Francis Koné

Francis Koné
Personal information
Full name	Francis Kouassi Koné
Date of birth	20 November 1990 (age 34)
Place of birth	Bondoukou, Ivory Coast
Height	1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s)	Forward
Team information
Current team	Kedah Darul Aman
Number	9
Youth career
	Séwé Sports
Senior career*
Years	Team
2007–2008	Rajpracha
2008–2009	Nakhon Pathom United
2009–2012	PTT Rayong
2012–2013	Al-Musannah
2013	Navy
2013–2015	Olhanense
2015	Honvéd
2015–2017	Slovácko
2017–2019	Zbrojovka Brno
2020	Kuala Lumpur City
2021	Negeri Sembilan
2022	Sarawak United
2023–	Kedah Darul Aman
International career‡
2013	Togo
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 4 August 2021; ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 7 July 2017

Francis Kouassi Koné (born 20 November 1990) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for Malaysia Super League club Kedah Darul Aman.

He is cap-tied to Togo,^[1] where his mother was born.^[2]

Club career

Slovácko

In February 2017, during a match against Bohemians 1905, Koné saved the life of opposing goalkeeper Martin Berkovec by preventing him from swallowing his tongue after he was knocked unconscious. Koné was labelled a hero and in an interview after the match revealed that it was the fourth time he saved a player's life by pulling out their tongue.^[3]^[4] For his act, he was awarded the 2017 FIFA Fair Play Award.

Kuala Lumpur City F.C.

In January 2020, Kone signed for Kuala Lumpur City. The club was recently relegated from the top division and was looking to strengthen the team forward line. Kone scored on his debut for Kuala Lumpur FA in the 89th minutes, giving Kuala Lumpur a valuable point. He scored two more goals in the next 3 matches before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the league to be suspended. Despite the reduced number of games played due to the pandemic, he still managed to become the team's top goal scorer by the end of the season.

References

^ Francis Koné – FIFA competition record (archived)
^ "Koné, la reconnaissance méritée" (in French). FIFA.com. 18 April 2017.
^ Flanagan, Aaron (26 February 2017). "Hero footballer saves opposing goalkeeper's life by preventing him swallowing his tongue after horror collision". Daily Mirror.
^ Holyman, Ian (27 February 2017). "Francis Kone saves unconscious goalkeeper's life after on-pitch collision. For the act, he won the 2017 FIFA Best Fairplay Award". ESPN FC.

External links

Francis Koné – Czech First League statistics at Fotbal DNES (in Czech)
Francis Koné at National-Football-Teams.com
Francis Koné Archived 14 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine 1. FC Slovácko profile

[1] Francis Koné – FIFA competition record (archived)

[2] "Koné, la reconnaissance méritée" (in French). FIFA.com. 18 April 2017.

[3] Flanagan, Aaron (26 February 2017). "Hero footballer saves opposing goalkeeper's life by preventing him swallowing his tongue after horror collision". Daily Mirror.

[4] Holyman, Ian (27 February 2017). "Francis Kone saves unconscious goalkeeper's life after on-pitch collision. For the act, he won the 2017 FIFA Best Fairplay Award". ESPN FC.

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