Biography Intro: Taye Taiwo  is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a defender

NAME: Taye Ismaila Taiwo

DATE OF BIRTH: 16 April 1985

PLACE OF BIRTH: Lagos, Nigeria

CAREER AND PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES:In 2005, at the age of 20, Taiwo was signed by French club, Olympique de Marseille. Taiwo was brought in to fill the void Bixente Lizarazu had left when he departed for Bayern Munich. The Nigerian left back scored Marseille’s winning goal against Olympique Lyonnais on 21 March 2010, with a trademark left-footed strike from long range. He also scored Marseille’s winning goal against US Boulogne on 17 April 2010. On 23 April 2011, Taiwo scored the only goal at the Stade de France against Montpellier HSC to win the 2011 Coupe de la Ligue. After the match, Taiwo grabbed a microphone and joined fans in singing an expletive-laden chant aimed at the club’s rivals PSG, narrowly escaping a ban from the LFP. However, Taiwo received a one-match ban for his action, missing out on the last games of the season, which could have been his last match and since apologised. Though keen to sign a contract with the club, Taiwo announced that he would leave Marseille at the end of the 2010-11 season, to seek new challenge elsewhere.