Frédéric Kanouté

Football player infobox
playername = Frédéric Kanouté


fullname = Frédéric Kanouté
height = height|m=1.92
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1977|9|2
cityofbirth = Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon
countryofbirth = France
currentclub = Sevilla
clubnumber = 12
position = Striker
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 1997–2000
2000
2000–2003
2003–2005
2005–
clubs = Lyon
→ West Ham United (loan)
West Ham United
Tottenham Hotspur
Sevilla
caps(goals) = 40 0(9)
08 0(2)
76 (27)
60 (14)
94 (43)
nationalyears = 1998
2004–
nationalteam = France U21
Mali
nationalcaps(goals) = 01 0(0)
18 0(8)
pcupdate = 12:03, 28 July 2008 (UTC)
ntupdate = 12:00, 3 September 2006 (UTC)

Frédéric "Freddy" Oumar Kanouté (born September 2, 1977 in Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon) is a French born Malian footballer, who plays for Sevilla in the Spanish league. On February 2, 2008, Kanouté was named the 2007 African Footballer of the Yearand is the first foreign-born player to win it. [ [http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/federation/confederations/news/newsid=682981.html#kanoute+named+africas+best Kanoute named Africa's best] ]

Career

Kanouté's talents as a lanky 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 (match with Odra Wodzisław). He played for the French under-21 team while at the club. [cite web |url=http://www.iht.com/articles/2004/01/14/soccer_ed3__4.php |title=The call of Africa causes loud debate |accessdate=2006-07-23 |author=Rob Hughes |date=2004-01-14 |publisher=International Herald Tribune ]

Kanouté joined English club West Ham United in 2000. He went on to play 84 times for the East London club, scoring 29 goals. His speed and awareness attracted interest from Tottenham Hotspur who bought him at the end of the 2002-03 season.

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.

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.

Kanouté was sold to Sevilla on 17 August 2005 for €6.5m. [cite web |url=http://www.uefa.com/competitions/uefacup/news/kind=1/newsid=327032.html |title=Sevilla beckons for striker Kanouté |date=2007-08-17 |publisher=UEFA.com |accessdate=2007-10-27 ] 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 ultimately unravelled and Real Madrid took the title, with Kanouté's side in third. [cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/6657065.stm |title=Sevilla win Uefa Cup on Penalties |accessdate=2007-05-17 |publisher=BBC ]

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. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/africa/7045327.stm "Caf to discuss Togo attacks"] BBC Sport retrieved on 15 October, 2007] .

Personal

Frédéric Kanouté has been practising Islam since he was around the age of 20. This meant that his current club in the 2006/07 La Liga season, Sevilla, had to give him a brand-free jersey every match, because of the club's sponsor—888.com, an internet gambling site—and gambling is against the principles of Islam. The company, however, agreed to give some money to an Islamic charity in return for Kanouté wearing the sponsored kit. Frédéric Kanouté has splashed out more than US$700,000 to buy his own mosque in Spain. The privately owned mosque was due to be sold after a contract to use the premises by the local Muslim population had expired. The Islamic Community of Spain confirmed that a last-minute appeal was made to Kanouté after the mosque had been put up for sale. [ cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/africa/7141005.stm |title=Devout worshipper |accessdate=2007-12-12 |publisher=BBC ]

In 2006, he has launched an appeal to establish a 'Children’s Village' in Mali. [ [http://www.kanoute.com Frederic Oumar KANOUTE // Official Website ] ] Kanoute is married to Fatima and they have two small kids, Ibrahim and Iman.

Career statistics

"(correct as of September 15, 2008)"

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

References

External links

*FIFA player|182436
*soccerbase|18230
* [http://www.srtrc.org/players_views/2006/freddie_kanoute.html Kanoute interview] , Show Racism the Red Card campaign.
* [http://www.footballdatabase.com/site/players/index.php?dumpPlayer=194 FootballDatabase provides Frédéric Kanouté's profile and stats]
* [http://www.ontheminute.com/news/news.php?news=3472 Real Madrid keen on Sevilla ace Kanoute]
* [http://www.fansfc.com/speculation_news.asp?sid=9221 Latest speculation about transfers]
* [http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2007/12/13/42903.html Muslim footballer saves Spanish mosque]