Marco Zoro

Marco Zoro

Personal information
Full name	Marco André Zoro Kpolo
Date of birth	December 27, 1983 (1983-12-27) (age 27)
Place of birth	Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
Height	1.82 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Defender
Club information
Current club	Free agent
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1999–2002	Salernitana	55	(1)
2003–2007	Messina	116	(5)
2007–2011	Benfica	2	(1)
2008–2010	→ Vitória Setúbal (loan)	30	(0)
2011	→ Universitatea Craiova (loan)	14	(0)
National team‡
2003–	Côte d'Ivoire	22	(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 1 June 2011. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 1 June 2011

Marco André Zoro Kpolo (born 27 December 1983 in Abidjan), known as Zoro, is an Ivorian footballer who plays as a defender.

Club career

Although he is not a native of the country, Zoro started playing football in Italy, starting with Salernitana Calcio 1919, without making his Serie A debuts. The next season, he played with the Campania team in the second division. In January 2003, Zoro joined Sicilian outfit of F.C. Messina Peloro, helping the side achieve promotion in June. Messina signed him permanently in 2004 on a three-year deal.

Several month's prior to the expiration of Zoro's deal with Messina, he and his agent Francis Kacou had been locked in talks with the club for a contract extension.^[1] "For Zoro, his contract is coming up to expiration and there are difficulties in getting him to renew," said Messina president Pietro Franza in October 2006.^[2] "We will see over the coming days when we meet with his agent if we can find a possible understanding." Four months later, however, Zoro blasted, "I've read that some of the management won't talk to me about a new contract because they want to leave me hanging. I find this an insult to my professionalism. I have always trained hard and never let outside things influence me. I will also leave them hanging and see if the right club comes in for me."^[3][4] Two days later, he attempted to make amends: "When one of your family is treated poorly, it's normal for that person to be upset. I don't want to air our dirty linen in public. We'll talk about my contract at the end of the season. My priority right now is keeping Messina in Serie A."

On 15 May 2008, Zoro signed a four-year deal with Portuguese side S.L. Benfica, arriving for free. He would only feature in two league games throughout the entire season, but scored once in a 2–2 home draw with União de Leiria, on 9 March 2008. In August, he was transfer listed and, on 10 January 2009, underwent a five-day trial at Ewood Park with English Premier League outfit Blackburn Rovers.^[5][6] However, nothing came of it, and Zoro was loaned until the end of the season to fellow league team Vitória de Setúbal; the arrangement was then extended for the entirety of 2009–10, and he was a regular starter as the Sadinos again barely avoided relegation.

In late January 2011, Zoro was loaned to FC Universitatea Craiova in the Romanian Liga 1.^[7] In June, his contract with Benfica expired.

Racist incidents

Zoro garnered heavy worldwide interest when, on 27 November 2005, he attempted to stop the Messina-Internazionale match by leaving the field with the ball, after being tormented by racist taunts from some Inter supporters.^[8][9][10] He was eventually convinced to keep playing by other players, notably Adriano and Obafemi Martins. These facts then brought strong and unanimous condemnations by the whole football community within Italy, and even a 5-minute delay for an anti-racism display for all the matches to be played in the next week in the country.

The actions of the Inter supporters were also brought to the attention of the European football governing body UEFA as well as that of the European Union.^[11][12]

International career

Zoro warming up for Ivory Coast during the 2008 CAN

Zoro has represented the Ivory Coast national team since 2003, and appeared at the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations (where the nation finished second) and the 2006 FIFA World Cup (no matches played).

In the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, he netted his first international goal in a 3–0 win over Mali as Côte d'Ivoire eventually finished fourth.

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
	29 January 2008	Accra, Ghana	Mali	2–0	3–0	2008 Africa Cup of Nations

References

1. ^ Zoro agent set for Messina contract talks
2. ^ Franza unsure over Zoro's Messina deal
3. ^ Zoro furious with Messina contract delays
4. ^ Zoro: "Don't question my Messina commitment"
5. ^ Rovers to check on Zoro
6. ^ Zoro no Blackburn Rovers por período experimental (Zoro on trial with Blackburn Rovers) (Portuguese)
7. ^ Marco Zoro a semnat cu Craiova (Marco Zoro signed for Craiova) (Romanian)
8. ^ Zoro suffers more racist abuse
9. ^ Zoro storms off after Inter supporters' racist chanting
10. ^ Zoro takes a stand on racism
11. ^ Fans' racism returns to taint games in Italy and Spain
12. ^ Kick It Out article

External links

• Stats and profile at Zerozero
• Stats at ForaDeJogo (Portuguese)
• FC Messina profile (Italian)
• Marco Zoro at National-Football-Teams.com
• Marco Zoro – FIFA competition record

Persondata
Name	Zoro, Marco
Alternative names
Short description	Ivorian footballer
Date of birth	27 December 1983
Place of birth	Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
Date of death
Place of death