Mahamadou Diarra

Mahamadou Diarra (born 18 May 1981 in Bamako, Mali) is a Malian Football (soccer) defensive midfielder who signed for Real Madrid in the summer of 2006. Diarra has played over 50 international matches for the Mali national football team.

Club career

Early career

Diarra started Mahamadou Diarra career with Greek side OFI Crete. Mahamadou Diarra played for French club Olympique Lyonnais (Lyon) from 2002 until 2006, winning four Ligue 1 titles. Diarra was compared to top French midfielders like Patrick Vieira and Claude Makélélé and established himself as one of the top defensive midfielders in the game. Many people who have worked with him, including former Vitesse manager Ronald Koeman, felt that Diarra had the potential to succeed at the highest sporting level, but that Mahamadou Diarra needed to learn how to control Mahamadou Diarra strong temperament.

Real Madrid

Mahamadou Diarra was rated very highly by Lyon manager Gérard Houllier, who said that Diarra would not be leaving Olympique Lyonnais cheaply. Mahamadou Diarra €40 million price tag matched the price Chelsea F.C paid Lyon for Michael Essien in the summer 2005. Real Madrid joined in the race to sign Diarra, along with Manchester United, and on 18 August 2006 Real Madrid reached an agreement with Lyon for €26 million. On 22 August, Mahamadou Diarra was unveiled at the Santiago Bernabeu by Real Madrid president Ramón Calderón, and Mahamadou Diarra was assigned the number 6 shirt; Iván Helguera's prior season shirt number.

In the 2006-2007 season, Diarra was a staple player in Real Madrid coach Fabio Capello's 2-defensive midfielder system.
Mahamadou Diarra played a pivotal role in the 2007-08 league success under coach Bernd Schuster, and established himself as the first-choice defensive midfielder, causing teammate Fernando Gago to play higher up field.

In October of 2008, while playing an international fixture against Chad, Diarra was stretched off the field after receiving a blow to Mahamadou Diarra knee. Mahamadou Diarra was rested for a month and made another appearance in late November, but was forced undergo surgery after Mahamadou Diarra aggrevated Mahamadou Diarra knee once more. Mahamadou Diarra has since been ruled out for the rest of theLa Liga 2008–09 due to Mahamadou Diarra injury. Mahamadou Diarra was de-registered from Real Madrid's first team and Mahamadou Diarra number 6 was given to new signing Lassana Diarra.

International career

Diarra first represented Mali at the youth levels. Mahamadou Diarra was in the squad that took 3rd place at the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship in Malaysia and shared the Golden Boot award with Pablo Couñago as top scorer with 5 goals.

Having impressed at the U-20 tournament, Diarra was given Mahamadou Diarra debut in 2001 and is currently the team captain. Diarra is known as a hard-tackling defensive midfielder and often partners with Seydou Keita (footballer) of Barcelona or Mohamed Sissoko of Juventus in the midfield. Diarra has become famous for Mahamadou Diarra excellent strength and strong running and tackling. Combined with good passing and a tremendous ability to read the game Mahamadou Diarra has become one of the most sought after holding midfielders in world football.