Lacina Traore

Lacina Emeghara Traore (born 20 May 1990) is an Ivorian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Portuguese club Varzim S.C. He is nicknamed “The Big Tree”, due to his 2.03m frame, which puts him among the tallest professional footballers.

Club Career

Early career

Growing up in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Traore began his career with Jean-Marc Guillou's football school ASEC Mimosas, before joining Stade d'Abidjan in 2006. He played in Abidjan until January 2008, when he joined the Romanian club CFR Cluj.

CFR Cluj

Traore made his European debut with CFR, scoring a second goal in the first match of the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League group stage, against Copenhagen. He then scored another goal in the 3–2 home loss against Sparta Prague.

The following season for Traore continued smoothly for him at CFR Cluj, when he was constantly in the first squad as a full-time regular. He scored his first league goal of the season and set up Cristian Bud in a match against Astra Ploiești on 13 August 2010. Traore received his first red card of his career after a brutal foul in the second half as CFR lost 3–0 against Sportul Studențesc on 20 August 2010. On 15 November 2010, he scored his first brace of his career in a 3–0 win over Gloria Bistrița. In the 2010–11 UEFA Champions League group stage, Traore scored one goal in the 2–1 win against Basel and one goal in the 1–1 draw against Roma (after hitting the post twice in Italy against the same team in the first match), both matches in the group phase and home.

Kuban Krasnodar

In February 2011, Traore was transferred to Kuban Krasnodar in the Russian Premier League for a reported fee of €6 million. In the opening game of the season on 13 March 2011, Traore made his debut, coming on as a substitute, in a 2–0 loss against Rubin Kazan.

This page also has a version in other languages :  Ласина Траоре (russian)