Marco Zoro

Marco Zoro

Zoro with Ivory Coast in the 2008 CAN
Personal information
Full name	Marco André Zoro Kpolo
Date of birth	(1983-12-27) 27 December 1983 (age 33)
Place of birth	Abidjan, Ivory Coast
Height	1.82 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Defender
Club information
Current team	Asteras Amaliada
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1999–2002	Salernitana	55	(1)
2003–2007	Messina	116	(5)
2007–2011	Benfica	2	(1)
2008–2010	→ Vitória Setúbal (loan)	30	(0)
2011	→ Universitatea Craiova (loan)	14	(0)
2012–2013	Angers	32	(2)
2013–2014	OFI Crete	27	(0)
2016–2017	Chania	3	(0)
2017–	Asteras Amaliada
National team
2003–2010	Ivory Coast	22	(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22 January 2017.

Marco André Zoro Kpolo (born 27 December 1983 in Abidjan), known as Zoro, is an Ivorian professional footballer who plays for Greek club Asteras Amaliada F.C. as a defender.

Although not a native of the country, Zoro started playing football in Italy, first with Salernitana Calcio 1919, without however making his Serie A debuts. The next season he played with the Campania team in the second division and, in January 2003, he joined Sicily's F.C. Messina Peloro, helping the club achieve promotion in June; the team eventually signed him permanently, on a three-year deal.

Several months prior to the expiration of Zoro's deal with Messina, he and his agent Francis Kacou had been locked in talks with the club for a contract extension. "For Zoro, his contract is coming up to expiration and there are difficulties in getting him to renew", said Messina president Pietro Franza in October 2006. "We will see over the coming days when we meet with his agent if we can find a possible understanding." Four months later, however, Zoro blasted, "I've read that some of the management won't talk to me about a new contract because they want to leave me hanging. I find this an insult to my professionalism. I have always trained hard and never let outside things influence me. I will also leave them hanging and see if the right club comes in for me." Two days later, he attempted to make amends: "When one of your family is treated poorly, it's normal for that person to be upset. I don't want to air our dirty linen in public. We'll talk about my contract at the end of the season. My priority right now is keeping Messina in Serie A."

On 15 May 2007, Zoro signed a four-year deal with Portuguese club S.L. Benfica, arriving for free. He would only feature in two Primeira Liga games throughout the entire campaign and eventually was made to train on his own, but scored once in a 2–2 home draw with U.D. Leiria on 9 March 2008. In August he was transfer-listed and, on 10 January 2009, underwent a five-day trial at Ewood Park with English Premier League side Blackburn Rovers; however, nothing came of it, and he was loaned until the end of the season to Vitória F.C. also in the Portuguese top flight– the arrangement was then extended for the entirety of 2009–10, and he was a regular starter as the Sadinos again barely avoided relegation.