Didier Ya Konan

Didier Ya Konan
	Ya Konan in 2015
Personal information
Full name	Didier Ya Konan
Date of birth	22 May 1984 (age 41)
Place of birth	Abidjan, Ivory Coast
Height	1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s)	Forward
Youth career
2003	ASEC Mimosas
Senior career*
Years	Team
2003–2006	ASEC Mimosas
2006–2009	Rosenborg
2009–2014	Hannover 96
2014–2015	Al-Ittihad
2015	Hannover 96
2015–2017	Fortuna Düsseldorf
Total
International career
2006–2014	Ivory Coast
	* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Didier Ya Konan (born 22 May 1984^[2]^[3]) is an Ivorian former professional footballer who played as a forward.

Club career

Ya Konan started his professional career at ASEC Mimosas in 2003. A club that previously had produced players as Kolo Touré and Didier Zokora. Ya Konan was joint top scorer in the African Champions League competition that season, with ASEC eventually failing in the semi finals, to Egyptian club Al Ahly.

In December 2006, he signed for Rosenborg,^[4] for a three-year contract in the Norwegian Premier League.

In January 2007, Ya Konan was nominated for the Ivorian Footballer of the Year award for 2006, which was eventually won by Chelsea 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.^[5]

On 11 August 2009, Ya Konan moved to Bundesliga side Hannover 96, initially signing a three-year contract.^[6]

Following the 2013–14 season he left Germany and completed a move to Al-Ittihad of the Saudi Professional League.

On 27 January 2015, he returned to Hannover 96, where he signed a one-year contract.^[7]

On 25 June 2015, Ya Konan signed a two-year deal with Fortuna Düsseldorf.^[8]

International career

Ya Konan was called up to the Ivory Coast national team for the 2008 African Cup of Nations qualifier against Gabon on 5 October 2006.^[9] 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 in Antananarivo, due to injuries to other members of the squad.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Season	Club	League			Cup		Europe		Total
Season	Club	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Rosenborg	2007^[10]	Tippeligaen	20	6			9	1	29	7
	2008^[10]		22	6	0	0	8	2	30	8
	2009^[10]		8	1	3	2	4	1	15	4
	Total		50	13	3	2	21	4	74	19
Hannover 96	2009–10^[11]	Bundesliga	25	9	0	0	0	0	25	9
	2010–11^[11]		28	14	1	0	0	0	29	14
	2011–12^[11]		28	6	1	0	12	1	41	7
	2012–13^[11]		27	7	3	0	10	4	40	11
	2013–14^[11]		16	3	0	0	0	0	16	3
	Total		124	39	5	0	22	5	151	44
Al-Ittihad	2014–15^[12]	Saudi Pro League	6	2			1	0	7	2
Hannover 96	2014–15^[11]	Bundesliga	7	1	0	0	0	0	7	1
Fortuna Düsseldorf	2015–16^[11]	2. Bundesliga	20	4	2	0	0	0	22	4
Career total			211	59	10	2	44	9	261	70

International

Scores and results list Ivory Coast's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Ya Konan goal.

List of international goals scored by Didier Ya Konan
No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	8 February 2011	Stade Georges Pompidou, Valence, France	Mali	1–0	1–0	Friendly
2	11 May 2011	Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Abidjan, Ivory Coast	Namibia	4–1	5–1	Friendly
3	5 June 2011	Stade de l'Amitié, Cotonou, Benin	Benin	1–0'	6–2	2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
4	10 August 2011	Stade de Genève, Geneva, Switzerland	Israel	1–0	4–3	Friendly
5	3 September 2011	Stade Amahoro, Kigali, Rwanda	Rwanda	4–0	5–0	2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
6	14 November 2012	Linzer Stadion, Linz, Austria	Austria	1–0	3–0	Friendly
7	14 January 2013	Al Nahyan Stadium, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates	Egypt	4–2	4–2	Friendly
8	26 January 2013	Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg, South Africa	Tunisia	3–0	3–0	2013 Africa Cup of Nations

Honours

ASEC Mimosas

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

Rosenborg

Norwegian Premier League Championship: 2009^[13]

Ivory Coast

Africa Cup of Nations runner-up: 2012^[14]^[15]

References

^ "List of Players" (PDF). Confederation of African Football (CAF). Retrieved 24 January 2013.
^ "Hannoverscher Sportverein von 1896 e.V." Archived from the original on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
^ "Current Squad (from 07/2011)". Hannover 96. Archived from the original on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 10 August 2012.
^ "Ivorian Ya Konan joins Rosenborg". BBC Sport. 29 December 2006. Retrieved 17 March 2012.
^ "Drogba swoops Ivorian award". BBC Sport. 6 January 2007. Retrieved 17 March 2012.
^ "Hannover 96 holt Didier Ya Konan" (in German). Hannover 96. 11 August 2009. Archived from the original on 26 June 2015. Retrieved 17 March 2012.
^ "Ya Konan kehrt zu 96 zurück – Vertrag bis Saisonende". Hannover 96. 27 January 2015. Archived from the original on 27 January 2015. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
^ "Ya Konan wird Fortune" [Ya Konan is going to become a "Fortune"] (in German). kicker. 25 June 2015. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
^ "Ivory Coast drop Kalou". BBC Sport. 5 October 2006. Retrieved 17 March 2012.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Didier Ya Konan". Norsk & Internasjonal Fotballstatistikk (in Norwegian). NTB.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g "Didier Ya Konan » Club matches". worldfootball.net. 25 September 2013. Retrieved 25 April 2025.
^ Didier Ya Konan at Soccerway
^ Berre, Tor (19 October 2006). "Mestvinnende spillere" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 4 October 2009.
^ "AfricanFootball - Cote d'Ivoire".
^ "2012 Africa Cup of Nations matches".