Sports The Star: Frederic Kanoute

Monday, August 29, 2011

Frederic Kanoute

Frédéric Oumar Kanouté (born 2 September 1977) is a French-born Malian footballer who currently plays for Sevilla FC in the Spanish La Liga, and is known for his pace, strength, and technique. On 2 February 2008, Kanouté was named the 2007 African Footballer of the Year and is the first foreign-born player to win it.Kanouté was sold to Sevilla on 17 August 2005 for €6.5 million. 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 (somewhat controversial) penalty at the Estadio Ramón 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 2006–07 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 2006–07, where they played Getafe in the final, as well as the UEFA Cup and La Liga. 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 16 May with Sevilla's victory over Espanyol on penalties, after a 2–2 draw after extra time. Kanouté had seemingly retained the title for Sevilla with his extra-time goal (his fourth 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.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 bad fouls against Valencia and was sent off in first half stoppage time.While playing for Lyon, Kanouté joined the French under-21 team.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.Frederic Kanoute announced his retirement from international football following Mali's elimination from the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations.