow cards and one red card. He scored two goals that season, both against Dundee. At the end of the season, Baldé added a League Championship and a Scottish Cup medal to his collection.
A Dundee fan was convicted of racially abusing Baldé during a match atDens Park in March 2004.[11] A businessman named Russell Smith, he was banned for life fromKilmarnock's home ground ofRugby Park after shouting racial abuse at Baldé from the directors box in October 2004,[12] whileMotherwell supporters had targeted Baldé in October 2001.[13]
Baldé started the2004–05 season one yellow card in the first six games of the season (all competitions) and a goal in the 38th minute[14] in the 8–1 defeat ofFalkirk in the first League Cup game of the season. Within his first ten games of the season, he had received two yellow cards. In Europe, Celtic lost the first three games of the season. His scored two goals in a 3–0 win at home to Dundee on 2 March 2005. At the end of that season he added a Scottish Cup medal to his tally after Celtic beat Dundee United 1–0 in the final.
Hisfifth season and first season under new managerGordon Strachan started with criticism in a pre-season match againstLeicester City, for a challenge on 17-year-oldJames Wesolowski described as "..disgraceful, it was disgusting, it was malicious and it was intentional" by then Leicester managerCraig Levein.[15] In the first competitive game, Celtic lost 5–0 toArtmedia Bratislava in the first leg of aChampions League qualifier, with Baldé getting booked. He was heavily criticised for his performance and dropped for Celtic's next game, a league match away atMotherwell. He returned for the second leg of the Champions League qualifier; Celtic won 4–0 but went out on aggregate. Baldé kept his place in the side and scored a header from aShunsuke Nakamura cross in Celtic's 3–0 win over Rangers in November 2005. He finished the season with two further honours; the League Cup and the Scottish Premier League. Over the course of the season he scored one goal and received seven yellow cards.
Baldé missed the start of the2006–07 season after discovering he required surgery for a persistent stomach muscle problem. He returned to the first team in November, only to suffer a broken leg in a match onBoxing Day. The Guinea international was carried off in the first half during the 2–2 draw with Dundee United. He was ruled out for several months.[16]
In July 2007, before the start of thenew season,Roy Keane, manager of Sunderland, showed interest in Baldé. Keane was reported to have made a £1.5 million offer for his former Celtic teammate. "I love the club, I am very settled in Glasgow with my girlfriend and I would be happy to fulfil my current contract", said Baldé.[17] In October 2007, Baldé expressed a desire to leave Celtic, stating: "I don't want to be at a club where I am not wanted, but I want to make clear it is rubbish to say I am just taking the money... I have been told that I am not in the top two defenders and that I am down to sixth on the list. The manager and Peter (Lawwell, Chief Executive) told me this"[18] Baldé was now completely out of contention for a first team place and only made his first start of the 2007–08 season on 26 December 2007, exactly a year after his last appearance, in a 2–0 away win to Dundee United. His presence also helped Celtic to their first away clean sheet in almost 15 months[19] and he was awarded Man Of The Match. Baldé dropped out of the first team again after that, then got injured in early when playing for Guinea at theAfrica Cup of Nations. Baldé was on the bench againstRangers on 29 March 2008, the first time since Christmas he had been selected after recovering from the injury he sustained at theAfrica Cup of Nations. He then started a few days later replacing the suspendedGary Caldwell to make his first appearance since December 2007, with a man of the match performance in the 1–0 win overAberdeen in theSPL,Georgios Samaras scored the only goal of the game.[20]
At the start of the 2008–09 season, it was announced that Baldé would be allowed to leave Celtic on a free transfer, provided that he could find a club that would meet his salary demands.[21] In the pre-season matches before the 2008–09 season, Baldé played in the last 13 minutes[22] againstSouthampton and the last 30 minutes[23] againstMiddlesbrough in the Algarve Challenge Cup. He made his first full appearance in Celtic's second Algarve Challenge Cup match againstCardiff City, which was the first meeting of the two teams in 81 years.[24] He also took part in Celtic's 1–0 pre-season friendly win overPorto, in which he played the last 22 minutes.[25] Baldé remained at Celtic until the summer of 2009, seeing out his contract in full, but did not play in any competitive games.[26]
