View source for Khalilou Fadiga

{{short description|Senegalese footballer (born 1974)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name = Khalilou Fadiga
| image = 
| fullname = 
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1974|12|30|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Dakar]], Senegal
| height = 1.88 m
| position = [[Midfielder]]
| youthyears1 = 1989–1990
| youthclubs1 = [[Paris Saint-Germain Academy|Paris Saint-Germain]]
| youthyears2 = 1991–1992
| youthclubs2 = [[Red Star F.C.|Red Star]]
| youthyears3 = 1992–1994
| youthclubs3 = [[R.F.C. de Liège|RFC Liège]]
| years1 = 1994–1995
| clubs1 = [[R.F.C. de Liège|RFC Liège]]
| caps1 = 26
| goals1 = 5
| years2 = 1995–1997
| clubs2 = [[K.V.S.K. United Overpelt-Lommel|Lommel]]
| caps2 = 48
| goals2 = 2
| years3 = 1997–2001
| clubs3 = [[Club Brugge KV|Club Brugge]]
| caps3 = 71
| goals3 = 13
| years4 = 2000
| clubs4 = → [[AJ Auxerre|Auxerre]] (loan)
| caps4 = 21
| goals4 = 1
| years5 = 2001–2003
| clubs5 = [[AJ Auxerre|Auxerre]]
| caps5 = 61
| goals5 = 9
| years6 = 2003–2004
| clubs6 = [[F.C. Internazionale Milano|Internazionale]]
| caps6 = 0
| goals6 = 0
| years7 = 2004–2006
| clubs7 = [[Bolton Wanderers F.C.|Bolton Wanderers]]
| caps7 = 13
| goals7 = 1
| years8 = 2005
| clubs8 = → [[Derby County F.C.|Derby County]] (loan)
| caps8 = 4
| goals8 = 0
| years9 = 2007
| clubs9 = [[Coventry City F.C.|Coventry City]]
| caps9 = 6
| goals9 = 0
| years10 = 2008
| clubs10 = [[K.A.A. Gent|Gent]]
| caps10 = 17
| goals10 = 0
| years11 = 2008
| clubs11 = [[K.F.C. Germinal Beerschot|Germinal Beerschot]]
| caps11 = 10
| goals11 = 0
| years12 = 2011
| clubs12 = [[KSV Temse]]
| caps12 = 0
| goals12 = 0
| totalcaps = 277
| totalgoals = 31
| nationalyears1 = 2000–2008
| nationalteam1 = [[Senegal national football team|Senegal]]
| nationalcaps1 = 37
| nationalgoals1 = 4
}}

'''Khalilou Fadiga''' (born 30 December 1974) is a Senegalese former professional [[Association football|footballer]] who played as a [[midfielder]].

He started his youth career at the Paris-based clubs [[Paris Saint-Germain F.C.|Paris Saint Germain]] and [[Red Star F.C.|Red Star]] before going to [[FC Liège]] in the Belgian League. He made his senior debut at [[FC Liège]] in the 1994–1995 season before playing for Lommel ([[KVSK United]]) and Club Brugge. After a loan spell with Auxerre in 2000, he signed permanently for the club in 2001.

In the summer of 2003, he was signed by Inter. At Inter, doctors discovered that he had heart problems and he never appeared for the team. He opted not to retire. After leaving Inter, he had brief stints at Bolton, Derby County, Coventry City, Gent, Germinal Beerschot and KSV Temse.

He earned 37 caps for the Senegal national team. He was part of the Senegal team that defeated reigning champions France in the opening fixture of the [[2002 FIFA World Cup|2002 World Cup]] and made it to the quarter-finals. He was also part of the team that finished runner-up in the [[2002 African Cup of Nations]].

==Club career==

===Early career===
Fadiga moved to France when he was six years old. Fadiga began his career at [[Paris Saint-Germain F.C.|Paris Saint-Germain]] in France but failed to make an impression, and so was transferred to fellow Parisian club, [[Red Star 93|Red Star]], before moving to Belgian club [[RFC Liège]].

