Constant Djakpa


Tohouri Zahoui Constant Djakpa is an Ivorian former professional footballer who played as a left back.

Club career

Djakpa was born on 17 October 1986 in Abidjan, Ivory Coast and began playing football in 2005 at Stella Club d'Adjamé. In 2006, he moved to Europe to play for Norwegian second league side, Sogndal.
In 2007, Djakpa joined Romanian side Pandurii Târgu Jiu which paid €75,000 for his transfer. He made his Liga I debut under coach Eugen Neagoe on 29 July in a 1–1 draw against Universitatea Cluj, opening the score with a free kick. On 15 December he scored in a 3–1 away loss to Oțelul Galați, but also received a red card. On 26 April 2008, Djakpa made his last Liga I appearance in Pandurii's 1–0 loss against FC Vaslui in which he was sent off in the 62nd minute.
In June 2008, Djakpa was transferred from Pandurii to German side, Bayer Leverkusen which paid €1.1 million. He made his Bundesliga debut on 16 August when coach Bruno Labbadia used him as a starter in a 3–2 home loss to Borussia Dortmund. One year later he was loaned by Leverkusen to fellow Bundesliga club, Hannover 96 for two seasons. For the 2011–12 season, Djakpa went to play for 2. Bundesliga side, Eintracht Frankfurt whom he helped gain promotion to the first league. In the 2013–14 Europa League campaign, Djakpa appeared in four games for Eintracht, scoring two free-kick goals in their group stage victories against Bordeaux and APOEL. On 14 May 2016, Djakpa made his last Bundesliga appearance, playing for Eintracht in a 1–0 away loss to Werder Bremen, having a total of 92 matches in the competition.
In January 2017 he returned to 2. Bundesliga at 1. FC Nürnberg for a six-month spell. On 12 September 2018, Djakpa joined Regionalliga Südwest side Hessen Dreieich. Djakpa ended his career in 2022, after playing in the French lower leagues for AS Poissy and AS Chatou.

International career

Djakpa played for the Ivory Coast Olympic team and for the country's under-21 side. He represented the latter during the 2008 Toulon Tournament, scoring two goals, one from a penalty in a 1–0 win over the United States and the other in a loss to Chile.
Djakpa played eight games for Ivory Coast, making his debut on 21 November 2007 when coach Uli Stielike sent him to replace Bakari Koné in a friendly which ended with a 6–1 away win over Qatar. He was selected by coach Gérard Gili to be part of the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations squad, but did not play a single game there. Djakpa represented Ivory Coast in the 2014 World Cup, coach Sabri Lamouchi sending him in 74th minute to replace Arthur Boka in a 2–1 group stage victory against Japan from the group stage.
Djakpa's last two appearances for the national team took place during the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, both against Sudan, resulting in a victory and a draw.