Vassiriki Abou Diaby, born on May 11, 1986 in Paris, France, is a central midfielder football player who graduated from the well-known Clairefontaine Academy near Paris. He captained the French Under-19 team that won the U-19 European Championships in 2005 by defeating England in the finals at Belfast. From 2004-05, Abou Diaby has capped 14 times for the France Under-19 team, and by February 2006, he made his debut for the France U-21 squad. On March 24, 2007, during his first match for the French national football team, he played as a substitute in a qualifying contest against Lithuania. However, in the following match against Austria, he was a starting player and helped France win 1-0.
Abou Diaby joined Auxerre in 2003 and was a part of the team that won the national Under-16 Championship. He made six league appearances for Auxerre and played twice in the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Cup in 2005-06. His football skills soon caught the attention of Arsene Wenger, Arsenal’s manager, and Abou Diaby joined his club on January 13, 2006. He made his Arsenal debut against Everton in the Premier League match played on January 21, 2006, and by April 1st, he made his first goal for Arsenal in the Premier League match against Aston Villa. After suffering an injury, Abou Diaby went back to playing for The Gunners in January 2007 as a substitute and replaced his teammate, Theo Walcott, in Arsenal's League Cup 6-3 quarterfinal win against Liverpool. His playing style was compared to that of Patrick Vieira, Arsenal’s legendary midfielder.
In the 2007-08 season, Abou Diaby had a brilliant start when he scored an impressive 25-yard strike against Derby County. On December 12, 2007, he kicked the first goal of Arsenal’s 2-1 win against Steaua Bucharest, which also happened to be his first goal in the UEFA Champions League. He contributed to Arsenal’s victory in the 2007 Emirates Cup win and the Amsterdam Tournament as well. Arsenal also went on to finish as the runners-up in the 2007 League Cup. Abou Diaby made his second goal in the Champions League for Arsenal on April 8, 2008, which gave the team a great advantage over Liverpool FC at Anfield.
Abou Diaby has a powerful, leggy style of play and performs well as an attacking midfielder or as an athletic box-to-box midfield schemer. This footballer enjoys music, especially hip-hop, and also likes to watch movies, particularly French classics.
As of 2008, Abou Diaby has played 39 matches for Arsenal and has scored 3 goals. He remains a promising player for the Gunners’ future.
