For the latest in our on-going series, we`ve chosen to feature Salomon Kalou.
Born in the Ivory Coast, Kalou started his adventure in football with his local club Mimosas before moving onto Europe. Auxerre were interested in signing the player but he opted to join Feyenoord in 2003. A loan spell with Feyenoord`s satellite club, Excelsior followed, before Kalou returned to Feyenoord.
Kalou was to have two productive seasons for Feyenoord from 2004 to 2006 during which he scored 35 goals in 67 league appearances. His performances saw him win the Johan Cryuff award in 2005 as the most promising young player of the season.
On 30 May 2006 Kalou moved to Chelsea, for a fee rumoured to be in the region of £9 million and given the number 21 shirt.
Kalou joined Chelsea with Mourinho praising him as a young man who was versatile, hardworking, eager to improve and not afraid of the physical side of the game. Kalou described the move as,
‘This was the dream moment of my life and I did not want to wake up and find that it was not real.’
In somewhat surreal circumstances Kalou admitted he took a camera with him to his first training session because he wanted to capture the unbelievable moment he`d be training with the likes of Ballack, Terry and his Ivory Coast team-mate Drogba.
Kalou`s first goals for the senior side came in a 2-0 win over Blackburn in a league Cup match. His first Premier league goal didn`t come until December 2006 in a 3-2 win against Wigan at the then named JJB Stadium.
Further crucial goals followed, including a 93rd minute winner against Watford, at Vicarage Road, a volley against Spurs in an FA Cup tie which ended 3-3 with Chelsea winning the replay. Chelsea reached the FA Cup Final that season with Kalou coming on as a substitute in the win over Manchester United, meaning the young Ivorian had an FA Cup winners medal to place with the League Cup winners medal he`d previously won against Arsenal.
The following season, 2007 / 2008, Kalou scored his first goal of the campaign in the 6-0 thrashing of Manchester City. It was also a season in which he set a record for the most number of times a player had been caught offside, 107 times in 30 games. Further goals that season came against Newcastle and Fulham and, on a memorable night at Anfield, it was Kalou`s cross that John Arne Riise headed into his own goal to give Chelsea a vital away goal in a semi-final tie against Liverpool. Sadly, Chelsea were to lose the final, on a rainy night in Moscow, to Manchester United in a penalty shoot-out, although Kalou made no mistake with his spot-kick.
The 2008 / 2009 season saw Kalou struggle to get into the side, Luiz Felipe Scolari was in charge and Kalou missed out after being part of the Ivory Coast Olympic team participating in the Beijing Olympics. But Kalou got his chance on 21 September against Manchester United and secured a point for Chelsea with an 80th minute header. Further goals followed against Middlesbrough and against Southend and Middlesbrough in the FA Cup. With Scolari gone and Guus Hiddink in charge Kalou was prospering again. However, with Chelsea reaching the FA Cup Final and beating Everton 2-1, Kalou would have been disappointed to have only been a substitute, anon-playing one.
The 2009 / 2010 season saw Kalou get a piece of the action with the Ivorian scoring the winning goal in a penalty shoot-out against Manchester United, a strike that saw Chelsea lift the Community Shield. His first goal of the season came against Queens Park Rangers in the League Cup and in October his exploits saw him sign a three-year contract extension for the club. A brace in the Champions League, against Atletico Madrid, cemented his popularity with the Chelsea support. Further goals were to follow against Bolton and Blackburn but it was to be two months before Kalou could end a goal drought when he netted against Cardiff in the FA Cup.
Back amongst the goals, Kalou netted against Inter Milan giving Chelsea a valuable away goal even though they lost the tie. His drought in the league ended when he scored in Chelsea`s 7-1 thrashing of Aston Villa before he bagged a hat-trick in a 7-0 demolition of Stoke on April 25th. On the last day of the season Kalou netted as Chelsea seized the Premier league crown with an 8-0 win over Wigan.
The following season, 2010 / 2011, saw Kalou score Chelsea`s only goal in a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Manchester United at the new Wembley. Coming off the bench against Wigan, Kalou netted twice with both assists coming from his fellow Ivorian Didier Drogba. Further goals were to follow against West Ham, Blackpool and Wolves.
Faced with a difficult FA Cup tie against Everton, Kalou rescued Chelsea`s defence of the trophy with a late equaliser giving Chelsea a replay. In 31 appearances that season, Kalou scored 14 goals, but finding a regular first team place had become harder since the addition of the £50 million player, Fernando Torres. That season was, despite the competition, the first time that Kalou had hit 10 Premier League goals in a single season.
In the 2011 / 2012 season, Kalou found opportunities difficult in the early stages of the season, his first start coming in the League Cup match which Chelsea won 4-3 on penalties, Kalou making no mistake with his spot-kick. Kalou had to wait until 19 October for his first goal of the season with Racing Genk being the opposition. His first Premier League goal coming away to Newcastle. The removal of Andre Villas-Boas from office and the appointment of Roberto Di Matteo augured well for Kalou.
Kalou netted in the 5-2 FA Cup win over Leicester City making him, at the time, only the second player to score in the Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup and Champions League in the same season, the other player being Sergio Aguero.
The goals continued to come with Kalou netting an away goal in the Champions League qualifier against Benfica, his 58th goal for the club. An appearance, from the bench also followed as Chelsea earned a 1-0 home win over Barcelona in the semi-final first leg at Stamford Bridge.
Appearance number 250 came against Arsenal in a 0-0 draw at the Emirates Stadium. Th season finished in glory for both Kalou and Chelsea with victories in both the FA Cup Final against Liverpool and days later against Bayern Munich as Chelsea, against the odds, lifted their first-ever Champions League trophy.
However, on 1 July 2012, Kalou`s Chelsea career came to an end when the club announced that his contract had come to an end and he was free to leave with a club statement reading,
‘Chelsea Football Club today bids farewell to Salomon Kalou, who has come to the end of his contract.’
Salomon Kalou made 254 appearances for Chelsea, scoring 60 goals, but is there a better way to have called time on your Chelsea than by having done your bit, in your last game for the club, in helping the club win their Holy Grail!
Mini Fact-File – Salomon Kalou
Full Name – Salomon Armand Magloire Kalou
Date of Birth – 5 August 1985
Place of Birth – Oumé, Ivory Coast
Position – Striker
Youth Career – ASEC Mimosas
Clubs – Feyenoord, Excelsior (loan), Chelsea, Lille, Hertha BSC,
International Career -Ivory Coast
If you`d like to suggest somebody you`d like us to cover in our African Connection series then simply e-mail the name of the player to JUVENILED40@HOTMAIL.COM and we`ll do the rest.
Or if you missed the others in the series follow the links below:
Click Here – Celestine Babayaro
Click Here – Geremi
Click Here – John Obi Mikel Part 1
Click Here – John Obi Mikel Part 2
Click Here – Michael Essien
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