Didier Ya Konan (born 22 May 1984) is an Ivorian 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 ...

who played as a forward for the Ivory Coast national team.

Club career

Born in Angouakro, Ya Konan started his professional career with ASEC Mimosas in 2003, a club that is known for producing players, such as

Kolo Touré Kolo Abib Touré (born 19 March 1981) is an Ivorian professional football coach and former player who is the manager of Championship side Wigan Athletic. He played as a defender for Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool, Celtic and the Ivory Co ...

and

Didier Zokora Déguy Alain Didier Zokora (born 14 December 1980) is an Ivorian former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. He represented the Ivory Coast national team for 14 years, beginning in 2000, and is currently the nation's mos ...

. He was the top scorer in the

African Champions League The CAF Champions League, known for sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League and formerly the African Cup of Champions Clubs, is an annual football club competition organized by the Confederation of African Football and co ...

competition that season, with ASEC eventually failing in the semi finals, to Egyptian club

Al Ahly AL, Al, Ål or al may stand for: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Al (''Aladdin'') or Aladdin, the main character in Disney's ''Aladdin'' media * Al (''EastEnders''), a minor character in the British soap opera * Al (''Fullmetal ...

. In December 2006, he signed for Rosenborg, for a three-year contract in the

Norwegian Premier League Eliteserien () is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion ...

. In January 2007, Ya Konan was nominated for the Ivorian Footballer of the Year award for 2006, which was eventually won by Chelsea's striker Didier Drogba. He was one of two homeland-based players at the time to be nominated, the other being former ASEC teammate Bakary Soro. On 11 August 2009, Ya Konan moved to

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

side Hannover 96, initially signing a three-year contract. Following the 2013–14 season, he left Germany and completed a move to

Al-Ittihad Al-Ittihad (Arabic: الاتحاد "The Union"), sometimes transliterated as Al-Etihad or Al-Ettihad may refer to: Sports Football Libya *Al-Ittihad Club (Tripoli), a football club based in Bab Ben Gashier * Al Ittihad Gheryan, a football club bas ...

of the

Saudi Professional League The Saudi Pro League (SPL for short) ( ar, دوري المحترفين السعودي, link=no, ''Dawriyy al-Muḥtarifayni as-Suʿūdī''), known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL for short) for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of associat ...

. On 27 January 2015, he returned to Hannover 96, where he signed a one-year contract. On 25 June 2015, Ya Konan signed a two-year deal with

Fortuna Düsseldorf Düsseldorfer Turn- und Sportverein Fortuna 1895 e.V., commonly known as Fortuna Düsseldorf (), is a German football club in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, which competes in the 2. Bundesliga. Founded in 1895, Fortuna entered the league ...

International career

Ya Konan was called up to the

Ivory Coast national football team The Ivory Coast national football team (French: ''Équipe de football de Côte d'Ivoire'', recognized as the Côte d'Ivoire by FIFA) represents Ivory Coast in men's international football. Nicknamed ''the Elephants'', the team is managed by th ...

for the

2008 African Cup of Nations The 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the MTN Africa Cup of Nations due to the competition's sponsorship by MTN, was the 26th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial football tournament for nations affiliated to the Confederat ...

qualifier against Gabon on 5 October 2006. In March 2007, he was one of four players to receive a late call-up for the Ivorian's African Cup of Nations qualifier against

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

Antananarivo Antananarivo (French language, French: ''Tananarive'', ), also known by its colonial shorthand form Tana, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Madagascar. The administrative area of the city, known as Antananarivo-Renivohitra ("An ...

, due to injuries to other members of the squad.

Career statistics

* All European competition includes: Champions League, Champions League qualifying, Europa League and Europe League qualifying

International goals

Honours

Club

ASEC Mimosas * Côte d'Ivoire Premier Division: 2004, 2005, 2006 * Côte d'Ivoire Cup: 2005 * Coupe Houphouët-Boigny: 2004, 2006 Rosenborg *

Championship: 2009 Ivory Coast * Africa Cup of Nations runner-up:

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ya Konan, Didier Living people 1984 births Sportspeople from Abidjan Association football forwards Ivorian footballers Ivory Coast international footballers Ittihad FC players Hannover 96 players Rosenborg BK players ASEC Mimosas players Ivorian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Norway Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in Saudi Arabia Eliteserien players Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Bundesliga players Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in Norway 2012 Africa Cup of Nations players 2013 Africa Cup of Nations players 2014 FIFA World Cup players Saudi Professional League players Ligue 1 (Ivory Coast) players