Frédéric Oumar "Freddie" Kanouté (born 2 September 1977) is a former professional footballer who played as a striker for several top-tier clubs in Europe, enjoying his greatest success with La Liga side Sevilla. Kanouté was named the 2007 African Footballer of the Year, the first player born outside Africa to win the award.
Kanouté began his career with Lyon in France before moving to West Ham United of the Premier League in 2000. After a spell at their London rivals Tottenham Hotspur, Kanouté moved to Spanish club Sevilla in 2005, where he won two consecutive UEFA Cups in 2006 and 2007, in addition to the Copa del Rey twice and remains the club's highest-scoring foreign player, with 137 goals in 290 matches. After seven seasons there, he joined Chinese club Beijing Guoan in June 2012, spending one season there, before retiring from professional football in 2013.
Born in France, Kanouté represented them at under-21 level, before switching to represent Mali, playing at the 2004 African Cup of Nations, where he was joint top-scorer. He also featured at the 2006 and 2010 tournaments. His international career ended in 2010 with a total of 38 caps and 23 goals.
Early life Frédéric Oumar Kanouté was born on 2 September 1977 in Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon, Rhône.
Club career 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.
West Ham United In March 2000, Kanouté was signed by English Premier League side West Ham United from Olympique Lyonnais on an initial loan basis. After nine first-team appearances in which he scored two goals, he signed permanently in May 2000 on a four-year contract for a reported fee of £4 million. Kanouté made 84 league appearances for West Ham, scoring 29 goals. The club were relegated from the Premier League at the end of the 2002–03 season.
Tottenham Hotspur Kanouté was bought by Tottenham Hotspur for a fee of £3.5 million on 5 August 2003. He scored on his debut on 23 August, the winner in a 2-1 home league victory over Leeds United, nine minutes after coming on for Bobby Zamora.
His first season was interrupted by a call-up for the 2004 African Cup of Nations for Mali. Tottenham tried to stop him going by asking FIFA whether Kanouté was eligible to play for Mali after representing France at Under-20 level.
Kanouté was unable to cement himself as a regular at White Hart Lane, as Robbie Keane and Jermain Defoe were preferred. He became a less prolific goalscorer and instead was involved in attacks by setting up various goals with runs at the defence and creating space for other attacking players.
Sevilla
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 as Sevilla won 4–0.
In the 2006-07 UEFA Cup, Kanouté's first games for Sevilla against Tottenham Hotspur led to him scoring a penalty at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium 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. After that, he was a consistent member of the team, 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 season, Kanouté received two yellow cards for fouls against Valencia and was sent off in first half stoppage time.
On 22 October 2011, during the 2011–12 season, Kanouté 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 Kanouté and Cesc Fàbregas.Frederic Kanoute Claims Barcelona Star Cesc Fabregas Called Him a Terrorist (Video) CaughtOffside.com, 23 October 2011 Kanouté's farewell season in Spain was plagued with injuries as he participated in 26 matches, scoring four goals and assisting two others – he left at the end of his contract in the summer of 2012. Kanoute became an iconic figure at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, netting 136 goals in 290 matches as helped the club to win two UEFA Cups, one UEFA Super Cup, two Copa del Rey trophies and one Spanish Supercup.
Beijing Guoan On 29 June 2012, Kanouté signed a one-and-a-half-year contract with Chinese Super League side Beijing Guoan. On 18 July 2012, he scored his first two goals in his team's 6–0 victory against Qingdao Jonoon in the Chinese FA Cup. In May 2013, Kanouté scored a brace in a Super League fixture against Tianjin Teda.
International career Kanouté made 11 appearances for the France national under-21 team, scoring one goal, from 1998 to 1999. After turning 21 in 1998, Kanouté was not called up for the France national team 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 Sidibé, were attacked by irate Togolese fans after they knocked Togo out of the African Cup of Nations qualifier."Caf to discuss Togo attacks" BBC Sport, 15 October 2007; Retrieved 15 October 2007 Frederic Kanoute announced his retirement from international football following Mali's elimination from the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations."Kanoute retires after Mali exit" BBC Sport, 21 February 2010
Style of play In 2001, Kanouté was described by The Irish Times in 2001 as "highly skilful, quick-footed, quick-witted and with an eye for the spectacular." Upon signing for Sevilla in 2005, the club's sporting director, Monchi, described Kanouté with the following words: "He's tall, good in the air, skilful and strong and can play up front or just behind the lead striker." Throughout his career he was also known for his eye for goal. In 2020, Chris Howie of beIN Sports described Kanouté as a "tall, languid, graceful [...] striker," also labelling him a "late bloomer."
