Salomon Kalou

Salomon Kalou
Personal information
Full name	Salomon Kalou
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Position(s)	Wing Forward
Team information
Current team	Chelsea
Number	21
	‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 10:46, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

Salomon Kalou (born August 5 1985 in Oumé, Côte d'Ivoire) is an Ivorian football player, who currently plays for Chelsea and formerly for the Dutch club Feyenoord.

He is a forward, but he is also capable of playing on the wing. He has a preference for playing on the left wing as this gives him opportunities to cut inside and take shots with his favoured right foot.

Career in the Netherlands

AJ Auxerre coach Guy Roux wanted to sign him to unite him with his brother, and former Feyenoord Rotterdam player, Bonaventure Kalou. However, Kalou signed for Excelsior Rotterdam, Feyenoord Rotterdam's 'satellite club' Kalou scored 15 goals in 11 appearances for Excelsior in 2002–2003. He was 'promoted' to Feyenoord and played in the Dutch top flight for three seasons from 2003 to 2006. During his time at Feyenoord he scored 35 goals in 67 league appearances, and in 2005 he won the Johan Cruyff Award for young talent playing in the Netherlands.

Failure to acquire Dutch citizenship

Kalou received much media attention regarding his possible naturalization as a Dutch citizen which, if granted, would allow him to play for the Netherlands national football team. Having never played for the Côte d'Ivoire team, he would be eligible for the Dutch team if he was naturalized. His brother Bonaventure had advised him to pursue foreign citizenship after experiencing regular problems with the Côte d'Ivoire football authorities.

The Dutch national team head coach, Marco van Basten, regards Kalou as a great talent, so an official application was quickly made. However the Minister of Immigration Rita Verdonk was opposed to considering Kalou for an accelerated naturalization process.

Van Basten, keen to show Kalou's worth to the Dutch team, obtained support from influential football figures, including the legendary Johan Cruijff. Despite general agreement among football pundits that Kalou would be valuable for the Dutch team, Verdonk rejected a request for reconsideration.

Kalou appealed the decision and took the matter to a court of law, gaining a victory on December 9 2005 when the judge ordered Verdonk to reconsider whether or not Kalou could be considered for accelerated naturalization. Verdonk has decided to appeal, placing the matter before the Council of State. Kalou has since then publicly stated he has given up hope of ever attaining the Dutch nationality.

For the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the Netherlands and Côte d'Ivoire were allocated to the same group in the first round. If Kalou had become a Dutch citizen and was selected for the Netherlands, he could have played against his native country and possibly against his own brother.

Kalou's failure to acquire Dutch citizenship was a factor in his decision to leave Feyenoord for Chelsea.

He has been named in the Côte d'Ivoire national squad on a number of occasions, However he rejected all call ups until February 6 2007 when he finally made his Côte d'Ivoire debut in the friendly against Guinea, where the Elephants ran out 1–0 winners. He also features in the Elephant's African Cup of Nations and scored a terrific goal to stun co-favourites Nigeria in the opening game.^[1]

Centraal Beheer commercial

The process of Kalou's naturalization became the theme of a short-lived television commercial for Centraal Beheer. In the commercial of April 2006, a character representing Kalou is depicted as becoming a naturalized citizen, not of the Netherlands, but of Germany.

This was a reference to Angolan-born forward Nando Rafael, now of Borussia Mönchengladbach, who, after failing to acquire Dutch citizenship while at Ajax Amsterdam, moved to German Bundesliga club Hertha Berlin, became a German citizen, and represented Germany at Under-21 level.

Kalou was not amused with this commercial, and with copyright law at his hands, the commercial was removed from Dutch television within a week.

Chelsea

Kalou moved to Chelsea on May 30, 2006, for an undisclosed fee.^[2] Under contract with Chelsea until 2009, Kalou was handed the number 21 jersey, which had been left vacant since the 2003/04 season when it was worn by Hernán Crespo (Crespo wore the Number 9 shirt in 2005/06, which had been vacated by Mateja Kežman following his departure from the club).

