Cheick Ismaël Tioté (; 21 June 1986 – 5 June 2017) was an Ivorian professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. After playing youth football for FC Bibo in his hometown of Yamoussoukro, he made his professional debut in 2005 with Belgian First Division A club Anderlecht. In 2008, following a loan at Roda JC, he joined Eredivisie club FC Twente, winning the title in his second season. In August 2010, he signed for Premier League club Newcastle United in England for a fee of £3.5 million. Tioté played 156 games for Newcastle over six-and-a-half seasons, scoring one goal. In February 2017, he joined China League One club Beijing Enterprises Group. He died of cardiac arrest in June 2017, during a training session, aged 30. Tioté played 55 times for the Ivory Coast national football team from 2009 to 2015, scoring once. He represented the country at two FIFA World Cups and four Africa Cup of Nations, winning the 2015 edition of the latter. Early life Born in Yamoussoukro, Tioté started out playing barefoot street football at the age of 10, not owning a pair of boots until he was 15. He played youth football for Ivorian minor league side FC Bibo. In an interview with the Evening Chronicle, Tioté said he had nine brothers and sisters. Growing up in Abidjan, he gave up his studies at a young age. He stated that "football has always been the biggest thing to me ... I knew what I wanted to do and made sure that this was going to be my life. But I worked and worked and worked for it and it is because of that hard work that I have managed to make it." Club career Anderlecht In 2005, he was scouted by Belgian club Anderlecht and signed a three-year contract with the club. After spending months at the club's reserve, he made his debut for Anderlecht in a Belgian Cup match which they lost to Geel after Tioté missed his penalty. The following month, Tioté made his UEFA Champions League debut, where he made his first start in Matchday 6 Group Stage, in a 1–0 loss against Real Betis. It was not until 18 March 2006 that he made his league debut for the club, coming on as a late substitute, in a 4–0 win over Beveren. After making another league appearance, Tioté went on to make