English Player Blamed for Istiqlal's Second Goal

Ahmed Koné, Al-Gharafa's young goalkeeper, does not hold Qatari citizenship, despite what his presence in Qatari football might suggest. He holds English nationality.

According to "Varzesh Se", Ahmed Kune was one of the factors influencing the result of the match during the 2-1 defeat of Al-Gharafa against Esteghlal, although not in the way that the fans of the Qatari team expected. The 21-year-old goalkeeper's mistake on Hossein Gudarzi's shot resulted in the second goal and the victory of the Blues again.

Kone was born on October 21, 2004 in England and has British and Ivory Coast citizenship. This 191 cm goalkeeper is also known as Ahmad Bashir Ali in Qatari football, and this may have caused some to consider him a Qatari player.

The English history of this player is related to the Charlton Athletic Academy. Kone joined Charlton from the under-15 category and worked in the club's under-18 team until 2023. At times, he was included in the list of the senior team and was even a candidate to be invited to the England under-21 national team, but this did not happen.

This goalkeeper left England for Qatar in the summer of 2023 and joined Al Khor. After two seasons, he went to Al-Gharafa and last season he played on loan for Al-Siliyeh. At the end of his loan period, Koneh returned to Al-Gharafa and got the opportunity to join this team in the new season.

Koneh's bitter night against Esteghlal ended in the 60th minute. After a mistake by Ayoub Mohammad Al-Alawi, Hossein Gudarzi took possession of the ball and shot from behind the penalty area. The goalkeeper of Al-Gharafa recognized the path of the shot, but could not block the ball properly and the shot entered the goal after hitting his hands. The mistake that made Esteghlal's winning goal and caused Koneh to be one of the weakest players on the field with a low score according to sites like Sofascore.