Bruce José Djité (French pronunciation: ; born 25 March 1987) is an Australian executive and former

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

(soccer) player. he is South Australian executive director of the

Property Council of Australia The Property Council of Australia is a prominent industry organisation that represents the Australian property sector, advocating for its growth and positive impact on the nation. Founded in 1969, the Property Council operates across all major ca ...

. Djite made a name for himself playing in the

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League Elite (abbreviated as the ACL Elite) is an annual continental club association football, football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's List of top-division football clubs i ...

, reaching the 2008 AFC Champions League final, and was named Australia League Young Footballer of the Year for 2008. He was the Gold Coast United all-time second highest goal scorer and Adelaide United all-time highest goal-scorer. He played internationally for the Australia national team, debuting in 2008 and earning nine international caps, and has also played for clubs in Turkey, China, Korea, and Indonesia. In 2019 he returned to Adelaide United to become director of football for two years, and since then has occupied other executive positions in the business world.

Early life and education

Bruce José Djité was born on 25 March 1987, in

Arlington County, Virginia Arlington County, or simply Arlington, is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Virginia. The county is located in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from Washington, D.C., the nati ...

, United States. He moved to

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, Australia, with his parents when he was three years old, when his Ivorian-born father, Paulin,Djite strikes out on his own and kicks career goal – Bruce Djite is a Young Socceroo with a difference, as Ray Gatt explain
''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet daily newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964. As the only Australian daily newspaper distributed nationally, its readership of b ...

'' was appointed professor at the

University of Western Sydney Western Sydney University, formerly the University of Western Sydney, is an Australian multi-campus public research university in the Greater Western region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The university in its current form was founde ...

. His mother, Lyn, was born in

Togo Togo, officially the Togolese Republic, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to Ghana–Togo border, the west, Benin to Benin–Togo border, the east and Burkina Faso to Burkina Faso–Togo border, the north. It is one of the le ...

. He has two brothers. Djite first played soccer during a four-month stay with his family in Ivory Coast in 1993, and loved it, so registered with his local amateur club. He later said "By the time I was 8 I knew soccer was all I wanted to do". He joined the

Marconi Stallions Marconi Stallions Football Club is an Australian semi-professional association football club based in Fairfield, Sydney, New South Wales. The club has been crowned Australian champion four times. The Stallions are the soccer team of Club Marc ...

in 2004 at the age of 16, after the demise of

Northern Spirit FC North West Sydney Spirit FC is an Australian association football, soccer club based in Macquarie Park, New South Wales, Macquarie Park, Sydney, New South Wales. It was the successor of the defunct Northern Spirit FC, a professional soccer club ...

, whom Djite signed for in 2002–03

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its ...

season. He continued to play with Marconi Stallions until the end of the 2005–06 season (August 2006). He trained at the NSW Institute of Sport in Sydney. Djite completed all of his schooling in Sydney, and then attended

Macquarie University Macquarie University ( ) is a Public university, public research university in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the Sydney metropolitan area. ...

for six months, before being offered an

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

football scholarship An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university or a private high school awarded to an individual based predominantly on their ability to play in a sport. Athletic scholarships are common in the United States and ...

, which took him to

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

for nine months. There, in 2006, he attended the

FFA Centre of Excellence The FFA Centre of Excellence (formerly the Australian Institute of Sport Football Program) was a soccer talent identification and player development program run by Football Federation Australia (FFA) and was based at the Australian Institute of ...

on a

with

Nikita Rukavytsya Nikita Vadymovych Rukavytsya ( ; ; born 22 June 1987) is a retired professional soccer player. Born in Ukraine, he played for the Australia national team. Early and personal life Rukavytsya was born in Mykolayiv, in the then Ukrainian SSR of ...

. He undertook a Bachelor of Business degree as an external student through

Open Universities Australia Open Universities Australia (OUA) is an online higher education organisation based in Australia. The organisation was previously known as the Open Learning Agency of Australia. The chairman is Professor Bruce S. Dowton and the chief executive o ...

, at the Griffith Business School at

Griffith University Griffith University is a public university, public research university in South East Queensland on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of Australia. The university was founded in 1971, but was not officially opened until 1975. Griffith ...

over eight years, starting in 2011. He won Griffith Award for Academic Excellence, for maintaining a

GPA Grading in education is the application of standardized measurements to evaluate different levels of student achievement in a course. Grades can be expressed as letters (usually A to F), as a range (for example, 1 to 6), percentages, or as num ...

of above 6.0.