Personal life He has been practicing 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, 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 US$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. Kanouté helped raise over $1m in a crowdfunding campaign to build the mosque.
Kanouté insists his faith has never presented itself as a problem in his relationship with the coaching staff, teammates or fans. He has stated that "Islam has helped me to be this way, so this is normal. It's a path you take to keep you calm, to help you think about the place you live in, to love your neighbour. It's strange when I hear about all these problems of terrorism because it's the opposite of what I understood for Islam."
He observes fasting during the Islamic month of Ramadan. He has stated that "I can keep fasting in Ramadan even when I am playing...it is sometimes harder to keep the fast because here in the south of Spain it is very hot, but I can do it, thank God."
After scoring a goal in a 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 as a protest against the 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.
The Kanouté Foundation 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.Kanouté the footballer and the man Frédéric Oumar Kanouté Official Website This is now the well established Sakina Children's Village. Kanouté talks about his Foundation and the Village in the book, How to do good: Essays in Building a Better World, published in December 2016. He also took part in a speaker tour inspired by the book in 2017, speaking in Oslo, Stockholm, Paris and London alongside other humanitarians and philanthropists.
Career statistics Club ClubSeasonLeagueNational cupLeague cupContinentalOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsLyon1997–98French Division 11861000102–2981998–9992000031–1231999–2000131002050–201Total4091020183–6112West Ham United (loan)1999–2000Premier League820000––82West Ham United2000–01Premier League32114330––39142001–0227111100––28122002–031750000––175Total84295430––9233Tottenham Hotspur2003–04Premier League2771332––31122004–053275042––4192005–0610––––10Total60146374––7321Sevilla2005–06La Liga32622–116–45142006–07322154–1041148302007–08301611–962342262008–09341863–22–42232009–10271251–72–39152010–11281251–961243212011–1226433–21–318Total209892715–502746290137Beijing Guoan2012Chinese Super League10122–00–123201324930–71–3410Total341052–71–4613Career total4271514424124753146602216
International + Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsMali2004117200530200632200732200896200964201032Total3823
Scores and results list Mali's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kanouté goal.
+ List of international goals scored by Frédéric KanoutéNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition115 October Stadium, Bizerte, Tunisia2–13–12004 Africa Cup of Nations23–13El Menzah Stadium, Tunis, Tunisia1–03–12004 Africa Cup of Nations4El Menzah Stadium, Tunis, Tunisia1–12–12004 Africa Cup of Nations5Stade du 26 Mars, Bamako, Mali1–11–12006 FIFA World Cup qualification6Stade Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes, France3–03–0Friendly7Stade du 26 Mars, Bamako, Mali2–12–22006 FIFA World Cup qualification8Stade Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes, France1–01–0Friendly9Parc des Sports et de l'Amitié, Narbonne, France1–01–0Friendly10Stade du 26 Mars, Bamako, Mali1–11–12008 Africa Cup of Nations qualification11Stade de Kégué, Lomé, Togo1–02–02008 Africa Cup of Nations qualification12Sekondi-Takoradi Stadium, Sekondi-Takoradi, Ghana1–01–02008 Africa Cup of Nations13Stade Omnisports Idriss Mahamat Ouya, N'Djamena, Chad1–02–12010 FIFA World Cup qualification142–015Khartoum Stadium, Khartoum, Sudan1–12–32010 FIFA World Cup qualification162–317Stade du 26 Mars, Bamako, Mali1–03–02010 FIFA World Cup qualification18Bois-Guillaume, France3–04–0Friendly19Al-Merrikh Stadium, Omdurman, Sudan1–01–12010 FIFA World Cup qualification20Stade du 26 Mars, Bamako, Mali3–13–12010 FIFA World Cup qualification21Stade du 26 Mars, Bamako, Mali1–01–02010 FIFA World Cup qualification22Estádio 11 de Novembro, Talatona. Angola2–44–42010 Africa Cup of Nations23Estádio Nacional do Chiazi, Cabinda, Angola1–03–12010 Africa Cup of Nations
Honours Lyon UEFA Intertoto Cup: 1997
Sevilla Copa del Rey: 2006–07, 2009–10 Supercopa de España: 2007 UEFA Cup: 2005–06, 2006–07 UEFA Super Cup: 2006
Individual Africa Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament: 2004 African Footballer of the Year: 2007Kanoute named Africa's bestFurious Drogba Slams CAF Over Kanoute Award And Pulls Out ESM Team of the Season: 2006–07