Frédéric Kanouté

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Frédéric Oumar Kanouté (born September 2, 1977 in Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon, Rhône) is a French born Malian footballer, who currently plays for Sevilla in the Spanish Primera league, and is known for his pace, strength and technique. On February 2, 2008, Kanouté was named the 2007 African Footballer of the Year and is the first foreign-born player to win it.^[1]

[edit] Club career

[edit] Lyon

Kanouté's talents as a striker were first noticed by his local team, Olympique Lyonnais, and he joined them as an apprentice in 1997. He made his debut in the Intertoto Cup against Polish side Odra Wodzisław.

[edit] West Ham United

Kanouté joined English club West Ham United in 2000. He went on to play 84 times for the East London club, scoring 29 goals.

[edit] Tottenham Hotspur

His speed and awareness attracted interest from Tottenham Hotspur who bought him at the end of the 2002-03 season. Kanouté enjoyed mixed success at Tottenham, where he scored on his debut with an acrobatic volley, with occasional flashes of brilliance marked by apparent pique when he preferred the African Cup of Nations over the Premiership and went AWOL from Tottenham's 2005 summer tour to Mauritius.

[edit] Sevilla

Kanouté was sold to Sevilla on 17 August 2005 for €6.5m.^[2] He was a second half substitute for the club in the UEFA Cup Final against Middlesbrough and scored in the 89th minute. Sevilla won 4-0.

Kanouté's first games for Sevilla against Tottenham Hotspur led to his scoring a (somewhat controversial) penalty at the Sánchez Pizjuán in a game marred by crowd trouble, and an excellent goal at White Hart Lane, leaving the final aggregate score 4-3 to Sevilla.

The 2006/2007 season has proved his most productive and has earned him much praise for the prominent role he has played in leading Sevilla's surprising charge on three fronts. Challenging for the Copa del Rey 2006/2007, where they played Getafe FC in the final, as well as the Uefa Cup and the La Liga have moved him into relatively unchartered territory as he had not experienced such a combination of success and influence in the past. The previous year's Uefa Cup had featured just a cameo appearance for him in a comfortable victory, although he grabbed a late goal. Nonetheless, he secured his first honour of the season on the 16 May with Sevilla's victory over Espanyol on penalties, after a 2-2 draw aet. Kanouté had seemingly retained the title for Sevilla with his extra-time goal (his 4th of the tournament) to make it 2-1 but a late equalizer prompted penalties. Kanouté scored the first in a 3-1 penalty triumph.

Sevilla's title challenge that year ultimately unravelled and Real Madrid took the title, with Kanouté's side in third.^[3] Since then Kanouté has been a consistent—if not explosive—member of the club, helping Sevilla qualify for a UEFA Cup position in 2008 and a Champions League direct qualification in 2009.

[edit] International career

While playing for Olympique Lyonnais, Kanouté joined the French under-21 team.^[4] After turning 21 in 1998, Kanouté was not called up for the French national squad in 2000, 2002 or 2004. In 2004 FIFA changed its rules to allow a footballer to play for the national team of the country in which his mother or father was born. Although eligible for either, Kanouté elected to play for Mali rather than for France. Kanouté was joint top goal scorer for Mali at the 2004 African Cup of Nations. Kanouté scored 4 goals in 4 matches helping Mali to the Semifinals where they lost to Morocco.

In October 2007, Kanouté, along with Mali international teammate Mamady Sidibe, were attacked by irate Togolese fans after they knocked Togo out of the African Cup of Nations qualifier.^[5]

[edit] Personal life

Kanouté and his wife Fatima live in Sevilla with their two children, Ibrahim and Iman.

Kanouté has been practising Islam since he was around the age of 20. He refused to wear a Sevilla shirt bearing the name of club sponsor 888.com, due to the fact the website is used for gambling. Gambling is against the principles of Islam. This meant that the club had to give him a brand-free jersey every match. The company, however, agreed to give some money to an Islamic charity in return for Kanouté wearing the sponsored kit. In 2007 Kanouté paid more than US$700,000 out of pocket to buy a mosque in Sevilla. The contract on the premises had expired and the mosque was due to be sold. The Islamic Community of Spain confirmed it had requested Kanouté's aid after the mosque was put up for sale.^[6]

Kanouté has also showed interest in a variety of humanitarian causes. In 2006 he launched an appeal to establish a 'Children’s Village' in Mali.^[7] And after scoring a goal in a January 7, 2009 Copa Del Rey match with Deportivo La Coruña, Kanouté lifted his jersey and displayed a black shirt underneath emblazoned with the word "Palestine". The action was interpreted by BBC sources^[8] as a protest against the Isreali incursion into the Gaza Strip ongoing at that time. Kanouté was cautioned with a yellow card for displaying a political message, and subsequently fined around 4,000 USD by the league.^[8]

[edit] Club career statistics

Correct as of June 11, 2009

[edit] Honours

Personal

• 2007 African Footballer of the Year

Sevilla

• 2006 UEFA Cup
• 2006 UEFA Super Cup
• 2007 UEFA Cup
• 2007 Copa del Rey
• 2007 Supercopa de Espana

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Frédéric Kanouté FIFA competition record
• ESPN Soccernet Frédéric Kanouté Career Statistics
• Frédéric Kanouté career stats at Soccerbase
• Kanoute interview, Show Racism the Red Card campaign.
• FootballDatabase provides Frédéric Kanouté's profile and stats
• Real Madrid keen on Sevilla ace Kanoute
• Latest speculation about transfers
• Muslim footballer saves Spanish mosque
• Portrait of Frédéric Oumar Kanouté: Not Your Average Footballer

v • d • e Mali squad – 2004 Africa Cup of Nations 1 Mahamadou Sidibè • 2 Diamoutèné • 3 Diawara • 4 A. Coulibaly • 5 Thiam • 6 Diarra • 7 Mamady Sidibé • 8 B. Touré • 9 Abouta • 10 S. Coulibaly • 11 D. Sidibé • 12 Keita • 13 Kone • 14 D. Coulibaly • 15 Demba • 16 Bathily • 17 S. Traoré • 18 Sissoko • 19 Kanouté • 20 D. Traoré • 21 M. Traoré • 22 Tangara • Coach: Stambouli

v • d • e Mali squad – 2008 Africa Cup of Nations 1 Mahamadou Sidibè • 2 Koné • 3 Tamboura • 4 A. Coulibaly • 5 Diamoutene • 6 Diarra • 7 Mamady Sidibé • 8 B. Touré • 9 A. Sidibé • 10 D. Traoré • 11 D. Sidibé • 12 Keita • 13 Diallo • 14 Diakite • 15 Kanté • 16 Diakite • 17 S. Traoré • 18 Dembélé • 19 Kanouté • 20 M. Sissoko • 21 Dissa • 22 O. Sissoko • 23 M. Coulibaly • Coach: Jodar