Elimane Coulibaly (born 15 March 1980 in

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...

) is a

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

ese retired professional footballer who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

and current manager of KRC Gent.

Club career

First years

Having emigrated from Senegal to Belgium, Coulibaly first started playing football in the local teams of KFC Oostakker and KVK Ninove. At the start of the 2005–06 season, Coulibaly left KVK Ninove for KMSK Deinze, which played in the Second Division, where he scored 15 times in 36 games over two seasons.

KV Kortrijk

At the end of the 2005–06 season, Coulibaly joined the West-Flemish fellow Second Division team

KV Kortrijk Koninklijke Voetbalclub Kortrijk (often simply called KV Kortrijk or KVK) is a Belgian professional football club based in Kortrijk, West Flanders. They play in the Belgian First Division, and they achieved their best ranking ever during the 20 ...

on a two-year contract. In his first season, he managed five goals in 27 games while his club was promoted to the

Belgian Pro League The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023 ...

. The season 2008–2009 became the breakthrough of Coulibaly: thanks to his 11 goals, Kortrijk managed to avoid relegation from the Pro League.

AA Gent

In summer 2009, Coulibaly signed a three-year contract with AA Gent. Following a slow start to the 2009–2010 season with few appearances he got his first goal versus

Mechelen Mechelen (; ; historically known as ''Mechlin'' in EnglishMechelen has been known in English as ''Mechlin'', from where the adjective ''Mechlinian'' is derived. This name may still be used, especially in a traditional or historical context. T ...

before going on to score 11 goals for the season and thus greatly contributing to AA Gent's vice-championship. Coulibaly also scored the first goal in the cup final as his club beat Cercle Brugge to win the 2009–10 Belgian Cup. Coulibaly's second season in Ghent was less spectacular than his first. He scored AA Gent's first ever goal in Champions League qualification as his team lost 6–1 on aggregate to

Dynamo Kyiv The Football Club 'Dynamo Kyiv', also known as Dynamo Kyiv, or simply Dynamo, ( ) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Kyiv. Founded in 1927 as a Kyivan football team of republican branch of the bigger Soviet Dynamo Sports Society ...

in the

third qualifying round Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (dis ...

for the 2010–2011 Champions League and helped AA Gent make the group phase of the Europa League by scoring in their return leg against

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...

in the

playoff round The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

, but later lost his place in the starting lineup to new arrival Shlomi Arbeitman.

Beerschot AC

Having been released by Gent Coulibaly joined

Beerschot A.C. Koninklijke Beerschot Antwerpen Club (), simply known as Beerschot AC, was a Belgian football club based in southern Antwerp. Beerschot played in the Belgian Pro League from 1999–2000 (as Germinal Beerschot) until 2012–13, when they were ...

in July 2012. However, on 24 October 2012, he was released by the club for aggressive behavior towards his teammate Hernán Losada. Coulibaly clashed with Losada after their team's 3–0 defeat by KRC Genk on 20 October 2012.

Return to AA Gent

Free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

Coulibaly was signed by Gent in December 2012.

Coaching career

After hanging up his boots, Coulibaly began his coaching career, starting as an attack coach at

KAA Gent Koninklijke Atletiek Associatie Gent (; English: ''Royal Athletic Association Ghent''), often simply known as Gent or by their nickname ' (), is a Belgian professional sports club, based in the city of Ghent, East Flanders. Their football tea ...

with the club's U23/Jong team and later, from the 2020-21 season, as assistant coach. Ahead of the 2023-24 season, Coulibaly was appointed manager of K.R.C. Gent.STAMNUMMERS 7 EN 11 SLAAN NOG MEER DE HANDEN IN ELKAAR
kaagent.be, 7 June 2023

Honours

; K.A.A. Gent *

Belgian Cup The Belgian Cup (; ; ) is the main knockout football competition in Belgium, run by the Royal Belgian FA. The competition started in 1908 with provincial selections as the "Belgian Provinces Cup". Starting from 1912 only actual clubs were allowed ...

(1): 2009–10

References

External links

Guardian's Stats Centre
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Coulibaly, Elimane 1980 births Living people Footballers from Dakar Senegalese men's footballers Senegalese expatriate men's footballers Belgian men's footballers Belgian Pro League players Challenger Pro League players K.V. Kortrijk players K.A.A. Gent players Beerschot A.C. players K.M.S.K. Deinze players K.V. Oostende players Royal Excel Mouscron players Men's association football forwards Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Senegalese expatriate sportspeople in Belgium K.V.K. Ninove players Senegalese football managers 21st-century Belgian sportsmen 21st-century Senegalese sportsmen