21: Lassana Diarra

Lassana Diarra is a young defensive midfielder, who plays for Premiership club Portsmouth, and can also play at right-back. He is a 23-year old player with Malian descent. Diarra started his professional career at Le Havre in 2003, after suffering many rejections due to his diminutive size. He played in 29 matches for the French side until 2005, when he left for Premiership club Chelsea. It was a big step for the youngster but he still managed 13 appearances in the 2 seasons that he spent at the club. After Chelsea, he moved to bitter London rivals Arsenal where he spent part of the 2007/08 season, making just 7 appearances. On the 17^th January 2008, he made the move to Pompey for around £5.5 million.

 

Before earning his first senior France cap, Diarra played in the U21 side. He played a major role in France U21’s qualification for the U21 European Championship 2006. He was the player to be brought down in the box, in the tight qualification play-off match against England, meaning that France converted the penalty and won the contest. Diarra made his senior debut on the 24^th March 2007 in a Euro 2008 qualifying match against Lithuania where he gave a solid performance. In total, he has earned 10 caps until before the Euro 2008 tournament.

 

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dp-YIsfGZc]

 

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMid2tB40ho]