Club career

Adelaide United

2006–07 season

In November 2006 at age 19 years old, Djite unsuccessfully trialled for two weeks at

SV Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen, Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, Werder are best known for their professional association foo ...

of the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

in Germany. Upon his return to Australia, Djite signed for Adelaide United for the remainder of the 2006–07 A-League season, scoring three goals with an assist in thirteen matches.

2007–08 season

Djite signed a three-year

contract A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typically involves consent to transfer of goods, services, money, or promise to transfer any of thos ...

with Adelaide United in March 2007 and Djite scored his first

goal A goal or objective is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan, and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to ...

for Adelaide United in a competitive fixture on 11 April 2007 in

against South Korea

K-League K League () is South Korea's professional football league. It includes the first division K League 1 and the second division K League 2. Clubs competing in the K League have won a record total of twelve AFC Champions League titles, the top conti ...

champions Seongnam Ilhwa, deftly controlling the ball in the

penalty box The penalty box or sin bin (sometimes called the bad box, or simply bin or box) is the area in ice hockey, rugby union, rugby league, roller derby and some other sports where a player sits to serve the time of a given penalty, for an offence not ...

to volley it into the back of the goal net. Djite scored his first goal in the

A-League A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

for Adelaide United against

Brisbane Roar Brisbane Roar Football Club is a professional soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland. competing in Australia's premier men's competition, A-League Men, which is the top tier Australia's football pyramid. When Queensland Lions F.C. were ...

in a 2–2 draw on 25 August 2007 at

Suncorp Stadium Brisbane Stadium (Lang Park), currently known as Suncorp Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in the suburb of Milton, Queensland, Milton, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Nicknamed The Cauldron, it is a three-tiered rect ...

in 2007–2008 A-League followed by Adelaide United reaching 2008 AFC Champions League final and Djite scoring an increased strike ratio of 10 goals in 22 matches.

Gençlerbirliği

Djite was bought by

business magnate A business magnate, also known as an industrialist or tycoon, is a person who is a powerful entrepreneur and investor who controls, through personal enterprise ownership or a dominant shareholding position, a firm or industry whose goods or ser ...

and Gold Coast United owner

Clive Palmer Clive Frederick Palmer (born 26 March 1954) is an Australian billionaire businessman and politician. He has iron ore, nickel, and coal holdings. Palmer owns many businesses such as Mineralogy, Waratah Coal, Queensland Nickel at Townsville, t ...

from Turkish

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

club Gençlerbirliği to re-play in the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

season, Djite had scored 10 goals and registered three assists in 23 matches for

's Gold Coast United.

2008–09 season

On 15 May 2008, it was reported that Djite had been released from his

with Adelaide United to sign for an unnamed European club. On 21 May 2008, Djite agreed to a three-year

with

club Gençlerbirliği in Turkey for the 2008–09 season. Djite made his debut in the Süper Lig on 24 August 2008 in a 1–1 draw with

Kocaelispor Kocaelispor is a Turkish professional football club based in İzmit, Kocaeli. They were founded in 1966 and played in the top level between 1980 and 1988, 1992–2003, and the 2008–09 seasons. Their best finish was in the 1992–93 season, w ...

. Djite scored his first league goal for Gençlerbirliği in the 45th minute against

Denizlispor Denizlispor is a Turkish sports club based in Denizli. It is known by its distinct green and black colors. The club's branches include football, volleyball, basketball, table tennis, and gymnastics. The Denizli Atatürk Stadium, which has a seati ...

on 25 October 2008. Fellow Australian

James Troisi James Troisi ( ; born 3 July 1988) is a former Australian professional Association football, soccer player who plays as an attacking midfielder or Winger (association football), winger. Early life Troisi was born in Rose Park, South Australia, ...

also got off the mark in a game which ended in a 2–2 draw. Djite consistently displayed his lethal acceleration, footspeed and

strength Strength may refer to: Personal trait *Physical strength, as in people or animals *Character strengths like those listed in the Values in Action Inventory *The exercise of willpower Physics * Mechanical strength, the ability to withstand ...

in the

penalty area The penalty area or 18-yard box (also known less formally as the penalty box or simply box) is an area of an association football pitch. It is rectangular and extends to each side of the goal and in front of it. If any part of the ball is ove ...

and finished 2008–2009

season with 6 goals and two assists in twenty-eight matches played.

