Frédéric Oumar Kanouté
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Frédéric Oumar Kanouté (a.k.a. "Fredi") is a Malian football player. His impressive skills as world class striker besides his sincere devetion to his African & Islamic roots; all this made him a very notable role model for the Muslim youth. Not to mention that he earned huge respect from people who watch football all over the globe.
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His Beginnings
Born in September 2, 1977 in Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon, near Lyon. Kanoute grew up in Lyon. When he grew up a little bit, he joined the local Olympique Lyonnais in 1997. Moreover, he played for the French under-21 team while at the club. 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 Nations Cup. Kanouté scored 4 goals in 4 matches helping Mali to the Semifinals where they lost to Morocco.
Rising to staredom
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. He 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 Nations Cup 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. 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.
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 16th 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. On February 2, 2008, Kanouté was named the 2007 African Footballer of the Year.
Honourable moments
Kanouté's comitment to his faith was shown a lot during his career. For example, when he forced his current club in the 2006/07 La Liga season, Sevilla, to give him a brand-free jersey every match, because of the club's sponsor—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. 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.
Kanoute is also known for his participation in many charitable events. In 2006, he has launched an appeal to establish a 'Children’s Village' in Mali.
Honours
Individual
* 2007 African Footballer of the Year.
With Sevilla Club
* 2006 UEFA Cup.
* 2006 UEFA Super Cup.
* 2007 UEFA Cup.
* 2007 Copa del Rey.
* 2007 Supercopa de Espana.
Sources and some external links
Frédéric Kanouté from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Frederic Oumar KANOUTE // Official Website
Kanoute interview, Show Racism the Red Card campaign.
Muslim Kanoute Wins Top Africa Award