During his time at Celtic, he won fiveLeague Titles, three Scottish Cups and twoScottish League Cups and was part of the Celtic squad which reached the2003 UEFA Cup Final. Looking back on his Celtic career, he said: "Celtic was a great adventure for me in my career. We reached the UEFA Cup Final, were league champions five times and won several Scottish and League Cups, There were a lot of great matches in the Champions League and I'm very happy with the experience I had at such a fantastic club and stadium."[27]
On 8 September 2013, Baldé returned to Celtic to play for the "Celtic XI" during theirStiliyan Petrov charity match.[28]
In October 2009, Baldé signed up with French Ligue 1 clubValenciennes.[29]
On 11 January 2011, it was announced that the remainder of Baldé's contract with Valenciennes was to be cancelled to allow him to joinArles-Avignon, playing in Ligue 2.[30]
Born in Marseille, Baldé was called up to theGuinea national team for the2002 African Cup of Nations. He was also part of their2004 Cup of nations team, who finished second in their group in the first round of competition, before losing in the quarter-finals toMali, and was a regular in2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying. With Baldé on board, Guinea have also made it to the last eight in the2004,2006 and2008 Africa Cup of Nations.
His first job off the pitch started in April 2013, where Baldé was hired as a sports coordinator for the national team ofGuinea.[31] In July 2014, Baldé returned to football, signing with his former youth club Gombertois as a playing assistant manager.[32] He left the position in September 2019, where he was appointed manager ofGuinea's national U20 team.[33]
Baldé younger half-brother,Yasser, is also a professional footballer in France.[34]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Europe | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Marseille B | 1994–95[2] | CFA | 12 | 0 | – | – | 12 | 0 | ||
| 1995–96[2] | CFA | 21 | 0 | – | – | 21 | 0 | |||
| 1996–97[2] | CFA | 30 | 1 | – | – | 30 | 1 | |||
| Total | 63 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 63 | 1 | ||
| Mulhouse | 1997–98[2] | Ligue 2 | 33 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 1 |
| Cannes | 1998–99[3] | Ligue 2 | 29 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 4 |
| Toulouse | 1999–00[3] | Ligue 2 | 28 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 0 |
| 2000–01[3] | Ligue 1 | 24 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 1 | |
| Total | 52 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 58 | 1 | ||
| Celtic | 2001–02[35] | Scottish Premier League | 21 | 2 | 8 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 37 | 6 |
| 2002–03[36] | Scottish Premier League | 36 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 14 | 0 | 53 | 4 | |
| 2003–04[37] | Scottish Premier League | 31 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 50 | 2 | |
| 2004–05[38] | Scottish Premier League | 34 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 46 | 3 | |
| 2005–06[39] | Scottish Premier League | 28 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 33 | 1 | |
| 2006–07[40] | Scottish Premier League | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 0 | |
| 2007–08[41] | Scottish Premier League | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2008–09[42] | Scottish Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 160 | 9 | 28 | 7 | 45 | 0 | 233 | 16 | ||
| Valenciennes | 2009–10[3] | Ligue 1 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 |
| 2010–11[3] | Ligue 1 | 15 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 0 | |
| Total | 25 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 1 | ||
| Arles-Avignon | 2010–11[3] | Ligue 1 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 |
| 2011–12[3] | Ligue 2 | 27 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 0 | |
| Total | 40 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 402 | 17 | 39 | 7 | 45 | 0 | 486 | 24 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guinea | 2000 | 1 | 1 |
| 2001 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2002 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2003 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2004 | 11 | 0 | |
| 2005 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2006 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2007 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2008 | 11 | 0 | |
| 2009 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2010 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2011 | 6 | 1 | |
| 2012 | 6 | 0 | |
| Total | 56 | 2 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 October 2000 | Stade du 28 Septembre,Conakry, Guinea |  Senegal | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2002 African Cup of Nations qualification |
| 2 | 4 September 2011 | Stade du 28 Septembre, Conakry, Guinea |  Ethiopia | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualification |
Celtic
Guinea
Individual
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