Papakouli Diop

Not to be confused with Papa Bouba Diop.

Pape Diop

Diop with Levante in 2013
Personal information
Full name	Papakouli Diop [1]
Date of birth	(1986-03-19) 19 March 1986 (age 37) [1]
Place of birth	Kaolack, Senegal
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) [1]
Position(s)	Defensive midfielder
Youth career
2004–2006	Rennes
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2006	Rennes	1	(0)
2006–2008	Tours	36	(3)
2008–2009	Gimnàstic	43	(4)
2009–2012	Racing Santander	76	(2)
2012–2015	Levante	85	(4)
2015–2017	Espanyol	53	(3)
2018–2021	Eibar	106	(3)
2021–2023	Ibiza	51	(2)
International career
2010–2017	Senegal	20	(2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18:35, 22 October 2023 (UTC)

Papakouli "Pape" Diop (born 19 March 1986) is a Senegalese professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder.

After starting out at Rennes in France, he went on to spend most of his career in Spain. Over 12 seasons, he amassed La Liga totals of 320 matches and 12 goals, with Racing de Santander, Levante, Espanyol and Eibar. ^[2]

Diop represented Senegal in two Africa Cup of Nations tournaments.

Club career

France

Born in Kaolack, Diop moved to France at early age and played youth football for Stade Rennais FC, making his first-team – and Ligue 1 – debut on 5 August 2006, as an injury-time substitute in a 1–2 home loss against Lille OSC. ^[3] In the summer of 2006 he joined Tours FC, being relegated from Ligue 2 in his first season; in his beginnings, he was often deployed as an attacking midfielder and a second striker. ^[4]

Spain

On 31 January 2008, Diop signed with Gimnàstic de Tarragona of the Spanish Segunda División. ^[5] After one and a half seasons with the Catalans he moved to La Liga with Racing de Santander, for €1.5 million. ^[6]

Diop played his first game in the Spanish top division on 12 September 2009, starting in a 1–1 away draw with Atlético Madrid. ^[7] His first league goal came on 21 March of the following year, when he closed the 3–1 win at CA Osasuna. ^[8]

In the 2011–12 campaign, Diop played all but four matches for the Cantabrians and totalled 2,864 minutes of action, but his team was relegated nonetheless after finishing 20th. ^{[9] [10]} Shortly after, he joined Levante UD of the same league for a €100,000 fee. ^{[11] [12]}

Diop contributed nine appearances in the 2012–13 edition of the UEFA Europa League, ^[13] in a round-of-16 exit. ^[14] On 22 November 2012, he scored in the 3–1 away victory over Helsingborgs IF in the group phase. ^[15]

On 4 May 2014, Diop appeared to be subjected to monkey chants from a section of Atlético Madrid fans, and provided a unique response by dancing in front of his abusers. ^{[16] [17]} On 5 June of the following year, he left the Granotes after his contract expired. ^[18]

On 31 August 2015, Diop signed a three-year deal with RCD Espanyol also in the top tier. ^[19] On 22 December 2017, after cutting ties with the club, he agreed to an 18-month contract at fellow top-flight side SD Eibar. ^[20]

On 20 August 2021, free agent Diop joined second division newcomers UD Ibiza on a one-year contract. ^[21]

International career

Diop won his first cap for Senegal on 17 November 2010, in a 2–1 friendly win over Gabon. ^{[22] [23]} He was part of the squads at the 2015 ^[24] and 2017 Africa Cup of Nations, ^[25] helping the nation reach the quarter-finals in the latter edition where he scored in the 2–2 group-stage draw with Algeria. ^{[26] [27]}

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 31 July 2020 ^[28]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Rennes	2006–07	Ligue 1	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Tours	2006–07	Ligue 2	18	3	0	0	0	0	18	3
	2007–08	National	18	0	0	0	0	0	18	0
	Total		36	3	0	0	0	0	36	3
Gimnàstic	2008–09	Segunda División	30	4	0	0	—		30	4
Racing Santander	2009–10	La Liga	23	1	6	1	—		29	2
	2010–11		19	0	1	0	—		20	0
	2011–12		34	1	2	0	—		36	1
	Total		76	2	9	1	0	0	85	3
Levante	2012–13	La Liga	32	0	0	0	9 [lower-alpha 1]	1	41	1
	2013–14		34	4	2	0	—		36	4
	2014–15		19	0	0	0	—		19	0
	Total		85	4	2	0	9	1	96	5
Espanyol	2015–16	La Liga	30	3	2	0	—		32	3
	2016–17		18	0	1	0	—		19	0
	2017–18		5	0	2	0	—		7	0
	Total		53	3	5	0	0	0	58	3
Eibar	2017–18	La Liga	15	0	0	0	—		15	0
	2018–19		28	1	1	0	—		29	1
	2019–20		30	1	0	0	–		30	1
	Total		73	2	1	0	0	0	74	1
Career total			323	18	17	1	9	1	349	19