2009–10 season

In the 2009–10 Süper Lig

off-season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of S ...

, Djite revealed in an interview with

FourFourTwo ''FourFourTwo'' is an association football magazine published by British company Future. Issued monthly, it published its 300th edition in May 2019. It takes its name from the football formation of the same name, 4–4–2. Future acquired the ...

reporter Ben Somerford, the club

Hajduk Split Hrvatski Nogometni klub Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Split, that competes in the Croatian First League, the top tier in Croatian football. Since 1979, the club's home ...

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

were interested in his services but he rejected the move. Djite appeared on nine occasions on

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

to Turkish club

Diyarbakırspor Diyarbakırspor is a Turkish football club located in the city of Diyarbakır. Formed in 1968, they are nicknamed ''Diyar'' ("Land"). Domestically, Diyarbakırspor have finished runners-up for the 1.Lig (Second Division) in 1976–77, and in ...

and on five occasions for Gençlerbirliği with an assist in 2009–10 Süper Lig.

Gold Coast United

2010–11 season

On 28 August 2010, it was announced by billionaire tycoon

that Djite would return home to Australia to play in the 2010–2011 A-League with Gold Coast United for 3 years, replacing

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

striker

Shane Smeltz Shane Edward Smeltz (born 29 September 1981) is a New Zealand former professional footballer. He plays as a striker. Smeltz had spent much of his early career playing in Australia before moving to England where he played for two and a half se ...

who had joined Gençlerbirliği. Djite was given the

squad number In team sports, the number, often referred to as the uniform number, squad number, jersey number, shirt number, sweater number, or similar (with such naming differences varying by sport and region) is the number worn on a player's uniform, to id ...

11 and Djite would unanimously be key to the success of Gold Coast United's attack utilizing his lightning footspeed,

physical strength Physical strength is the measure of an individual's exertion of force on physical objects. Increasing physical strength is the goal of strength training. Overview An individual's physical strength is determined by two factors: the cross-section ...

and aerial ability in the last third of the

football pitch A football pitch or soccer field is the playing surface for the game of association football. Its dimensions and markings are defined by Law 1 of the Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of the Game, "The Field of Play". The pitch is ty ...

to score 10 goals and 3 assists in 23 matches including a fine

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

in the 37th, 80th and 87th minutes of Gold Coast's 5–1 win and 24th match of the 2010–2011 season at Skilled Park Stadium in Gold Coast against

Newcastle Jets Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from the Australi ...

on 22 January 2011.

Adelaide United return

2011–12 season

On 23 March 2011, it was announced that Djite had signed a two-year

until April 2013 for two

seasons A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

, the 2011–12 and the 2012–13 seasons with the club that gave him his first

contract,

Adelaide United Adelaide United Football Club is a professional men's soccer club located in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club was one of the eight founding members of the A-League Men and have competed in it concurrently since its formation, u ...

.Prodigal son Djite returns to Reds
'' The Advertiser'' Djite was given the

11 and scored his first goal for Adelaide United in the 2011–12 A-League on 19 November 2011 by showing his exceptional footspeed and

in the

before sharply

shooting Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missile ...

past the

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

Tony Warner Anthony Randolph Warner (born 11 May 1974) is a football coach and former professional footballer who is the goalkeeping coach at Wigan Athletic. Warner notably played in the Premier League for Fulham, having also being contracted to Liverpool ...

and into the back of the goal net in the 44th minute of the 1–1 match draw against

Wellington Phoenix Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League Men, under licence from Football Federation Australia. Phoenix entered the competition in the 2007–08 ...

Westpac Stadium Wellington Regional Stadium (commercially known as Sky Stadium through naming rights) is a major sporting venue in Wellington, New Zealand. The stadium's bowl site size is . The stadium was built in 1999 by Fletcher Construction and is situa ...

in New Zealand. Djite's five goals and two assists in twenty-four matches helped Adelaide United in qualifying for the

2012 AFC Champions League The 2012 AFC Champions League was the 31st edition of the top-level Asian club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 10th under the current AFC Champions League title. Ulsan Hyundai from South Korea wo ...

with the fifth and final

being on 12 February 2012 at Skilled Park Stadium in the 42nd minute of Adelaide United's 20th 2011–12 season match and 2–1 win over Gold Coast United.

