El Hadji Diouf - International Career

International Career

Diouf's international career started in April 2000 against Benin. He has earned 69 international caps and scored 21 goals for his country. He played for Senegal in their 2002 FIFA World Cup campaign and was elected to the World Cup All-Star team, after leading Senegal to the quarter-finals and victories over France (1–0) and Sweden (2–1). Senegal eventually lost 1–0 in extra time to Turkey. He was also part of the Senegal team who were the runners-up in the 2002 African Cup of Nations. Diouf was banned from international football for four matches in 2004 for a verbal assault on referee Ali Bujsaim.

In 2004, he was named in the FIFA 100, a list of the 125 greatest living footballers selected by Pelé in conjunction with FIFA's centenary celebrations. In October 2007, Diouf retired from international football, stating he had been frustrated by organisational problems with the side. However, Senegal coach Henryk Kasperczak announced later in the month that he would name Diouf in the next squad.

On 3 April 2009 he re-confirmed his retirement after 41 further games.

In 2011 Diouf was banned for 5 years for playing for the Senegal national side, after reacting angrily to claims that he had failed to attend a disciplinary hearing. In September 2012, The Senegal federation confirmed that Diouf's 5 year ban had been lifted and that he was available to play for the Sengal National Side again. After becoming available for the Senegal national side, in October 2012 Diouf was left out of the squad to face Côte d'Ivoire in an African Cup Of Nations qualifier, Diouf proclaimed that he felt he was left out of the squad because the Senegal federation were 'scared' of him.

Diouf has twice been named the African Footballer of the Year.