Abdoulaye Konko Faye (born 9 March 1984) is a French football

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

and former player who played as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. He is a youth coach at

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

Playing career

Juventus

A youth product of Juventus, Konko was loaned to Crotone with Giovanni Bartolucci, Tomas Guzman,

Antonio Mirante Antonio Mirante (born 8 July 1983) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club AC Milan. Club career Juventus and loans After starting his professional career with Juventus, Mirante was loaned to Crotone in 2004, ...

Matteo Paro Matteo Paro (born 17 March 1983) is an Italian former footballer who played as a midfielder. Career Juventus Paro made his Serie A debut on 17 May 2003, in a 2–1 loss to Reggina. Chievo In the summer of 2003, Juventus sold half of Paro's con ...

and

Daniele Gastaldello Daniele Gastaldello (; born 25 June 1983) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a defender. Club career Gastaldello was bought by Juventus in 2002 from Serie C2 side Calcio Padova; in that season he played in the Prima ...

in 2004 and with Guzman in 2005. He was sold in co-ownership deal to

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centur ...

in 2006, valued €500,000, and moved along with Bartolucci for €500 and

Andrea Masiello Andrea Masiello (born 5 February 1986) is an Italian professional footballer, who plays as a centre-back for club Südtirol. He is perhaps best known for match-fixing in the Derby of Puglia, whilst playing for Bari, scoring an own goal to g ...

for €350,000, as well as

Douglas Packer Douglas Ricardo Packer (born 13 March 1987), better known as Packer, is a Brazilian footballer who plays as a midfielder for Brazilian club Marcílio Dias. Club career Born in Indaial, Santa Catarina, Packer started his career at Ipatinga. He ...

on loan. On the opening game of the season, Konko made his debut for the club, coming on for

Luca Antonini Luca Antonini (; born 4 August 1982) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a defender. He is best known for his five–season stint at A.C. Milan, for which he played from 2008 until 2013. During that time, he made 111 app ...

, in a 2–1 win over ChievoVerona; then scored his first goal in a 3–1 win over Messina on 14 October 2006. On 10 December 2006, Konko received a red card, after a second bookable offence, in a 0–0 draw against

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s, ...

Genoa

On 25 January 2007, Konko was sold by Juventus to

for €1 million as part of the deal for

Domenico Criscito Domenico "Mimmo" Criscito (; born 30 December 1986) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a left-back. He is set to join club Genoa on 2 January 2023. A versatile player, Criscito is effective both offensively and defensively and i ...

. Konko became owned by Genoa and Siena. In June 2007 Genoa acquired Masiello but forced to sell Konko after failing to bid him from a closed tender for €823,787. In July 2007 Genoa re-acquired Konko for €1.2 million (thus cost Genoa €376,213 in net by deducting June revenue). As part of the deal,

Fernando Forestieri Fernando Martin Forestieri (born 15 January 1990) is a professional footballer who plays as a second striker for Malaysia Super League club Johor Darul Ta'zim. Born in Argentina, he is a former Italy youth international. Club career Born in Ros ...

became co-owned by Siena and Genoa for €1.7 million.A.C. Siena SpA ''bilancio'' (financial report and accounts) on 30 June 2008
Italian CCIAA
/ref> On the opening game of the season, on 26 August 2007, Konko made his debut in a 3–0 defeat to

A.C. Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional Association football, football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 ...

; two months on, Konko scored his first goal for the club in a 4–1 loss against

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is ...

. His second goal was followed up on 22 March 2008, in 3–2 win over Palermo six-month later, since scoring his first. Five weeks later, his third came in a 1–0 win against his former club, Siena. At the end of the season, Russian clubs

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow (russian: ЦСКА Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet era, it was a central piece of the big So ...

and

Lokomotiv Moscow FC Lokomotiv Moscow (''FC Lokomotiv Moskva'', russian: link=no, Футбольный клуб "Локомотив" Москва, ) is a Russian professional football club based in Moscow. Lokomotiv have won the Russian Premier League on three oc ...

confirmed their interests to sign Konko.

Sevilla

In the summer of 2008, Konko was transferred to

Sevilla Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

for €9 million and was a replacement for

Daniel Alves Daniel Alves da Silva (born 6 May 1983), known simply as Dani Alves (), is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Liga MX club UNAM and the Brazil national team. Widely considered one of the greatest full-backs of ...

, who joined

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. Konko signed a five-year contract with Sevilla and had a €60 million release clause written into his contract. On the opening game of the season, Konko made his league debut in a 1–1 draw against

Racing Santander Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Spain, Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Span ...

