Real Madrid Player

6. Mahamadou Diarra

• Place of Birth  : Bamako, Mali
•  Date of Birth  : 18/05/1981
•  Position          : Midfielder
•  Weight           : 80 kg
•  Height            : 182.2 cm
•  Nationality      : Malian

Mahamadou Diarra was born in Bamako, Mali on 18 May 1981. The six foot, 168-pound midfielder began his football career in the CSK Bamako youth system and hit the big time in 1998 when called to play for the First Team. European football opened its doors to Diarra soon thereafter, and OFI Crete was the first European team to give him an audition at the start of 1998/99 season. He didn’t disappoint and went on to sign his first professional contract. Shining in the small Cyprus league was hard for the Mali native, who signed for Dutch club SBV Vitesse Arnhem shortly after the season came to a close.
Adjusting to Dutch football was hard at first, but the Vitesse manager and former Barcelona star Ronald Koeman took Diarra under his wing to help him improve his technique. The usually-mediocre side went on to finish sixth and fifth in the Eredivisie the two following seasons (2000/01 and 2001/02).
In 2001 Diarra signed with France's Olympique Lyonnais for €3.8 million. His arrival coincided with Lyon’s explosion onto the Ligue 1 scene. The team won four consecutive league titles and French Super Cups and earned international respect by defeating numerous European heavyweights including Real Madrid.
International career
Diarra first caught the attention of European scouts when he led Mali to a third-place finish in the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship. He was soon called up by the Malian national team, with whom he played to a fourth-place finish in the 2002 African Cup of Nations. Diarra was named Best Young Player of the competition.