Loan to Jiangsu Sainty

In March 2011, due to the long 2011–2012 A-League off season, Adelaide United agreed for Djite to be loaned to

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Super League (), commonly known as the Chinese Super League or the CSL (), also known as the China Resources Beverage Chinese Football Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Ch ...

club Jiangsu Sainty. Djite was given squad number 19 and debuted for Jiangsu Sainty in the 2011–2012 Chinese Super League season on 3 April 2011 in the match against

Beijing Guoan Beijing Guoan Football Club (), known in AFC competitions as Beijing FC, is a Chinese professional football club based in Beijing, that competes in . Beijing Guoan plays its home matches at the Workers' Stadium, located within Chaoyang Distr ...

. Djite scored his first goal in the 18th minute of the match, an equaliser for Jiangsu Sainty in a 1–1 draw against

Henan Jianye Henan Football Club (), currently known as Henan F.C. Jiuzu Dukang () for sponsorship reasons, is a Chinese professional football club based in Zhengzhou, Henan, that competes in . Henan plays their home matches at the Hanghai Stadium, located wi ...

on 30 April 2011, followed by the winning goal in the 55th minute of the match in a 1–0 win against

Chengdu Blades Chengdu Tiancheng F.C. () was a Chinese professional football club based in Chengdu, China, who last played in the 26,000 seater Shuangliu Sports Center in the China League One division. The club was founded on 26 February 1996 and was formerly ...

on 18 June 2011. Djite scored 4 goals with an assist in 13 Chinese Super League matches, helping Jiangsu Sainty to 4th place in the league. He scored the fourth goal for Jiangsu Sainty in a 4–0 win against

Dalian Shide Dalian Shide was a professional Chinese football club based in Dalian, Liaoning province, China who played in China's football league system between 1955 and 2012. Their home stadiums were the 55,843 capacity Dalian People's Stadium and then lat ...

on 2 July 2011, and played his 14th and last Chinese Super League match in a 1–0 win against

Shanghai Shenxin Shanghai Shenxin Football Club () was a professional football club that participated in China's football league system between 2003 and 2019 under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team was based in Jinshan District, Shangha ...

on 6 July 2011.

2012–13 season

Djite scored a header in the 90th minute and the 1–0 match winner in the

for Adelaide United against South Korea

club

Pohang Steelers The Pohang Steelers (Hangul: 포항 스틸러스) are a South Korean professional Association football, football club based in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province that compete in the K League 1, the top flight of Football in South Korea, South Ko ...

, heading the ball past goalkeeper

Shin Hwa-Yong Shin Hwa-Yong (; Hanja: 申和容; born 13 April 1983) is a South Korean footballer who plays as a goalkeeper. He previously played for Pohang Steelers from 2004 to 2016. Honours Club ;Pohang Steelers *K League 1: 2007, 2013 *K League 1 runn ...

, The goal helped Adelaide United to top of 2012 AFC Champions League Group E on 4 April 2012 and into the 2012 AFC Champions League Round of 16, where Djite led the Adelaide United attack to defeat

J.League The , commonly a.k.a. shortened to the , and officially known as the for sponsorship with Meiji Yasuda Life, is the men's association football league in Japan. It is responsible for organizing Japan's major professional football tournaments, in ...

club

Nagoya Grampus ; formerly known as is a Japanese association football club that plays in the J1 League, and have for all but one season since the inauguration of the league, following promotion from the J2 League in 2017. Based in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture an ...

1–0 on 29 May 2012, and into 2012 AFC Champions League Quarter-finals on 3 October 2012. On 1 December 2012, Djite scored for Adelaide United to lead 1–0 against reigning A-League champions

Central Coast Mariners Central Coast Mariners Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Gosford, on the Central Coast of New South Wales. It competes in the A-League Men, under licence from the Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The Mar ...

in the 17th minute shot from past the goalkeeper Justin Pasfield and into the left-hand corner of the net at

Central Coast Stadium Central Coast Stadium is a sports venue in Gosford, on the Central Coast, New South Wales, Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia. From the establishment of the first venue at the site in 1915 it was known as Waterside Park, being renam ...

