ASEC Mimosas

ASEC Mimosas
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Full name	Amicale Sportive des Employés; de Commerce Mimosas
Nickname(s)	Mimosas
Founded	1948
Ground	Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny; Abidjan
Capacity	50,000
Manager	Patrick Liewig
League	Côte d'Ivoire Premier Division
1ère Division 2006	1st
Home colours	Away colours

The Académie Sportive des Employés de Commerce (ASEC) Mimosas is an Ivorian football club. The club was founded in 1948 by eight businessmen from Abidjan. As well as being known as ASEC Mimosas, they are also referred to by the names ASEC Mimosas Abidjan and ASEC Abidjan, especially in international club competitions.

Academy

ASEC has a youth academy that has been described as the crown jewel of African football. The academy was started by Jean-Marc Guillou in 1993 at ASEC's training complex. The student-athletes are given an education, for which they take classes in math, history, geography, physics, French, English, and Spanish. The students live in dorms during the week and have two training sessions a day. They play matches on Saturday and get health care and tutoring.

The list of alumni of the ASEC Academy is impressive. It includes: Kolo Touré, Aruna Dindane, Salomon Kalou, Didier Zokora, Yaya Touré, Emmanuel Eboué, and Gilles Yapi. ASEC provided the backbone of the national team for many years, including key members of the side that won the 1992 African Nations Cup such as Abdoulaye Traoré and Donald-Olivier Sié.

ASEC sends many of its graduates to play for K.S.K. Beveren in the Belgian Jupiler League. Once at Beveren, the Ivorians showcase their talents and move on to bigger clubs in Europe. Guillou has since left ASEC to become the Sporting Director at Beveren. ASEC linked up with Charlton Athletic on 1 May 2006, meaning Charlton may benefit from ASEC academy in future. See here for details

Current squad 2006/07

The numbers are established according to the official website:

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	BFA	Mohamed Kaboré
3	DF	CIV	Serge Pascal Wawa
4	DF	CIV	Kevin Gnabouyou Dapé
5	DF	CIV	Moussa Ouattara
6	DF	CIV	Gaman Bernard Bi Youan
7	MF	CIV	Ali Diarra
8	MF	CIV	Gildas Labi Kassiaty
10	MF	CIV	Emmanuel Koné Kouamatien
11	DF	CIV	Vincent de Paul Alli N'Dri
12	DF	CIV	Akès Gooré Dacosta
13	MF	CIV	Arthur Kocou
14	MF	CIV	Désiré Kouamé
15	FW	CIV	Roméo Konan Koffi
16	GK	CIV	Bernard Kouakou


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
17	MF	CIV	Pacôme Kouadio Kouassi
18	FW	NGA	Mutiu Adegoke
19	FW	GHA	Abdul Nafiu Idrissu
20	FW	CIV	Abraham Couby
21	GK	CIV	Vincent de Paul Angban
22	MF	CIV	Martial Yao Kouassi
23	FW	CIV	Serges Déblé
24	MF	CIV	Antoine N'Gossan
25	MF	CIV	Irénée Kouakou N'Doua
26	FW	CIV	Kabran Stevens Koffi Foba
27	DF	CIV	Ahmed Herve Diomandé
29	FW	CIV	Marc Dion Sedé
30	GK	CIV	Clovis Tahourou