A feisty, tactically astute midfield ball-winner, Didier Zokora is a long-standing Ivory Coast international who played in Belgium, France and England before joining Sevilla FC in the summer of 2009. He was an English League Cup winner with Tottenham Hotspur FC in 2008.

• Launched career in his native Ivory Coast with ASEC Mimosas before moving to Belgium in 2000 and joining KRC Genk.

• Made 123 Eerste Klasse appearances for Genk during four-year spell, winning league title in 2001/02; was an ever-present in club's UEFA Champions League debut campaign in 2002/03.

• Joined AS Saint-Étienne in 2004 and enjoyed two impressive seasons in Ligue 1, the second of them punctuated by appearance at 2006 Africa Cup of Nations, where he helped Ivory Coast to a runners-up spot; played all three games at FIFA World Cup finals in Germany later the same year.

• Joined Tottenham after World Cup in €12m deal; played under three managers in three seasons at London club – Martin Jol, Juande Ramos and Harry Redknapp – but failed to score in 133 competitive matches.

• Moved to Sevilla in July 2009 on four-year contract, costing Spanish club €9m; started all six UEFA Champions League group games and also regular in Liga team until January, when he travelled to Angola to compete in his third Africa Cup of Nations.

Did you know?
Zokora was on the field for every minute of the Ivory Coast's successful 12-match 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign, during which he also scored his first international goal – in a 4-0 defeat of Botswana in Abidjan on 22 June 2008.