., On 3 February 2013, Djite once again scored for Adelaide United against

Western Sydney Wanderers Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club (colloquially known as Western Sydney, Wanderers, or simply as WSW) is an Australian professional association football club based in the Western Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in t ...

on 61 minutes by

dribbling In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score. As ...

past three Wanderers

defenders Defender(s) or The Defender(s) may refer to: * Defense (military) * Defense (sports) ** Defender (association football) Arts and entertainment Film, television, and theatre Film * ''The Defender'' (1989 film), a Canadian documentary * ''The D ...

and then taking a left-footed shot from past goalkeeper

Ante Čović Ante Covic (born 13 June 1975) is an Australian football manager and former soccer goalkeeper, and is the current manager of Bankstown City (Women) in NSW League One. Covic was a member of the Australian national team at the 2006 FIFA World C ...

and into the right-hand corner of the net., He finished two years and two

playing in Australia for Adelaide United in

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

season with two goals and two assists in 17

2012–13 A-League The 2012–13 A-League was the 36th season of top-flight soccer in Australia, and the eighth season of the Australian A-League since its establishment in 2004. The 2012–13 season saw the introduction of a new Western Sydney-based team, the r ...

appearances, and played 10 times, scoring once with two assists in the

Suwon FC

On 26 July 2016, after showing good form in Adelaide United's championship-winning season, Djite signed with Korean club

Suwon FC Suwon FC (; Hanja: 水原 FC) is a South Korean professional football club based in Suwon, that competes in the K League 1, the South Korea's top professional league. They play their home games at Suwon Stadium. History Early years: semi-profes ...

, joining countryman

Adrian Leijer Adrian Leijer (born 25 March 1986) is an Australian footballer who plays as a centre back. Leijer played on one occasion for Australia and made over 100 appearances for Melbourne Victory in the A-League. Club career Early years Leijer was born ...

PSM Makassar

In mid-2018, Djite moved to Indonesia, aged 31, and played for

PSM Makassar Persatuan Sepakbola Makassar ( 'Football Association of Makassar') commonly referred to as PSM Makassar, is an Indonesian professional football club based in Makassar, South Sulawesi that competes in Liga 1. PSM was founded in 1915 as , ma ...

International career

Djite is an

American Australian American Australians are Australian citizens who are of American descent, including immigrants and residents who are descended from migrants from the United States of America and its territories. This includes people of European, African Amer ...

and chose to play for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, although he would also have been eligible for the

Ivory Coast national football team The Ivory Coast national football team ( French: ''Équipe de football de Côte d'Ivoire'', recognized as the Côte d'Ivoire by FIFA) represents Ivory Coast in men's international football. Nicknamed ''the Elephants'', the team is managed by t ...

, United States national football team and

Togo national football team The Togo national football team (French language, French: ''Équipe nationale de football du Togo'') represents Togo in international Association football, football and is controlled by the Togolese Football Federation. The national football tea ...

Australia U20 national team

Djite was a star striker for the

Young Socceroos The Australia national under-20 soccer team, known colloquially as the Young Socceroos, represents Australia in international under-20 Association football, soccer. The team is controlled by the governing body for soccer in Australia, Football ...

during their 2006 tournament in South America scoring five goals in thirteen

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

and was also chosen in the Australia Under-20 squad to compete at the 2006

AFC Youth Championship The AFC U-20 Asian Cup, formerly known as the AFC Youth Championship and AFC U-19 Championship, is a biennial international association football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the men's under-20 national teams ...

s, in India.Arnie: Burns, Djite 'Too Young'
. au.fourfourtwo.com.

Australia Olympic team

Djite was the key striker and a mainstay in the Australia Olympic football team qualification matches for the 2008 Olympics and helped the Australia Olympic football team, the

Olyroos The Australia national under-23 soccer team represents Australia in international under-23 soccer and at the Olympic Games. The team is controlled by the governing body for soccer in Australia, Football Australia (FA), which is currently a member ...

squad, to qualify for the Beijing Olympics contributing thirteen

and scoring two goals.