===Lommel===
It was in Belgium that he found the profile that was to launch his international career. After one season he moved from [[FC Liège]] to Lommel, which is now [[KVSK United]]. He played two seasons at Lommel before he was spotted by [[Club Brugge KV|Club Brugge]].

===Club Brugge===
Fadiga quickly became a fan favorite. He scored nine goals in 67 appearances. In September 2000, the midfielder returned to France when he signed for [[AJ Auxerre|Auxerre]].

===Auxerre===
In all, he played in 82 league games for the French club, scoring 10 goals, as well as appearing in the [[UEFA Champions League|Champions League]] and [[UEFA Cup]] during season 2002–03. In his final season at Auxerre, he helped them win the [[2002–03 Coupe de France]], playing in the final as they defeated [[Paris Saint-Germain F.C.|Paris Saint-Germain]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.europe1.fr/sport/psg-auxerre-cetait-deja-il-y-a-12-ans-1339522 |title=PSG-Auxerre, c'était déjà il y a 12 ans |website=europe1.fr |date=28 May 2015 |access-date=8 September 2019}}</ref>

===Internazionale===
Fadiga moved to [[Internazionale Milano F.C.|Internazionale]] in the summer of 2003, but the discovery of heart problems did not allow him to feature for the Italian club, apart from appearing in a few friendly games during the summer. He was released from the [[San Siro (stadium)|San Siro]] side after just one season but decided against retirement despite his heart problems.

===Bolton Wanderers===
English club [[Bolton Wanderers FC|Bolton Wanderers]] signed Fadiga for the 2004–05 season after he passed a medical. However, before he made an appearance for Bolton, he collapsed prior to a match in the [[EFL Cup|Carling Cup]] at home to [[Tottenham Hotspur F.C.]] in October,<ref>{{Cite news |date=28 October 2004 |title=Health fears Bolton's Fadiga collapses before kick-off |url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2004/oct/28/newsstory.sport8 |work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref> and had to be fitted with a [[defibrillator]] due to an irregular heartbeat. Despite stating his desire to return to the game, medical specialists urged him to retire, warning that if during a game his chest was knocked the defibrillator could fail, leading to instant death. However, following a period of rest and passing a medical, Fadiga returned to the Bolton squad in early 2005 and played in five games.

At the start of the 2005–06 campaign, Fadiga was loaned to [[Derby County F.C.|Derby County]] of the [[Football League Championship]], making four appearances. On his return to the [[Reebok Stadium]], he took part in ten games, two of them in the [[UEFA Cup]], before eventually being released in May 2006.

===Coventry City===
Without a club at the start of the 2006–07 season, he went on trial with [[Portsmouth F.C.|Portsmouth]] and played for their reserve team. He also had trials at [[Watford F.C.|Watford]] and [[Hull City A.F.C.|Hull City]], before eventually signing a four-month contract with [[Coventry City F.C.|Coventry City]] on 23 February 2007. In April 2007, he suffered a serious achilles injury in the home game against Preston, and it ended his time at Coventry.

===Return to Belgium===
He returned to his wife's homeland, signing with [[AA Gent]]. After one year, he moved in June 2008 to [[K.F.C. Germinal Beerschot|Germinal Beerschot]], but left Beerschot after short time in December 2008.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.transfermarketweb.com/?action=read&idsel=29226 | title = OFFICIAL, Fadiga quits Germinal Beerschot | access-date = 24 December 2008 | date = 23 December 2008 | publisher = transfermarketweb.com | archive-date = 25 December 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081225132543/http://www.transfermarketweb.com/?action=read&idsel=29226 | url-status = dead }}</ref> He signed for [[Belgian Third Division|Third Division]] club [[KSV Temse]] in 2011, before retiring from the game.

==Personal life==
Fadiga is married to a Belgian woman and has two kids, [[Noah Fadiga|Noah]] and Naoel. Noah followed in his footsteps in becoming a professional footballer. Fadiga also holds [[Belgian nationality law|Belgian nationality]].

