El Hadji Diouf

El Hadji Diouf (born 15 January, 1981) is a Senegalese footballer. He plays for Bolton Wanderers and the Senegal national team.

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Bolton Wanderers bought Diouf from Liverpool for a undisclosed fee at the start of the 2005-06 season.

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Before joining, Bolton had loaned the player for the 2004-05 season. But this season was to be a rocky one for Diouf.

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Diouf had been involved in several controversies, such as spitting in Arjan de Zeeuw's face. But his manager Sam Allardyce stood by him and is actively trying to help him curb his bad on-field behaviour. Diouf caused further outrage in May 2005 after successfully claiming for legal aid, despite the fact he earns a reputed ?40,000 per week, for his trial at Teesside Magistrates Court for spitting at a fan during a football match. In July 2005 he was found guilty of failing to produce a TV licence and was fined ?100.

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Before joining Bolton in 2004 Diouf had a largely unsuccessful spell at Liverpool, who bought the player from French club Lens for ?10,000,000 after Senegal's impressive 2002 World Cup run, beating holders France and getting to the quarter final. Diouf was named African Footballer of the Year in February 2003 for the second year running, for helping Senegal come runner-up in 2002 African Nations Cup and the achievement in the .

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Diouf took the number 9 shirt at Liverpool after Robbie Fowler's departure to Leeds United and Nicolas Anelka left for Manchester City after failing to impress G?rard Houllier on a loan spell. Diouf had to contend with Milan Baros and Emile Heskey for the place up front next to Michael Owen, whilst dealing with suspensions and fines, such as the spitting incident against Celtic in the UEFA Cup quarter final. After Houllier was sacked in the summer of 2004, new manager Rafael Ben?tez saw a bad egg in him and loaned him out to Bolton.

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His international career started in April 2000 against Benin; Diouf has earned over 30 international caps and scored over 15 goals for his country. In 2004, he was named to the FIFA 100, a list of the 125 greatest living footballers selected by Pel? in conjunction with FIFA's centenary celebrations.

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On the September 15, 2005, El Hadji Diouf scored Bolton Wanderers' first ever goal in a European competition. The game was against Lokomotiv Plovdiv in a UEFA Cup match at the Reebok Stadium. Bolton went on to win the game 2-1.

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El Hadji Diouf related Images and Photos (experimental)

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