Australia national team

Three days before his 21st birthday, on 22 March 2008, Djite received his first international

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

for the Australia national team, the Socceroos, against

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

, courtesy of national coach

Pim Verbeek Peter Tim Dirk "Pim" Verbeek (12 March 1956 – 28 November 2019) was a Dutch football manager who last coached the Oman national football team. Playing career As a player, Verbeek was a defender or a midfielder and spent his entire career at S ...

, as the replacement for, and

heir apparent An heir apparent is a person who is first in the order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person. A person who is first in the current order of succession but could be displaced by the birth of a more e ...

Mark Viduka Mark Antony Viduka ( ; born 9 October 1975) is an Australian former Association football, football player who played as a centre forward. Viduka captained the Australia men's national soccer team, Australia national team at the 2006 FIFA World Cup ...

for the

Australia national football team Australia national soccer team most commonly refers to: * Australia men's national soccer team * Australia women's national soccer team Australia national soccer team may also refer to: * Australia men's national soccer B team * Australia men's nat ...

. Djite was

substituted Substitution may refer to: Arts and media *Substitution (poetry), a variation in poetic scansion *Substitution (theatre), an acting methodology Music *Chord substitution, swapping one chord for a related one within a chord progression *Tritone ...

on at half-time and his best chance to score a

for Australia came when he rounded the Singapore

but his

shot Shot may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Shot'' (album), by The Jesus Lizard *''Shot, Illusion, New God'', an EP by Gruntruck *'' Shot Rev 2.0'', a video album by The Sisters of Mercy * "Shot" (song), by The Rasmus * ''Shot'' (2017 ...

in the

was blocked by

Lionel Lewis Lionel Lewis (born 16 December 1982) is a Singaporean former footballer who last played for Singapore national football team as a goalkeeper. He played for Home United from 2004 to 2012, having played for Geylang United and the Young Lions in ...

, the

ball A ball is a round object (usually spherical, but sometimes ovoid) with several uses. It is used in ball games, where the play of the game follows the state of the ball as it is hit, kicked or thrown by players. Balls can also be used for s ...

going out for a

corner kick A corner kick, commonly known as a corner, is the method of restarting play in a game of association football when the ball goes out of play over the goal line, without a goal being scored and having last been touched by a member of the defe ...

. Djite's first

for Australia in a competitive match was when he came on as a substitute for

Harry Kewell Harry Kewell (born 22 September 1978) is an Australian soccer coach, manager and former player. He was most recently the manager of Yokohama F. Marinos in the J1 League. As a player, Kewell represented Leeds United F.C., Leeds United, Liverpool ...

in Australia's

2010 World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

Qualifier against

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

on 1 June 2008. Djite then again appeared in the Socceroos next match on 15 June 2008 against

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

, coming on as a Super-sub for the

Qualifier in

Doha Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...

, Qatar. He earned nine international caps.

Playing style

As a player, Djite was known for his

speed In kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude of the change of its position over time or the magnitude of the change of its position per unit of time; it is thus a non-negative scalar quantity. Intro ...

and good height with ball heading skills and played in Turkey for professional

football team A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-st ...

Gençlerbirliği S.K. Gençlerbirliği Spor Kulübü (pronounced ), commonly known as Gençlerbirliği, is a Turkish sports club based in Ankara. Formed in 1923, Gençlerbirliği are nicknamed ''Ankara Rüzgârı'' (The Wind of Ankara) or simply ''Gençler'' (The Yo ...

of the

. Djité was a quick bustling left forward or striker with great footspeed and acceleration who

kicks A kick is a physical strike using the leg, in unison usually with an area of the knee or lower using the foot, heel, tibia (shin), ball of the foot, blade of the foot, toes or knee (the latter is also known as a knee strike). This type of a ...

and shoots the

well with either foot. He used his extreme physical strength and footspeed to out-run defenders in an A-League 2007–08 season, where he was crowned and awarded with the Rising Star Award, after scoring 10 goals in his first full

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

and then followed by registering six goals and two assists in his first

2008–09 season in Turkey. In 2011, Djité was among the top-goalscorers in the league, registering 10 goals and three assists in twenty-three matches.

Other and later roles

Djite was a member of the

Professional Footballers Australia The Professional Footballers Australia (PFA), formerly the Australian Soccer Players' Association, is an Australian trade union affiliated with the Australian Council of Trade Unions and FIFPRO that represents Professional sports, professional ...