Former Chelsea manager José Mourinho has spoken highly of Kalou, praising the young Ivorian as being hardworking, versatile, eager to improve, and unafraid of the physical side of the game. Kalou himself admitted while he still gets 'overwhelmed' at the prospect of training with such luminaries of world football as Andriy Shevchenko, Michael Ballack and Frank Lampard, he is determined to learn as much as he can and improve his game.

According to Soccernet, Kalou revealed that he idolises French forward Thierry Henry, of Barcelona, and tries to imitate Henry's moves in his free time. His admiration of Henry was a factor in his decision to play in the Premier League.

At Chelsea, Kalou plays with compatriot, Côte d'Ivoire captain Didier Drogba. Kalou scored his first goals for Chelsea in a reserve game against Portsmouth bagging a hat trick and the match ball in a 5–0 thrashing. Scott Sinclair scored the other two goals in the game. Kalou scored his first senior goal for Chelsea in a two-goal win over Blackburn Rovers in the third round of the Carling Cup.

Kalou scored his first Premiership goal in December 2006 in Chelsea's 3–2 victory over Wigan Athletic at the JJB Stadium. He scored his second Premiership goal against Blackburn in Chelsea's 3–0 win. He also scored a 93rd minute goal against Watford, putting Chelsea 1–0 up. He also scored a volleyed goal from 12 yards against Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup Quarter-Final, which ended 3–3. Chelsea won the replay 1–2, before progressing to the final with a similar scoreline against Blackburn Rovers. Kalou also played in the 2007 FA Cup final win over Manchester United. Recently Kalou has continued his great form by scoring a second half goal against Manchester City in Chelsea's 6–0 at Stamford Bridge and the opening goal against Derby County in a 2–0 win. Saloman Kalou has the record number of offsides in a season with 107 in 30 games; this shows just how attack minded he is, but also shows his lack of defensive awareness. Kalou had been playing regularly under coach Avram Grant following the departure of Jose Mourinho. The Carling Cup quarter final saw Kalou take up the right wing position of two wing players (the other being Scott Sinclair) of a 4-3-2-1 formation. Kalou made lots of chances for himself and his team-mates; including a very precise left-footed cross, resulting in a Shevchenko headed goal. He has been fantastic thereafter scoring goals against Newcastle Utd and Fulham contributing to Chelsea's success.He carried on with his superb form from the AFCON to Chelsea which made him a first team. He scored goals against West Ham, Olympiakos and Derby and has been one of the most consistent players for Chelsea. His last minute cross into the penalty area led to John Arne Riise scoring the own goal in the UEFA Champion's League Semi-final first leg at Anfield, which gave Chelsea a vital away goal. Kalou also scored with Chelsea's sixth penalty in the Champion's League Final in Moscow, however Chelsea eventually lost.

He has not featured much yet under new coach Luiz Felipe Scolari except for in Pre-season, however he came on off the bench against Manchester United on the 21st September and scored a header after 80 minutes from a John Obi Mikel free kick. This header ensured that Chelsea secured a point and kept their 85 game unbeaten home record.

Personal life

Kalou has two brothers and eight sisters. One of his brothers, Bonaventure Kalou, also plays football he is currently in the Dutch team SC Heerenveen.

International career

After failing to obtain his Dutch passport, Kalou decided to play for the Côte d'Ivoire. His first international goal was scored on March 21, 2007 in a friendly against Mauritius. He played at the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations with the team, scoring 3 goals in the process, and reached 4th place after losing to Ghana in the 3rd place play off. He has recently been key in Côte d'Ivoire's 2010 World Cup qualifiers, scoring the only goal in a 1-0 win against Nigeria.

Career statistics

Season	Team	Country	Competition	Matches	Goals
2003–04	Excelsior Rotterdam	Netherlands	Eerste Divisie	11	4
2003–04	Feyenoord	Netherlands	Eredivisie	2	0
2004–05	Feyenoord	Netherlands	Eredivisie	31	20
2005–06	Feyenoord	Netherlands	Eredivisie	34	15
2006–07	Chelsea	England	Premier League	27	7
2007–08	Chelsea	England	Premier League	30	7
			Total	135	53