Djibril Cissé (; born 12 August 1981) is a French former professional footballer who played as a forward. He started his career at AC Arles in 1989, at the age of eight. After seven years at the club, he had a six-month spell at Nîmes Olympique, before moving to AJ Auxerre, joining the club's youth system. Cissé spent two years in the system, before graduating to the first team in 1998. After playing for Auxerre for six seasons, scoring 90 goals in 166 appearances, he moved to Premier League club Liverpool in 2004. During his time at Anfield, Cissé played 79 games, scoring 24 times and winning the 2004–05 UEFA Champions League and 2005–06 FA Cup. He went on to play in Greece with Panathinaikos, Italy with S.S. Lazio, Qatar with Al-Gharafa and Russia with Kuban Krasnodar. He also had further spells in English football with Sunderland and Queens Park Rangers, and France with Olympique de Marseille and SC Bastia. In 2015, Cissé made one appearance for Réunion based club JS Saint-Pierroise, before retiring from professional football. In the course of his career, Cissé suffered from two leg breaks, breaking his left leg in 2004, and his right leg in 2006. Cissé represented the France national football team at the 2002 and 2010 FIFA World Cups and was also part of ''les Bleus 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup winning squad. Club career Auxerre After starting his career with Nîmes Olympique, Cissé signed for AJ Auxerre at the age of 15. Playing for the youth team in 1999, Cissé won the Coupe Gambardella, the equivalent of the FA Youth Cup. After being promoted to the first team squad by coach Guy Roux, Cissé made his Ligue 1 debut at the age of 17 as a substitute against Paris Saint-Germain on 20 March 1999. His first goal came at the start of the 2000–01 season in a 2–1 defeat of FC Metz. He ended this season, his first as a regular in the first team, with eight goals from 25 games. In the 2001–02 season, Cissé was the top scorer in Ligue 1 with 22 goals from 29 matches, as Auxerre finished in third place and qualified for the 2002–03 UEFA Champions League. Cissé's form saw him make his debut for the France national team and earn a place in the team's squad for the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Cissé was again amongst