Raoul Diagne

1930/40 RC Paris (FRA) 210 matches, 7 goals

(French Championship: 175 matches, 7 goals)

(French Cup: 35 matches)

1940/44 Toulouse (FRA)

1942/45 FC Annecy (FRA)

1945/47 International Nice (FRA)

1947/49 US Gorée (SEN)

With the National Team :

18 caps

(Friendly matches: 16 caps)

(World Cup: 2 caps)

1st cap: February 15, 1931 against Czechoslovakia (1-2)

Last cap: January 28, 1940 against Portugal (3-2)

Raoul Diagne

Born on November 10, 1910 in Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni (GUF)

Died on November 12, 2002 in Créteil (FRA)

French, Center-Back, Goalkeeper, Right-Back, Defensive Midfielder, Right-Winger, 1m87

Nickname: The Black Spider

Raoul Diagne was born on November 10, 1910 in Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni in Guyana, son of a Senegalese father and a Guyanese mother, he comes from a wealthy family, his father being Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies. It was when he was 18 months old that he joined the French metropolis with his parents before his father became the first African deputy in history to sit in the French National Assembly in 1914.

And it was at the age of 13 that the young boy discovered the joys of football in his high school, that of Janson-de-Sailly. Despite very good academic results and the pressure from his father to continue his studies, it was football that would win the boy's heart. And at 16, he signed with Racing Club de Paris.

Very tall and physical, he dominated the aerial game from the height of his 1.87 meters. And the one who considered himself above all as a center-back experienced a period of glory towards the end of the 30s, he won 3 French cups in 1936, 1939 and 1940 with RC Paris of which he was the leading figure.

A party animal, Raoul Diagne lived the Parisian life to the full, a smoker, he was used to Parisian nights and parties in Montmartre. He chained evenings in cabarets and it is said that he walked a cheetah on a leash, yes yes, a cheetah. This cheetah was supposedly given to his father during a trip to Senegal and was called "Rosso", the player had to part with it when he grew up, but he did not deny having walked him on a leash in the Parisian parks.

Very complete, he could play in any position, center-back, right-back, defensive midfielder, attacking midfielder, right winger, or even goalkeeper. But where he excelled was in a very offensive right-back position, he liked to project himself on his right corridor and take his opponents by his speed.

Raoul Diagne made his mark during a championship match in 1931, the club's goalkeeper André Tassin was injured and it was then Diagne who replaced him in goal, he proved to be an excellent goalkeeper, he then became the club's goalkeeper for 4 months while waiting for Tassin to return. But the crazy thing was that Diagne was ultimately better than Tassin... Diagne was voted best goalkeeper of the different clubs in the city of Paris, and he even played an international Paris-Budapest match in this position.

In 1936, he found this goalkeeper position again and achieved a double French Cup-Championship. He occupied this position for half the season because of disagreements between the club's management and the starting goalkeeper: Rudi Hiden, who wanted a pay rise, without which, he would no longer play for the club.

Raoul Diagne left RC Paris for Toulouse FC during the Second World War. Subsequently, he played for three small French clubs before retiring in 1949 at the age of 39.

His career with the French national team is historic. Since he became the first black player to play for a European national team on February 14, 1931. In a context and an era plagued by racism, he silenced the critics by establishing himself as one of the best French players of his time.

However, he was not selected for the 1934 World Cup, but joined the French team for the 1938 edition. The one nicknamed "The Black Spider" played in both of France's matches where they lost in the quarter-finals to the Italians 3-1. Establishing himself as one of the first French football legends, he wore the France jersey 18 times.

- Best goalkeeper of the clubs of the city of Paris in 1936

- 1st black player to be selected in a European national team

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