Amadou Konte (born 13 January 1981 in

Bamako Bamako ( bm, ߓߡߊ߬ߞߐ߬ ''Bàmakɔ̌'', ff, 𞤄𞤢𞤥𞤢𞤳𞤮 ''Bamako'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mali, with a 2009 population of 1,810,366 and an estimated 2022 population of 2.81 million. It is located on t ...

) is a

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...

an-French former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

Career

Konte started his career in the football academy of French side

RC Strasbourg Racing Club de Strasbourg Alsace (commonly known as RC Strasbourg, Racing Straßburg, RCSA, RCS, or simply Strasbourg; Alsatian: ''Füeßbàllmànnschàft Vu Stroßburri'') is a French association football club founded in 1906, based in the c ...

before moving to Portuguese club

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, MHIH, OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portu ...

. He did not make a first team breakthrough in

though, and moved again, firstly to CF Villanovense in Spain, then

Olympique Noisy-le-Sec Olympique Noisy-le-Sec Banlieue 93 is a French association football team founded in 1943. They are based in Noisy-le-Sec, France and are currently playing in Regional 1, Paris Île-de-France, the sixth tier in the French football league system, ...

in CFA and

Paternò Paternò ( scn, Patennò) is a southern Italian town and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Catania, Sicily. With a population (2016) of 48,009, it is the third municipality of the province after Catania and Acireale. Geography Paternò ...

Serie C1 Lega Pro Prima Divisione was the third highest football (soccer), football league in Italy. It consisted of 33 teams, divided geographically into two divisions of 16 and 17 teams for group A and B respectively. Until 2008 it was known as Serie C1 ...

. In the summer of 2004 Konte signed for

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They compete in EFL League one , the 3rd tier of the English football league system. The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on N ...

and scored 3 goals in 9 appearances. This was enough to prompt interest from Hibernian, who signed him during the January 2005 transfer window, and he made his debut in a 3–0 defeat to Rangers at Ibrox the next month. His first goal was a late equaliser against

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...

in May, earning Hibs a crucial point in their successful quest to qualify for European competition. The 2005–06 season was less rewarding for Konte though, as the striker endured inconsistent form and infrequent appearances. This led to him being

ironically Irony (), in its broadest sense, is the juxtaposition of what on the surface appears to be the case and what is actually the case or to be expected; it is an important rhetorical device and literary technique. Irony can be categorized into d ...

dubbed the "Mali Magician" by some Hibs fans. When Konte again struggled to gain first team action in the first part of the 2006–07 season (despite scoring twice against Dinaburg FC in the

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from la, Inter, 'between' + german: toto, 'betting pool'),Most precisely, from (football pool); cf. often abbreviated and more known in the German-speaking world as UI Cup and originally called the International Foot ...

) he was released from his contract. He left Hibernian one day before the appointment of new manager John Collins, in November 2006. In 2020, Konte reflected on his time at Hibs, stating that he enjoys his status as a cult favourite and felt that the nickname bestowed upon him by fans was an affectionate one. In January 2007, he joined

Messiniakos Founded in 1888, Messiniakos Gymnastic Club ( el, Μεσσηνιακός Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος) is one of the oldest athletic club in Greece with Panagiotis Benakis its first president. Messiniakos' traditional colours are green ...

of Greek 2nd division. In summer 2007, he signed for

Potenza S.C. Potenza Sport Club S.r.l. was an Italian football club, based in Potenza, Basilicata. The club was re-founded in 2004 as A.S. Calcio Potenza, (legal suffix S.r.l. was added circa 2005) after the merger of the old A.S.C. Potenza (founded in 19 ...

, and in January 2008, he was loaned to

Spezia La Spezia (, or , ; in the local Spezzino dialect) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy. La Spezia is the second largest city ...

. In September 2009, after a nine-month stint with

Turate Turate ( Comasco, Varesino: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Como in the Italian region Lombardy, located about northwest of Milan and about southwest of Como. Turate borders the following municipalities: Cirimido, Cislag ...

, he was signed by Sicilian club

Messina Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in ...

on a free transfer.

References

External links

*
gazzetta.it
{{DEFAULTSORT:Konte, Amadou 1981 births Living people Malian men's footballers French men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy FC Porto players Cambridge United F.C. players Hibernian F.C. players Spezia Calcio players Kalamata F.C. players Serie B players Scottish Premier League players Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Footballers from Bamako Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal ASD Paternò Calcio players Malian expatriates in the United Kingdom Olympique Noisy-le-Sec players Men's association football forwards SC Caronnese SSD players French sportspeople of Malian descent