Bakari Koné

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Personal information
Bakari Koné
Full name	Bakari Koné
Date of birth	September 17, 1981 (age 25)
Place of birth	Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire
Height	163 cm
Nickname	Baky
Position	forward
Club information
Current club	OGC Nice
Youth clubs
	ASEC Abidjan
Professional clubs*
Years	Club	Apps (goals)
2001 - 02 2002 - 03 2003 - 05 2005 -	ASEC Abidjan Al-Ittihad Lorient OGC Nice	N/A (N/A) N/A (0) 68 (34) 46 (9)
National team**
2004 -	Cote d'Ivoire	19 (4)
* Professional club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 28 November 2006. ** National team caps and goals correct as of 21 June 2006.

Bakari Koné (born September 17, 1981 in Abidjan) is a football striker who plays for the Côte d'Ivoire national team.

Like many other Ivorian stars, he began his career in the famed youth academy at ASEC Abidjan in his home country. His next club was Al-Ittihad in Qatar, but he didn't rise to fame until the 2003/04 season, when he joined FC Lorient. Koné scored 10 goals the first season, and his 24 goals the following season earned him the Player of the Year title in the Ligue 2. Koné, however, was ready to move to a bigger club, and chose OGC Nice.

1 International career
- 1.1 2006 African Cup of Nations
- 1.2 FIFA World Cup 2006
2 Name
3 Family
4 Transfer Talk
5 External Links

[edit] International career

[edit] 2006 African Cup of Nations

In the 2006 African Cup of Nations, Bakari Koné scored a vital equaliser against Cameroon in the quarter-final. His team won the penalty shootout 12-11. However, in the final, he was one of two Ivorian players to have his penalty saved.

[edit] FIFA World Cup 2006

Bakari Koné played his first FIFA World Cup match for the Côte d'Ivoire against the Netherlands on 16 June 2006. He scored his first FIFA World Cup goal in that match, where Côte d' Ivoire lost 2-1. Koné's goal came after a magnificent run which got ITV commentator John Helm excited, yelling "Can he finish? Can he finish? What a goal!".

[edit] Name

Bakari Koné is correct (as opposed to Bakary Koné).

[edit] Family

He has nine brothers and five sisters. He is the older brother of fellow Ivorian international Arouna Koné, who is a striker for Dutch Eredivisie club PSV Eindhoven. He also has another brother who plays football, Karamoko Koné, who is part of the reserve team setup at Dutch Eredivisie club Roda JC.

[edit] Transfer Talk

In October 2006 Koné was quoted saying that he was interested in plying his trade in the English Premiership. Reportedly, Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger referred to the striker as a 'phenomenon', leading to speculation that Koné would soon be leaving his Cote D'Azur based club for England.

[edit] External Links

	Côte d'Ivoire squad - 2006 FIFA World Cup
1 Tizié \| 2 Akalé \| 3 Boka \| 4 K. Touré \| 5 Zokora \| 6 Kouassi \| 7 Faé \| 8 Kalou \| 9 A. Koné \| 10 Yapi Yapo \| 11 Drogba \| 12 Méïté \| 13 Zoro \| 14 B. Koné \| 15 Dindane \| 16 Gnanhouan \| 17 Domoraud \| 18 Keïta \| 19 Y. Touré \| 20 Demel \| 21 Eboué \| 22 Romaric \| 23 Barry \| Coach: Michel