Cheick Tioté
Tough and vigorous midfielder with Newcastle United FC
CHEICK TIOTÉ, the Ivorian footballer who has died aged 30, was a notably combative defensive midfielder who made 156 appearances for Newcastle United between 2010 and February of this year.
Tioté moved to Tyneside for £3.5million from Holland, where his vigorous tackling had helped unfashionable FC Twente to win their first Dutch league title. The club was managed by Steve Mcclaren, the former England boss, who called Tioté the toughest player he knew.
Strongly built, though not tall, Tioté had a physique well adapted to the Premier League and quickly established himself in the side. He had caught the eye the previous year marking Robin van Persie of Arsenal in the Champions League, and against the same opponents in 2011 won over the fans by scoring a long-range volley to bring Newcastle level after being 4-0 down.
Thereafter the Toon Army would shout “Shoot!” whenever he had the ball, but it proved his only goal. Instead, “Mr T”, as he was nicknamed for his Mohawk haircut, became known for the formidable partnership he forged with Yohan Cabaye. Though not malicious, his occasionally reckless commitment also gained him a record number of bookings – some 56 in seven seasons.
In 2012, under Alan Pardew, Newcastle finished fifth. Yet injuries and bans subsequently led to Tioté being displaced by Moussa Sissoko, despite Mcclaren becoming manager. This year, under Rafa Benitez in the Championship, Tioté had played just three matches. He was signed in the spring by the second-tier Chinese team Beijing Enterprises. Yesterday he collapsed with a suspected heart attack while training.
Cheick Ismaël Tioté was born on June 21 1986 in Yamoussoukro, the political capital of Ivory Coast. He was one of nine children and grew up poor in Abidjan; later he used his earnings to support his extended family.
He had to learn to play soccer barefoot (which he said gave him a better feel for the ball) and did not acquire a pair of boots until he was 15. He left school early and by his mid-teens was playing for a semiprofessional team, FC Bibo. At 19, he embarked on the odyssey undertaken by many another African player, among them fellow Ivorians such as Didier Drogba and the Touré brothers.
In 2005 he signed for the Belgian side Anderlecht, where Vincent Kompany was a team-mate, but he struggled to make an impact and was loaned to the Dutch team Roda JC. His performances led to his moving in 2008 to Twente.
Tioté made his international debut in 2009 and would win 52 caps. In 2012, he was in the team that lost the final of the Africa Cup of Nations on penalties; he gave away his loser’s medal. He played in the following year’s tournament and at the World Cup in 2014. In 2015, when Ivory Coast won the Cup of Nations, he was picked for the first two matches but thereafter was injured.
A snappy dresser, he was remembered by his fellow players for his cheerfulness and unabashed lack of aggression off the pitch; when taken paintballing he was said to have “squealed like a girl”.
In 2013 he made headlines after being spared imprisonment for driving with a fake Belgian licence. The next year, there was a tabloid rumpus when it was revealed that Tioté, a Muslim, had taken a second wife, Laeticia, in Ivory Coast. This was said to have come as news to his mistress, with whom he had a son, and to his other wife Madah, with whom he lived in Newcastle. They had two children, with another due shortly.