Ibrahim Diaky and Yaya Toure were born 12 months and 220 miles apart, in the Ivory Coast. The two midfielders left their first club, ASEC Mimosas, around the same time and now play for a team owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
But while Yaya went on to play for Barcelona and Manchester City, as well as winning 75 caps for his country, his former club-mate’s career has been a little more complicated.
By the time Al Jazira captain Diaky left his homeland for Abu Dhabi, via Tunisia, he had made a 20-minute cameo for the Elephants, aged 18, that would come to define his time in the UAE.
Having proved his worth at Jazira, the playmaker was offered the chance to become a UAE citizen in 2006. He has always maintained the powers-that-be were aware he would not be able to represent the national team, but admits it has put him in a unique position.
“People have to understand they are putting pressure on me, but they don’t know my situation because I am stuck in the middle,” Diaky tells Sport360°. “I cannot play for the UAE, but at the same time I cannot play for my country.
“It’s frustrating sometimes because I want to give so much for my country but also I would do the same if I could play for the Emirates. When I took the passport with the Emirates I had some problems back home because people were p***** off. People said, ‘we needed you, we wanted you to play for our country’.
“But I take life how it comes. I made a choice, I wanted to help the UAE because I thought that I could give them so much. But the situation happened as can happen in life, and I take it as a man and life continues.”
No regrets
Diaky does not regret the decision to move to Abu Dhabi, or accept citizenship. The 30-year-old is the club’s highest-ever scorer, with 52 goals, and has delivered them unparalleled success. When he arrived at Jazira in 2004 the club had not won a single piece of silverware. They have since claimed five trophies including their first-ever league title in 2011.
“I came here with the intention to give my best and be one of the best in the country and the main target was to challenge, to help the team,” reveals Diaky, who turned down offers from Europe to stay and win something with the ‘Pride of Abu Dhabi’. “I did not come here to make my name, but I like challenges and I like to give something to the club. Many big names, big players came to Al Jazira and they didn’t give anything to Al Jazira.
“I came and I thank God that I could give them the title because Al Jazira had never taken one title, and even if I stop football tomorrow my name will stay in the history of Al Jazira forever because at least I took the GCC Cup, Pro League, Etisalat Cup and two President’s Cups – so that’s five titles.
“I’m nearly 31, I have maybe three more years to play and then I’m done and the young players will take over. I am proud of what I have done for Al Jazira. To come and stay long was not my intention but to give something to Al Jazira, yes.”
Since they claimed their maiden Pro League title two years ago, things have not gone as smoothly as many would have hoped. Brazilian coach Abel Braga departed immediately after that triumph, which arrived alongside the club’s first President’s Cup, and although Jazira repeated their cup success last season and have reached the final of the Etisalat Cup this time around, sub-par league form has accounted for three further coaches.
Key to success
The midfielder says Braga’s success was due to his presence and personality, and the fact he knew how to motivate the players. “When you made a mistake he put a finger on what was the mistake to make, and you realise that you didn’t need to do that again,” Diaky adds.
The club captain believes new coach Luis Milla has ideas that will help improve the team but questions the timing of the appointment of the Spaniard. “I’m really sure it would have been better to wait until the season was finished to bring a new one, then he can start to work in the training camp and will know the players better,” he adds.
Diaky hopes Milla is given time following an inauspicious start that has seen the club win only one of his seven games in charge. And he has called on team-mates to take more responsibility for their results. “I think this is a problem with the fans in the country because they put so much pressure on the coaches and the players that sometimes they don’t have the time to show what they can give exactly,” he says. “But, for me, it is not about the coaches, it is about the players.
“It is about what we do on the field, what we give on the field. Because you can bring Fabio Capello and still maybe you would lose. That doesn’t mean that Capello is bad, maybe the problem is between the players on the field. I am not the kind of guy who will blame the coach because the coach is not the one who will shoot the ball in the goal. You, the player, shoot the ball in the goal.”
National pride
Does he ever think he could have helped his fellow ASEC Mimosas alumni – Gervinho, Salomon Kalou, Kolo and, of course, Yaya Toure among them – win that elusive second Africa Cup of Nations for his homeland?
“Of course, I feel pain sometimes when I’m sitting at home and watching the games,” adds Diaky. “I feel pain when I see the team playing and they don’t have a playmaker. They are using Yaya Toure. He is not really a playmaker, he is a defensive midfielder who can take the ball out.
“We all grew up in the same academy, Kolo Toure, Yaya Toure, Emmanuel Eboue, Gervinho. But I wish the best for them and the only problem for Ivory Coast is they need a playmaker. And until the day they will find a playmaker they will always have problems.”
DIAKY ON…
Jazira future
I am really ambitious. I have character and I think I can take this team with me. My job is to bring the team back to its old level.
Luis Milla
He took over at a critical situation and right now the team is not doing well. We are working with him, I think we’ll get better.
The rise of the Pro League
There is a big, big difference since 2004 and not only at Al Jazira. At the other clubs; you have players like Gyan, Grafite, Jimenez. Many players have come into the league and the level has improved. You see the level of the local players has improved too, that’s why they could win the Gulf Cup.
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