1. Appearances in the Europa League

International goals

As of 23 January 2017 (Senegal score listed first, score column indicates score after each Diop goal) ^[29]

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	21 May 2014	Stade du 4-Août, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso	Burkina Faso	1–0	1–1	Friendly
2.	23 January 2017	Stade de Franceville, Franceville, Gabon	Algeria	1–1	2–2	2017 Africa Cup of Nations

References

1. "Diop". Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 January 2022.
2. Murillo, Paco (20 August 2021). "Pape Diop, músculo y veteranía para la medular del Ibiza" [Pape Diop, muscle and experience for Ibiza's midfield]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 January 2022.
3. Pereira, Alexis (5 August 2006). "Rennes – Lille, le LOSC dans le rythme" [Rennes – Lille, LOSC feeling it] (in French). Maxi Foot. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
4. "Pape Kouly DIOP: "On ne voit que le physique d'un joueur africain, mais jamais sa technique"" [Pape Kouly DIOP: "We always focus on the physique of an African player, but never his skill"] (in French). Sene News. 21 February 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
5. "El Nástic ficha al senegalés Diop" [Nástic sign Senegalese Diop]. Marca (in Spanish). 31 January 2008. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
6. Romero, Ricky (24 July 2009). "Diop se va al Racing y el Nàstic ingresará 1'5 'kilos'" [Diop goes to Racing and Nàstic will make 1.5 'grand']. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 February 2014.
7. "Atletico remain winless". ESPN Soccernet. 12 September 2009. Archived from the original on 27 February 2014. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
8. "Racing rediscover scoring touch". ESPN Soccernet. 21 March 2010. Archived from the original on 27 February 2014. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
9. Herrero, Sergio (28 December 2011). "Diop, el 'fichaje' de enero del Racing" [Diop, Racing's January 'signing']. El Diario Montañés (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 14 February 2012. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
10. "Diop ficha por el Levante" [Diop signs for Levante] (in Spanish). UEFA. 19 July 2012. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
11. "El Levante paga al Racing de Santander 100.000 euros por Pape Diop" [Levante pay 100,000 euros to Racing de Santander for Pape Diop] (in Spanish). Goal. 19 July 2012. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
12. Molins, José (19 July 2012). "El Levante ficha a Diop" [Levante sign Diop]. Las Provincias (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 January 2022.
13. Sánchez Venzalá, Tomás (18 August 2021). "El senegalés Pape Diop, en la órbita de la UD Ibiza" [Senegal's Pape Diop, followed by UD Ibiza]. Periódico de Ibiza (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 January 2022.
14. López, Víctor (14 March 2013). "El Rubin Kazan despierta al Levante de su sueño europeo" [Rubin Kazan wake up Levante from their European dream]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 January 2022.
15. Cosín, Raúl (22 November 2012). "Victoria rotunda para hacer historia" [Large win to make history]. ABC (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 January 2022.
16. "Atletico Madrid fans accused of racist chants by Levante's Diop". BBC Sport. 4 May 2014. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
17. "Senegal's Diop complains of racist abuse from Atletico fans". BBC Sport. 4 May 2014. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
18. "Carta de agradecimiento de Pape Diop tras su estancia en el Levante U.D." [Thankful letter of Pape Diop after his spell at Levante U.D.] (in Spanish). Levante UD. 5 June 2015. Archived from the original on 7 June 2015. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
19. "Pape Diop fitxa per l'Espanyol" [Pape Diop signs for Espanyol] (in Catalan). RCD Espanyol. 31 August 2015. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
20. "Pape Diop, segundo refuerzo de invierno" [Pape Diop, second winter addition] (in Spanish). SD Eibar. 22 December 2017. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
21. "Pape Diop, nuevo jugador del Ibiza" [Pape Diop, new player of Ibiza] (in Spanish). UD Ibiza. 20 August 2021. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
22. Kalfa, David (18 November 2010). "Match amical: Le Sénégal vainqueur 2–1 du Gabon" [Friendly match: Senegal best Gabon 2–1] (in French). Radio France Internationale . Retrieved 22 January 2022.
23. Okeleji, Oluwashina (24 December 2017). "Pape Diop in emotional tribute to Espanyol after Eibar switch". BBC Sport. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
24. "2015 Africa Cup of Nations: Sadio Mane included in Senegal squad". BBC Sport. 9 January 2015. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
25. "Afcon 2017: Mane to lead Senegal's England-based stars". BBC Sport. 30 December 2016. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
26. "Senegal 2–2 Algeria". BBC Sport. 23 January 2017. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
27. "Senegal 0–0 Cameroon". BBC Sport. 28 January 2017. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
28. "P. Diop". Soccerway. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
29. "P. Diop – Matches". Soccerway. Retrieved 29 January 2017.

External links

• Rennes official profile (in French)
• Pape Diop – French league stats at LFP – also available in French (archived)
• Pape Diop at BDFutbol
• Pape Diop at National-Football-Teams.com