Mbark Boussoufa

Moubarak "Mbark" Boussoufa (Arabic: مُبارك بوصوفة‎, born 15 August 1984) is a Moroccan-Dutch professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder. He won the Belgian Golden Shoe for the second time in 2010.[2] He represented the Morocco national team from 2006 to 2019 making 70 appearances and scoring 8 goals.

Mbark Boussoufa
Boussoufa with Morocco in 2018
Personal information
Full name Moubarak Boussoufa
Date of birth (1984-08-15) 15 August 1984
Place of birth Amsterdam, Netherlands
Height 1.67 m (5 ft 6 in)[1]
Position(s) Attacking midfielder, left winger
Youth career
1994–1995 Middenmeer
1995–1996 Fortius
1996–2001 Ajax
2001–2004 Chelsea
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2004–2006 Gent 59 (14)
2006–2011 Anderlecht 137 (43)
2011–2013 Anzhi Makhachkala 55 (8)
2013–2016 Lokomotiv Moscow 39 (3)
2016 → Gent (loan) 5 (2)
2016–2018 Al Jazira 37 (7)
2019 Al-Shabab 13 (1)
2019–2020 Al-Sailiya 15 (3)
National team
2006–2019 Morocco 70 (8)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23:08, 5 June 2020 (UTC)

Club career
Moubarak Boussoufa with Lokomotiv Moscow.

Boussoufa started off at the youth academy of Ajax Amsterdam before joining Chelsea F.C. He spent the 2005/06 season with K.A.A. Gent, winning several prizes in 2006: Belgian Golden Shoe, Belgian Footballer of the Year, Belgian Young Footballer of the Year and Belgian Ebony Shoe.

In June 2006, Boussoufa signed a four-year contract with R.S.C. Anderlecht after a €3.5 million transfer.[3] In his first season he was a regular in the title-clinching squad. He became a key player for the team that finished second in both the 2007–2008 and the 2008–09 seasons. Boussoufa was named Belgian Footballer of the Year for a second time after the 2008–09 season in which Anderlecht barely missed out on the title, losing the Championship play-off against Standard de Liège. The next year, he managed 14 goals and 24 assists which made him the most valuable player in Anderlecht's championship-winning squad. He was named Belgian Footballer of the Year for a second consecutive time and the third time overall. After the season, he renewed his contract with a significant raise, making him the best paid footballer in Belgium.[4] He won the Belgian Golden Shoe for the second time in 2010.[2]

In March 2011, Russian side FC Terek Grozny announced his signing,[5] but his transfer fell through three days later. Instead, Boussoufa signed for another Russian team, Anzhi Makhachkala.[6]

Boussoufa signed a three-year contract with FC Lokomotiv Moscow in August 2013.[7] With Lokomotiv he won the 2015 Russian Cup, scoring the second goal as they beat Kuban Krasnodar 3–1 after extra time in the final.[8] He returned to K.A.A. Gent on loan from in February 2016.[9]

In July 2016, Boussoufa signed a two-year contract with UAE club Al Jazira.[10] He made 16 appearances and scored three times as Al-Jazira went on to win the 2016-17 UAE Arabian Gulf League.[11][12]

On 3 January 2019, Boussoufa signed a contract until the end season with Saudi club Al-Shabab.[13]

International career

Eligible to play for both Morocco and The Netherlands, Boussoufa chose to represent Morocco and made his international debut against the USA on 23 May 2006.

Boussoufa has represented Morocco at Africa Cup of Nations tournaments; in 2012, 2017 and 2019.

In May 2018, he was named in Morocco's 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.[14]

On 5 July 2019, Boussoufa announced his retirement after Morocco's loss against Benin in the round of 16, 4–1 in penalties (following a 1–1 draw), in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.[15]

Career statistics

Club
As of 12 July 2019
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total Ref.
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Gent 2004–05 Belgian First Division 29530––325
2005–06 2894161–3811
2006–07 200020–40
Total 591417181007416 –
Anderlecht 2006–07 Belgian First Division 3387260–4610
2007–08 2257360–358
2008–09 33112020203911
2009–10 269411331055318
2010–11 23103091–3511
Total 1374323636412520858 –
Anzhi 2011–12 Russian Premier League 2541000133397
2012–13 26440142–446 [16]
2013–14 400000–40 [16]
Total 558501421338713 –
Lokomotiv Moscow 2013–14 Russian Premier League 2120000–212 [16]
2014–15 1713310–204 [16]
2015–16 100000–10 [16]
Total 393331000436 –
Gent 2015–16 Belgian Pro League 52006000112 [17]
Al Jazira 2016–17 UAE Pro-League 214534100308
2017–18 163507040323
Total 377103111406211 –
Al-Shabab 2018–19 Saudi Professional League 131200000151
Al-Sailiya 2019–20 Qatar Stars League 122210000153
Career total 347806214768298515110 –

International
Source:[18]
National teamYearAppsGoals
Morocco 200651
200720
200830
200950
201030
201173
201251
201300
201451
201510
201660
2017131
201880
201971
Total708

International goals

Scores and results list Morocco's goal tally first.

Honours

Club

RSC Anderlecht[19]

Anzhi Makhachkala

Lokomotiv Moscow

Al Jazira

Individual

References
  1. "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia – List of Players" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 4 June 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 June 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  2. "Mbark Boussoufa wins Golden Shoe 2010" Archived 21 January 2011 at the Wayback Machine (Dutch), Sporza, 19 January 2011
  3. "Boussoufa finalises switch to Anderlecht" Archived 16 September 2016 at the Wayback Machine by Fahd Chafik, Morocco Times, 7 June 2006, retrieved 11 June 2006
  4. "Boussoufa: Did Herman drink too much champagne?" (Dutch), Sporza, 27 April 2010
  5. Мбарк Буссуфа перешел в "Терек". (in Russian). FC Terek Grozny. Retrieved 7 March 2011.
  6. "Boussoufa moves to Anzhi, not to Grozny" (in Dutch). sporza.be. Archived from the original on 12 March 2011. Retrieved 10 March 2011.
  7. "Mbark Boussoufa in Loko!" (in Russian). fclm.ru. Archived from the original on 20 August 2013. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  8. uefa.com (21 May 2015). "Member associations - Russia - News – UEFA.com". UEFA.com. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
  9. "Welcome back Mbark!" (in Dutch). K.A.A. Gent. 2 February 2016. Archived from the original on 4 February 2016.
  10. Ten Cate krijgt bij Al-Jazira beschikking over Boussoufa - Voetbal International (in Dutch)
  11. Studios, XS. "Stats - Arabian Gulf League - UAE Pro League Committee". uae.agleague.ae. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
  12. Studios, XS. "UAE Pro League Committee". uae.agleague.ae. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
  13. "Moroccan international footballer Mbark Boussoufa joins Saudi club Al Shabab". yabiladi.com. 4 January 2019. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  14. Gleeson, Mark (17 May 2018). "Boufal left out by Morocco after Southampton fallout". Reuters. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
  15. "Africa Cup of Nations: Mbark Boussoufa retires from internationals after Morocco exit". BBC News. 6 July 2019.
  16. Mbark Boussoufa at Soccerway
  17. "Moubarak Boussoufa » Club matches". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
  18. Mbark Boussoufa at National-Football-Teams.com
  19. "RSC Anderlecht | Palmares".
  20. "Erelijst Trofee Jean-Claude Bouvy". Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  21. "Palmares Profvoetballer van het Jaar".
  22. "Homme de la saison belge".
  23. "Ebbenhouten schoen". Malinwa Statistics (in Dutch). 28 November 2011. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  24. "Winnaars Gouden Schoen".
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