Bacary Sagna

Infobox Football biography
playername = Bacary Sagna


fullname = Bacary Sagna
height = height|m=1.76 [cite web |url=http://touchline.onthespot.co.uk/guardian/StatsCentre.asp?Lang=0&CTID=11&CPID=4&pStr=Player&PLID=186263&TEID=217 |title=Stats centre: Bakari Sagna |work=guardian.co.uk |accessdate=2008-07-26]
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1983|2|14|df=yes
cityofbirth = Sens
countryofbirth = France
currentclub = Arsenal
clubnumber = 3
position = Right back
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 2002–2004
2004–2007
2007–
clubs = Auxerre B
Auxerre
Arsenal
caps(goals) = 034 0(1)
087 0(0)
036 0(1)
nationalyears = 2002–2006
2007–
nationalteam = France U21
France
nationalcaps(goals) = 028 0(0)
005 0(0)
pcupdate = 4 October 2008
ntupdate = 14 September 2008

Bacary Sagna, also sometimes spelled Bakary or Bakari, (born 14 February 1983 in Sens, Bourgogne) is a French International football defender of Senegalese descent, currently playing for Arsenal. His cousin Ibrahima Sonko also plays in England, for newly promoted Stoke City. [cite news | date=2007-11-08 | url=http://www.readingfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10306~1162276,00.html | title=Sonko reveals Arsenal family link | work=readingfc.co.uk | accessdate=2007-11-08]

Club career

Auxerre

Sagna made 87 Ligue 1 appearances for Auxerre and was part of the squad that won the French Cup in 2005. He also played in the UEFA Cup in each of his three seasons with the club's first team, making a total of 17 appearances in the competition. He was also voted into the Ligue 1 team of the season for his outstanding displays at the right back position.

Arsenal

On 12 July2007, Sagna completed a move to Arsenal from Auxerre for an undisclosed fee, thought to have been an initial £6.1m (€9m) that could rise to £7.45m (€11m). [cite web | title=Sagna signe jeudi à Arsenal | work=lequipe.fr | language = French | url=http://www.lequipe.fr/Football/breves2007/20070712_100450Dev.html | accessdate=July 13 | accessyear=2007 ] He wears the number 3 shirt, most recently worn for Arsenal by former defender Ashley Cole and most notably fans favourite Nigel Winterburn. [ cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/a/arsenal/6895921.stm|title=Auxerre's Sagna signs for Arsenal|date=2007-07-12|accessdate=2007-07-12|publisher=BBC Sport]

Sagna made his debut in an Arsenal shirt on 19 July 2007 as a starter in the squad that beat Turkish club Genclerbirligi 3–0 in a friendly at Austria's Bad Waltersdorf Stadion. [cite news|url=http://www.arsenal.com/matchreport.asp?thisNav=fixtures&fxid=319627|title= Match Report|date=2007-07-19|accessdate=2007-07-19|publisher=Arsenal Online]

In his Premier League debut, Sagna started in the 2–1 win over Fulham at the Emirates and again impressed. The French full-back is predominantly a right-back, although he can play centre-back, left-back and in midfield. Despite his recent move to the Premier League, he has displaced Emmanuel Eboué as the preferred starting right-back for Arsene Wenger, while Eboué plays right wing.

On March 232008, Sagna tallied his first Premier League goal off a header from a corner kick to give Arsenal a 1-0 lead against rivals Chelsea F.C. The goal was of particular significance to him as he dedicated it to his late brother who died a month before. He could be seen looking up to the sky while pointing at it. However, he went off injured before Chelsea came back to win the game 2-1. At the end of the season, he was named in the PFA's Team of the Year. Also, Sagna came fourth in the official arsenal.com player of the season for 2007-2008 season, as voted for by the fans.

On June 4 2008, it was announced that Sagna had signed a new deal with the Gunners following a very successful first season. Arsenal have signed him for a further two years, taking his contract up to 2014. Sagna stated. "I love Arsenal, they are a great club", and further added, "The manager is also very good and next season we will be fighting for all the trophies." [cite web | url = http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11670_3647884,00.html | publisher = Sky Sports | title = Sagna pens Gunners deal | accessdate = 2008-08-16 | date = 2008-06-04]

International career

Sagna has previously represented the French under-21 team, with whom he also participated at the 2006 European Under-21 Championship.

He received his first senior international cap for France on 22 August 2007 in a friendly match against Slovakia on the road, which they won 1–0, coming on as a substitute for François Clerc after one hour of play. He went on to make his competitive debut for France in their 6–0 away win at the Faroe Islands on 13 October 2007 in the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifiers, playing all 90 minutes. It was his only appearance in the Euro 2008 qualifying.

Club career statistics

:"(correct as of 14 August 2008)"

Career honours

With AJ Auxerre

*Winner
**Coupe de France 2005
*Runner-up
**Trophee des Champions 2005

Individual

*Auxerre's player of the season for the 2006–07 season
*Voted France's best right-sided defender in the 2006–07
*French Ligue 1's Team of the Year 2006–07
*Member of PFA Team of the Year: 2007–08.
*Voted Premier League's best right-back in the 2007-08 season

References

External links

* [http://www.arsenal.com/first-team/players/bacary-sagna Arsenal.com profile]
*soccerbase|id=40240|name=Bacary Sagna

Persondata

NAME= Sagna, Bacary
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Professional footballer
DATE OF BIRTH= 1983-02-14
PLACE OF BIRTH= Sens, France
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=