Bernard Diomède

Bernard Diomède

Personal information
Date of birth	23 January 1974 (1974-01-23) (age 37)
Place of birth	Saint-Doulchard, France
Playing position	Winger
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1992–2000	Auxerre	176	(30)
2000–2003	Liverpool	2	(0)
2002–2003	→ Ajaccio (loan)	15	(2)
2003–2004	Ajaccio	32	(7)
2004–2005	Créteil	12	(4)
2005–2006	Clermont Foot	11	(1)
National team
1998	France	8	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Bernard Diomède (born 23 January 1974 in Saint-Doulchard) is a retired French footballer of Guadeloupean descent. He played as a winger.

Biography

Club career

Diomède's career began with AJ Auxerre. After playing at the youth level for the Burgundy club, he made his Ligue 1 début in 1992. He played in the first team during eight years, under Guy Roux Auxerre won the Ligue 1 and Coupe de France double in 1996. The winger scored 30 goals in 175 Ligue 1 matches for Auxerre.^[1]

In June 2000, Diomède was signed for £3m by then Liverpool F.C. manager Gerard Houllier.^[2] Making his debut against Sunderland, Diomède appeared to have scored with an overhead kick, but the goal was not given even though replays showed that the ball had crossed the line.^[3] However, he did not settle in England, and only played five games for Liverpool. In January 2003 he was loaned out to AC Ajaccio, newly-promoted in France's Ligue 1, until the end of his contract.^[4] After his spell at Liverpool had come to an end, he joined the Ligue 2 team Créteil, and then Clermont Foot in the Championnat National (3rd division). As of 18 January 2008, Bernard Diomede has announced his retirement after being without a club for the past 18 months.^[5]

International career

He has been capped eight times for the France national team, but has never scored. Diomède received his first cap in a friendly against Spain on 28 January 1998. At the 1998 World Cup he started in three games, against Saudi Arabia and Denmark in the group stage and against Paraguay in the round of 16. He was unable to regain his place in the French national team after the 1998 World Cup.^[6]

Retirement

On the 18 January 2008, Diomède announced his retirement from the game after being without a club for 18 months.^[7]

Honours

• World Cup (1998)
• French championship (1996)
• French national cup (1996)

Following the 1998 World Cup, he was made Chevalier (Knight) of the Légion d'honneur in 1998^[8][9]

Notes

1. ^ "Bernard Diomède at AJ Auxerre". histoaja.free.fr. http://www.histoaja.free.fr/joueurs/diomede.htm. Retrieved 4 December 2006. 
2. ^ "Reds swoop for Diomede". BBC. 7 June 2000. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/sport/football/fa_carling_premiership/781663.stm. Retrieved 4 December 2006. 
3. ^ "Player Profile". lfchistory.net. http://www.lfchistory.net/player_profile.asp?player_id=290. Retrieved 16 January 2008. 
4. ^ "Past Player Profile – Bernard Diomede". liverpoolfc.tv. http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/team/past_players/players/diomede/. Retrieved 4 December 2006. 
5. ^ "Son, lumière, héros". UEFA. 8 November 2006. http://fr.uefa.com/competitions/EURO/news/Kind=1/newsId=476916.html. Retrieved 4 December 2006. ^{[dead link]}
6. ^ "Bernard Diomède – Liste des matchs joués". Fédération Française de Football. http://www.fff.fr/servfff/historique/historique.php?cherche_joueur=DIOMEDE. Retrieved 4 December 2006. 
7. ^ "DIOMEDE HANGS UP HIS BOOTS". Football 365. http://www.football365.com/story/0,17033,8698_3058287,00.html. Retrieved 18 January 2008. 
8. ^ "France honors World Cup winners – Government gives Legion of Honor to players, coaches". CNN/SI. 1 September 1998. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/soccer/world/news/1998/09/01/france_legionhonor. Retrieved 20 July 2006. 
9. ^ "Décret du 24 juillet 1998 portant nomination à titre exceptionnel". JORF 1998 (170): 11376. 25 July 1998. PREX9801916D. http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/WAspad/UnTexteDeJorf?numjo=PREX9801916D. Retrieved 10 March 2009. 

Persondata
Name	Diomede, Bernard
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1974-01-23
Place of birth	Saint-Doulchard, France
Date of death
Place of death