| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Frédéric Oumar Kanouté | ||
| Date of birth | 2 September 1977 | ||
| Place of birth | Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon, France | ||
| Height | 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) | ||
| Playing position | Striker | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Sevilla | ||
| Number | 12 | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1997–2000 | Lyon | 58 | (9) |
| 2000–2003 | West Ham United | 84 | (29) |
| 2003–2005 | Tottenham Hotspur | 60 | (14) |
| 2005– | Sevilla | 192 | (87) |
| National team | |||
| 1998–2001 | France U21 | 16 | (11) |
| 2004–2010 | Mali | 39 | (23) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20 November 2011. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Frédéric Oumar Kanouté (born 2 September 1977) is a French-born Malian footballer who currently plays for Sevilla FC in the Spanish La Liga. On 2 February 2008, Kanouté was named the 2007 African Footballer of the Year and is the first foreign-born player to win it.[1]
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Born in Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon, Rhône, 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.
In 2000, Kanouté was signed by English Premier League side West Ham United on an initial loan basis. He formed a solid partnership with Paolo Di Canio and after some promising appearances in the Premier League, Hammers manager Harry Redknapp made his move permanent. Kanouté had varying success at The Boleyn Ground, often praised for his ability, but also criticised for his laid back attitude. West Ham was relegated at the end of the season.
Kanouté was bought by Tottenham Hotspur a fee of £3.5m at the end of the 2002–03 season. Kanouté enjoyed mixed success at Tottenham.
Kanouté was sold to Sevilla on 17 August 2005 for €6.5 million.[2] He was a second half substitute for the club in the 2006 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 penalty at the Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán in a game marred by crowd trouble, and a goal at White Hart Lane, leaving the final aggregate score 4–3 to Sevilla.
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.
On the first day of the 2009–10 campaign, Kanouté got two yellow cards for fouls against Valencia and was sent off in first half stoppage time.
On 22 October 2011, during the 2011–12 campaign, Kanoute received two yellow cards against FC Barcelona for kicking the ball off the penalty spot, when Lionel Messi was due to take it. The second yellow was for an altercation between Kanoute and Cesc Fàbregas, after Fabregas reportedly called Kanoute a terrorist. [4].
While playing for Lyon, Kanouté joined the French under-21 team.[5] 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 four goals in four matches helping Mali to the semi-finals, 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.[6] Frederic Kanoute announced his retirement from international football following Mali's elimination from the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations.[7]
Kanouté and his wife live in Seville, Spain with their three children.
Kanouté has been practicing Islam since he was around the age of 22. 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, which 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 excuse him from their publicity campaigns in return for Kanouté wearing the sponsored kit, which was part of the players' contractual duties. In 2007, Kanouté paid more than $700,000 out of his pocket to buy a mosque in Seville. 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.[8]
After scoring a goal in a 7 January 2009 Copa Del Rey match against 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[9] as a protest against the massive Israeli army operation in 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 by the league.[9]
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.[10]
| Club performance | League | Cup | League Cup | Continental | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Club | League | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| France | League | Coupe de France | Coupe de la Ligue | Europe | Total | |||||||
| 1997–98 | Lyon | Ligue 1 | 18 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 30 | 8 |
| 1998–99 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 3 | ||
| 1999–00 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 17 | 1 | ||
| England | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Europe | Total | |||||||
| 1999–00 | West Ham United | Premier League | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 2 |
| 2000–01 | 32 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 14 | ||
| 2001–02 | 27 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 12 | ||
| 2002–03 | 17 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 5 | ||
| 2003–04 | Tottenham Hotspur | Premier League | 27 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 12 |
| 2004–05 | 32 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 9 | ||
| 2005–06 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Spain | League | Copa del Rey | Copa de la Liga | Europe | Total | |||||||
| 2005–06 | Sevilla | La Liga | 32 | 6 | 2 | 2 | - | 12 | 7 | 46 | 15 | |
| 2006–07 | 32 | 21 | 5 | 4 | - | 11 | 5 | 48 | 30 | |||
| 2007–08 | 30 | 16 | 2 | 4 | - | 10 | 6 | 42 | 25 | |||
| 2008–09 | 34 | 18 | 6 | 2 | - | 2 | 2 | 42 | 23 | |||
| 2009–10 | 27 | 12 | 4 | 1 | - | 7 | 2 | 38 | 15 | |||
| 2010–11 | 28 | 12 | 6 | 3 | - | 7 | 6 | 41 | 21 | |||
| Total | France | 40 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 15 | 3 | 58 | 12 | |
| England | 144 | 43 | 11 | 7 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 165 | 54 | ||
| Spain | 183 | 85 | 23 | 16 | - | 49 | 27 | 244 | 124 | |||
| Career total | 367 | 137 | 31 | 20 | 12 | 4 | 61 | 29 | 471 | 190 | ||
Correct as of 10 January 2010.
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