Papa Waigo N'Diaye (born 20 January 1984), often simplified as Papa Waigo, 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 former professional footballer who played as a striker.

Club career

Early career

Born in Saint-Louis, Senegal, Waigo began his career at Verona on 3 June 2002, before heading to

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...

outfit Cesena in 2005. After a successful spell where he was the highest-scoring non-Italian in the 2006–07 season he was signed by Genoa on 9 July 2007 for €5 million (cash plus Salvatore Aurelio valued at €500,000 and Dario Biasi at €100,000), signing a five-year contract.

Fiorentina

On 19 January 2008, Waigo joined Fiorentina in a swap deal for Belgian defender Anthony Vanden Borre, with the two clubs co-owning both players' rights. Both Vanden Borre and Papa Waigo's 50% registration right was valued €2.1 million. He made his Serie A debut on 26 August 2007, Genoa 0–3 lost to

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

. He began his Fiorentina career in impressive style, with two goals in his first three games, including one in the 3–2 away victory against giants Juventus on 2 March.

Loan spells

On 27 January 2009, Waigo signed for

side Lecce on loan until the end of the season. While on loan he played six games but failed to score for the club. On 2 September 2009, Waigo signed a season long loan with Football League One side,

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

. The season long loan carried with it an option for Southampton to purchase the player which was not taken up. He made his debut on 13 September 2009 in a 1–1 draw at Charlton Athletic, replacing Adam Lallana in the 90th minute. He scored his first goal for the club on 3 October 2009 in a 4–1 home win over Gillingham. He celebrated with his trademark 'Waigo Dance', involving him stepping ungainly thrice, before tapping his neck twice. He followed this up by scoring twice against

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the National League South, the sixth level of the English football league system. They have played their ho ...

, as the Saints came from 2–0 down at half time to draw 2–2 and then win on penalties (with Waigo converting his) in the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...

. Waigo also scored twice in the Area Semi-final against Norwich City, which took the game to penalties. Waigo also took a penalty which he scored. He also scored in the Football League Trophy final which took place at Wembley Stadium. He was able to lift up the trophy as Southampton won it 4–1. He finished that competition top goalscorer with five goals. On 4 January 2011, Waigo moved on loan to Grosseto.

Ascoli Calcio

On his return from the latest loan spell, on 10 August 2011, he was transferred to Serie B side Ascoli on a free transfer.

Al Wahda

On 25 June 2012, Waigo moved to the UAE, to sign for Al-Wahda on a two-year deal.

International career

Waigo plays international football for North-West African nation

and was part of the Senegalese squad for the 2008 African Cup of Nations in Ghana. He played four matches (out of possible six) at 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification.

Honours

Southampton *

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

References

External links

* *
Sky Sports Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Waigo, Papa 1984 births Living people Footballers from Saint-Louis, Senegal Senegalese men's footballers Senegal men's international footballers Senegalese expatriate men's footballers 2008 Africa Cup of Nations players Hellas Verona FC players AC Cesena players Genoa CFC players ACF Fiorentina players US Lecce players Southampton F.C. players US Grosseto 1912 players Ascoli Calcio 1898 FC players Al Wahda FC players Al-Ettifaq FC players Al Raed FC players Kalba FC players Al Orooba Club players Al Dhaid SC players Masafi Club players Men's association football forwards Senegalese expatriate sportspeople in England Serie A players Serie B players Serie D players English Football League players Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in the United Arab Emirates Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia Senegalese expatriate sportspeople in Italy Senegalese expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia UAE First Division League players UAE Pro League players Saudi Pro League players 21st-century Senegalese sportsmen