. In the first round of UEFA Cup, Konko made his European debut in a 2–0 win over Red Bull Salzburg. On 5 October 2008, Konko provided assist for Javier Chevantón, with a cross, in a 4–0 win over Athletic Bilbao. In the first half of the season, Konko was often used in and out been used in the first team, having competed against

Aquivaldo Mosquera Aquivaldo Mosquera Romaña (born 22 June 1981) is a Colombian former professional footballer. He also holds Mexican citizenship. Club career Mosquera made his debut in 2000 playing for Atlético Nacional. He would make over 150 appearances for ...

. However, in January, Konko injured his adductor thigh, having recently recovered from an injury, similar to his thigh In late February, Konko was able to make his return in a 2–1 win over Bilbao on 28 February 2009. Three months later, towards the end of the season, Konko received a red, after a second bookable offence, in a 2–0 win over

Villarreal Villarreal ( ca-valencia , Vila-real) is a city and municipality in the province of Castellón which is part of the Valencian Community in the east of Spain. The town is located at 42 m above sea level, 7 km to the south of the province's ...

on 3 May 2009. The next season, with the departure of Mosquera, Konko scored his first goal for the club, in a 4–1 win over

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system. Zaragoza holds its home games at L ...

on 12 September 2009. Several weeks later, in the Champions League, Konko scored his first goal in a 4–1 win over Rangers. However, during the match, Konko made controversy when he fouled Steven Naismith in the penalty box but wasn't given. A penalty denial was criticised by Rangers manager

Walter Smith Walter Ferguson Smith (24 February 1948 – 26 October 2021) was a Scottish association football player, manager and director, primarily associated with his two spells as manager of Glasgow club Rangers. A defender, Smith's playing car ...

. Like last season, Konko injuries was back after suffering a recurrent hip adductor injury, playing less often in the season. On 8 May 2010, Konko received a red, after a second bookable offence, in a 3–2 defeat to La Liga Champion Barcelona and miss the last game of the season. The next season, Konko scored an own goal in a Supercopa de España second leg, in a 4–0 loss against Barcelona. Konko scored a brace in a 4–0 win over Levante on the opening game of the season. Soon after, Konko injuries happened again. On 30 October 2010, like last season, Konko received a red again, in a match against Barcelona, after a second bookable offence, in a 5–0 defeat.

Return to Genoa

On 19 January 2011, Konko returned to Genoa for €5.25 million.Genoa C.F.C. SpA ''bilancio'' (financial report and accounts) on 31 December 2011
Italian CCIAA
/ref> Konko played 13 matches in

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...

for the rossoblu, before again leaving the club.

Lazio

At the end of the season, he moved to

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, for €4 million, signing a five-year contract and was a replacement for Stephan Lichtsteiner, who joined Konko's former club, Juventus. On the opening game of the season, on 9 September 2011, Konko made his debut in a 2–2 draw against A.C. Milan. Five month later, Konko received a straight red card after a professional foul, in a 3–2 win over

Cesena Cesena (; rgn, Cisêna) is a city and ''comune'' in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, served by Autostrada A14 (Italy), Autostrada A14, and located near the Apennine Mountains, about from the Adriatic Sea. The total population is 97,137. ...

on 9 February 2012. In his first season, Konko made twenty six appearances for the club and had become a regular in the first team. The next season, Konko provided an assist for

Miroslav Klose Miroslav Josef Klose (, pl, Mirosław Józef Klose; born 9 June 1978 as Mirosław Marian Klose) is a German professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of Austrian Bundesliga club Rheindorf Altach. A striker, Klose ...

, in Europa League Qualification Round first leg, in a 2–0 win over Mura 05. Eventually, Lazio went through to the group stage. In mid November, Konko suffered an injury. On 5 January 2013, Konko scored his first goal for Lazio in a 2–1 win over Cagliari.

Atalanta

Konko signed for

Atalanta Atalanta (; grc-gre, Ἀταλάντη, Atalantē) meaning "equal in weight", is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia (region), Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene (mythology ...

as a free agent on 19 August 2016.

Coaching career

In January 2021, he was hired by

as the new coach of the Under-17 team. On 15 January 2022 he was named caretaker manager in charge of the first team, following the dismissal of Andriy Shevchenko. He guided Genoa for a single Serie A game to

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fol ...

; his caretaker spell ended four days later, following the appointment of Alexander Blessin as the club's new permanent head coach.

Honours

Sevilla *

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...

: 2009–10 Lazio *

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

Footnotes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Konko, Abdoulay Living people 1984 births Footballers from Marseille Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in Spain French footballers French expatriate footballers French sportspeople of Senegalese descent French sportspeople of Moroccan descent Men's association football fullbacks A.C.R. Siena 1904 players Juventus FC players F.C. Crotone players Genoa C.F.C. players Sevilla FC players SS Lazio players Atalanta BC players Serie A players Serie B players La Liga players