Board between 2012 (then aged just 25) and 2016, and became involved in negotiating the whole-of-football

collective bargaining agreement A collective agreement, collective labour agreement (CLA) or collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is a written contract negotiated through collective bargaining for employees by one or more trade unions with the management of a company (or with an ...

. During this time he also created an

investment portfolio In finance, a portfolio is a collection of investments. Definition The term "portfolio" refers to any combination of financial assets such as stocks, bonds and cash. Portfolios may be held by individual investors or managed by financial profess ...

for himself, and worked as a commentator for

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The name originates from Fox Broadcasting Company in the United States, which in turn derives its name from Fox Fi ...

. In 2016, he worked part-time at PKF, an accounting firm in Adelaide, while playing for the Reds. Djite was an ambassador for All Together Now, Australia's only national charity with the sole focus of erasing racism, for some time before 2019. he was an ambassador for Little Heroes Foundation, a South Australian charity that supports seriously ill children and their families, and

Roger Rasheed Roger Rasheed (born 10 March 1969) is an Australian former Australian rules football player, tennis player, tennis coach and tennis commentator with the Seven Network. Rasheed is best known as the coach of Australian former world No. 1 and maj ...

's Sports Foundation. On 3 June 2019, Djite returned to his former club,

side

Adelaide United FC Adelaide United Football Club is a professional men's Association football, soccer club located in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club was one of the eight founding members of the A-League Men and have competed in it concurrently ...

taking up the role of director of football. In the first six months in this role, the club won the

FFA Cup The Australia Cup (currently known as the Hahn Australia Cup for sponsorship reasons) is the national soccer knockout cup competition in Australia. This annual competition is organised by Football Australia (known as Football Federation Austra ...

and began their A-League campaign well. Djite signed two young newcomers,

Al Hassan Toure Al Hassan Toure (born 30 May 2000) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for USL Championship club FC Tulsa. Born a Liberian refugee in Guinea, he has represented Australia at youth level. Toure is eligible to represent Austral ...

and

Louis D'Arrigo Louis Joseph D'Arrigo (born 23 September 2001) is an Australian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Australian club Melbourne Victory. Club career Adelaide United D'Arrigo made his professional debut in a Round 21 cla ...

. He left the role in July 2021 to become the CEO of the

Committee for Adelaide The Committee for Adelaide is a non-partisan membership-based organisation providing an independent voice for the state of South Australia. It is committed to its namesake, Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia. History Established in ...

. On 30 November 2022, Djite was appointed as South Australian executive director of the

. He remains in the role .

Personal life

Djite is a

multilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...

, speaking French, English and Turkish. He married, and had two children under five as of 2019.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Adelaide United

* A-League Pre-Season Challenge Cup:

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

* FFA Cup: 2014 *

Premiership: 2015–16 * A-League Championship: 2015–16

Individual

A-League Young Footballer of the Year The A-League Men Young Footballer of the Year is an annual association football award given to the player aged 23 or under at the start of the season who has been judged to have had the best season of any young player in the A-League Men. It is ...

: 2007–08 * Rising Star Award: 2007–08 * Best Team Man Award: 2012–13

References

External links

* * * * *
FFA – Socceroo profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Djite, Bruce 1987 births Living people Soccer players from Washington, D.C. Australian men's soccer players Australian expatriate men's soccer players Men's association football forwards Adelaide United FC players A-League Men players American emigrants to Australia Australian people of Ivorian descent Sportspeople of Ivorian descent Australian people of Togolese descent Sportspeople of Togolese descent American people of Ivorian descent American people of Togolese descent Australia men's international soccer players Gençlerbirliği S.K. footballers Süper Lig players Chinese Super League players Jiangsu F.C. players Suwon FC players K League 1 players PSM Makassar players Liga 1 (Indonesia) players Australian Institute of Sport soccer players New South Wales Institute of Sport alumni Gold Coast United FC players Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in China Expatriate men's footballers in South Korea Expatriate men's footballers in Indonesia Australian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Australian expatriate sportspeople in China Australian expatriate sportspeople in South Korea Australian expatriate sportspeople in Indonesia Griffith University alumni 21st-century Australian sportsmen