Ibrahim Ba

Ibrahim Ba (born January 12, 1973 in Dato) is a French professional football player of Senegalese descent. He currently plays for A.C. Milan.
He usually plays as a right midfielder. Ba was born in Senegal but his family moved to France when he was a child. He always kept his dual nationality, though he elected to play for the France national football team.

Biography

Early career
He started his career with Le Havre AC in 1991, and was transferred to Girondins de Bordeaux in 1996. He reached the final of Coupe de la Ligue with Bordeaux, and made his French national team debut in February 1997.

A.C. Milan

He was sold to Italian club AC Milan after just one season at Bordeaux, making a dream come true for him. His first season in Milan was to become his best; he played 31 matches and scored one goal. His most memorable moment for the French national team came in the June 1997 friendly match with Brazil in Paris. He took a free kick 35 meters from goal, and his swerving shot forced Brazilian goalkeeper Claudio Taffarel to drop the ball in front of French striker Marc Keller, who went on to score.

Ba was seen as a great talent, but never quite lived up to his promise. To his great dismay, he was left out of France's 1998 FIFA World Cup squad, when France became World Champions on home soil. That might be seen as the beginning of his downfall. Over the subsequent years, Ba did not play much for Milan and went on loan to Italian team AC Perugia in 1999-2000 season, where he broke a leg and had to miss four matches since he had hit an opponent with his head. He underwent another loan deal back in France with Olympique de Marseille in 2001.

Late years

In 2003, he finally left Milan and joined Bolton Wanderers in England.

He failed to make an impression at Bolton, and moved on to Turkey after just one season, joining Çaykur Rizespor for one year deal on 24 August 2004.

In 6 February 2005, he was surprisingly signed by Djurgårdens IF for two years contract and Ba moved to Sweden. He was a spectacular signing for Djurgården, and caused much interest in Sweden. It was thought that a less prestigious league might bring back Ba's old ability. Djurgården won the league in his first season, but Ba failed to impress fans and commentators and spent a lot of time on the bench. In early 2006, it was decided that his contract would be terminated and he subsequently left Djurgården in January 2006.

He then returned to Italy to train with Serie C2 team Varese in the second half of the 2006-07 season.

In June 2007, after having travelled to Athens together with the AC Milan squad to attend the UEFA Champions League final they won against Liverpool, Ibrahim Ba agreed a one-year contract with AC Milan.

Honours

* 1999 Italian League with AC Milan
* 2003 Coppa Italia with AC Milan
* 2003 UEFA Champions League with AC Milan
* 2005 Swedish League with Djurgårdens IF
* 2005 Swedish Cup with Djurgårdens IF