==Career statistics==
:''Scores and results list Senegal's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Fadiga goal.''

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ List of international goals scored by Khalilou Fadiga<ref name="NFT">{{NFT|5823|accessdate=11 May 2017}}</ref>
|-
!scope="col"|No.
!scope="col"|Date
!scope="col"|Venue
!scope="col"|Opponent
!scope="col"|Score
!scope="col"|Result
!scope="col"|Competition
|-
| style="text-align:center"|1 || 7 February 2000 || [[National Stadium, Lagos|National Stadium]], [[Lagos]], Nigeria || {{fb|NGA}} || style="text-align:center"|1–0 || style="text-align:center"|1–2 {{aet}} || [[2000 Africa Cup of Nations]]
|-
| style="text-align:center"|2 || 21 July 2001 || [[Sam Nujoma Stadium]], [[Windhoek]], Namibia || {{fb|NAM}} || style="text-align:center"|4–0 || style="text-align:center"|5–0 || [[2002 FIFA World Cup qualification – CAF final round|2002 FIFA World Cup qualification]]
|-
| style="text-align:center"|3 || 6 June 2002 || [[Suwon World Cup Stadium]], [[Suwon]], South Korea || {{fb|URU}} || style="text-align:center"|1–0 || style="text-align:center"|3–3 || [[2002 FIFA World Cup Group A|2002 FIFA World Cup]]
|-
| style="text-align:center"|4 || 26 March 2005 || [[Stade Léopold Sédar Senghor]], [[Dakar]], Senegal || {{fb|LBR}} || style="text-align:center"|1–0 || style="text-align:center"|6–1 || [[2006 FIFA World Cup qualification – CAF Group 1|2006 FIFA World Cup qualification]]
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{LFP|fadiga-khalilou}}

{{2000 Africa Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament}}
{{Senegal squad 2000 African Cup of Nations}}
{{Senegal squad 2002 African Cup of Nations}}
{{Senegal Squad 2002 World Cup}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fadiga, Khalilou}}
[[Category:1974 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Men's association football midfielders]]
[[Category:Senegalese men's footballers]]
[[Category:Senegal men's international footballers]]
[[Category:Paris Saint-Germain FC players]]
[[Category:Red Star FC players]]
[[Category:Club Brugge KV players]]
[[Category:AJ Auxerre players]]
[[Category:Inter Milan players]]
[[Category:Bolton Wanderers F.C. players]]
[[Category:Derby County F.C. players]]
[[Category:Coventry City F.C. players]]
[[Category:2002 FIFA World Cup players]]
[[Category:French men's footballers]]
[[Category:French sportspeople of Senegalese descent]]
[[Category:Senegalese emigrants to France]]
[[Category:Naturalised citizens of Belgium]]
[[Category:Belgian people of Senegalese descent]]
[[Category:Belgian men's footballers]]
[[Category:Footballers from Dakar]]
[[Category:Footballers from Île-de-France]]
[[Category:Ligue 1 players]]
[[Category:Belgian Pro League players]]
[[Category:Premier League players]]
[[Category:KAA Gent players]]
[[Category:Beerschot A.C. players]]
[[Category:Senegalese expatriate men's footballers]]
[[Category:French expatriate men's footballers]]
[[Category:Belgian expatriate men's footballers]]
[[Category:Senegalese expatriate sportspeople in England]]
[[Category:Expatriate men's footballers in England]]
[[Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Italy]]
[[Category:2000 African Cup of Nations players]]
[[Category:Senegalese expatriate sportspeople in Italy]]
[[Category:French expatriate sportspeople in Italy]]
[[Category:Belgian expatriate sportspeople in Italy]]
[[Category:French expatriate sportspeople in England]]
[[Category:Belgian expatriate sportspeople in England]]
[[Category:2002 African Cup of Nations players]]
[[Category:English Football League players]]
[[Category:21st-century Senegalese sportsmen]]