Abdoulay Konko Faye was born in Marseille, on March 9, 1989. He is French of Senegalese and Moroccan origins.
He started his football at Martigues, near Marseille, in 2000. He then arrived in Italy at a very young age when he joined Genoa youth sector between 2000 and 2002. He then joined Juventus youth side in 2002. In Turin he played for the "Primavera" (U-19's) and in 2003 was often called up to the first squad but without ever making his debut.
In 2004 Juventus loaned Konko to Crotone in Serie B where he found a young manager Gian Piero Gasperini. He stayed two years in Calabria playing 74 games for the" Pitagorici" (The Pythagoreans) and scored 7 goals.
In 2006 he joined Siena in Serie A. He played 14 games and scored his first top flight goal against Messina.
In the summer of 2007 he joined Genoa who, already owning 50%, bought the other half too. With the Rossoblu he was reunited with manager Gasperini. Konko played 37 Serie A games with 2 goals (Inter, Palermo) and 2 in Coppa Italia. The "Grifone" (The Griffin) finished a respectable 10th.
In 2008 Konko went for the Spanish Liga experience joining Sevilla. He stayed in the Andalusian capital for two and a half seasons. He made 44 liga appearances (3 goals), 9 in the Copa del Rey, 5 in the Champions League (1 goal versus Rangers Glasgow) and 9 in the UEFA/ Europa League. In Spain he won a Copa del Rey in 2010
In January 2011 Konko returned to Italy and Genoa. The Genoese club paid 6 million Euros and in his half season back with the "Vecchio Balordo" (The Old Fool) he played 13 league games. The Rossoblu under Davide Ballardini (Gasperini had been sacked after 10 games) finished 10th.
In the summer 2011 Konko joined Lazio for 5 million Euros and signed a 4-year contract. In his first year in Rome he played under manager Edy Reja and Lazio finished 4th. Konko played 26 league games, 1 in Coppa Italia and 5 in the Europa League.
The following year Vladimir Petković arrived and Konko still got his 25 league games with 1 goal (Cagliari), 3 in Coppa Italia (including final) and 6 in the Europa League. Lazio had a mediocre season in Serie A but experienced the ultimate joy on May 26 when they beat eternal rivals Roma to lift the Coppa Italia.
The 2013-14 season was problematic with a change of manager after 17 matches (Petkovic to Reja). Konko played 21 league games, 2 in Coppa Italia and 3 in Europa League. Lazio finished 9th in Serie A.
The following year would be Konko's least active at Lazio. Under Stefano Pioli he fell behind in the pecking order and along with some injuries this meant he only got 2 league appearances and 3 in Coppa Italia. Lazio however had an excellent season and came third, qualifying for the Champions League. They also reached the Coppa Italia final but lost 2-1 to Juventus in extra time (with the sadly famous double post hit by Lazio's Djordjevic).
In his fifth and last year for Lazio, 2015-16, he played a little more regularly. Lazio again had some managerial turmoil changing from Pioli to Simone Inzaghi after 31 games. Konko played 18 times in Serie A, 2 in Coppa Italia and 9 in the Europa League. Lazio came 8th.
In 2016 Konko left the capital and joined Atalanta in Bergamo. Here he was reunited yet again with manager Gasperini. He played 10 league games and 1 in Coppa Italia scoring 1 goal (Juventus). Atalanta had a good season and came 4th. This was Konko's last team as he then retired at the relatively young age of 33.
Konko was eligible to play for three national teams; France, Senegal and Morocco but despite being called up by both African Federations he never played for them so as not to upset his parents.
Since retiring Konko has gone into coaching. In January 2021 he re-joined Genoa as manager of the U-17's. In January 2022 he briefly took over the first team between Andriy Shevchenko's sacking and the arrival of German Alexander Blessin. Konko's only game unfortunately coincided with a 6-0 defeat by Fiorentina. He then returned to the Genoa U-17's. In September 2022 he was enrolled in the UEFA Pro course for managers, the highest qualification for a manager.
At Lazio Konko has his place in history guaranteed. He will forever be remembered as part of the 2013 Coppa Italia winning team. The 26th May is considered one of the high points of Lazio’s history and Konko was a protagonist playing the whole 95 minutes earning himself and that team eternal glory.
He played 126 games for Lazio (92 in Serie A) as right full-back. He was a reliable player, athletic and fast. He was good at pushing forward and possessed accurate crossing skills. On the down side he was injury prone and sometimes seemed to lack initiative settling for a solid, decent game rather than an excellent one. However, he had a good career on the light blue and white side of Rome and could have won more had Lazio not lost 3 finals (2 Supercoppa and 1 Coppa Italia - all against Juventus). For Lazio fans however the one that had to be won was won and Konko was there.
Lazio Career
Season | Total appearances (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Europa League |
2011-12 | 32 | 26 | 1 | 5 |
2012-13 | 34 (1) | 25 (1) | 3 | 6 |
2013-14 | 26 | 21 | 2 | 3 |
2014-15 | 5 | 2 | 3 | - |
2015-16 | 29 | 18 | 2 | 9 |
Total | 126 (1) | 92 (1) | 11 | 23 |
Sources
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