Mounir El Hamdaoui
El Hamdaoui playing for Morocco in 2009
Personal information
Full name Mounir El Hamdaoui[1]
Date of birth (1984-07-14) 14 July 1984
Place of birth Rotterdam, Netherlands
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
1996–2001 Excelsior
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2001–2005 Excelsior 74 (32)
2005–2006 Tottenham Hotspur 0 (0)
2005–2006 → Derby County (loan) 9 (3)
2006–2007 Willem II 6 (3)
2007–2010 AZ 81 (50)
2010–2012 Ajax 26 (13)
2012–2015 Fiorentina 22 (4)
2013–2014 → Málaga (loan) 13 (3)
2015–2016 AZ 7 (1)
2016 Umm Salal 9 (7)
2016–2017 Al Taawoun 12 (5)
2018 Twente 5 (0)
2018–2019 Excelsior 26 (4)
2019–2020 Al Kharaitiyat 18 (9)
2020–2022 DHSC 21 (5)
Total 329 (139)
International career
2004–2005 Netherlands U21 3 (1)
2009–2014 Morocco 16 (3)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Mounir El Hamdaoui (Arabic: منير الحمداوي; born 14 July 1984) is a former professional footballer who played as a forward. Born in the Netherlands, he represented Morocco internationally.

He played for clubs such as Tottenham Hotspur, Ajax and Málaga CF, as well as Excelsior, Derby County, Willem II, AZ Alkmaar and Fiorentina. In the 2008–09 Eredivisie, El Hamdaoui was named Dutch Footballer of the Year and became the Eredivisie top scorer as AZ Alkmaar won their second league title in their history.

Born in the Netherlands, El Hamdaoui played for their under-21 side. He decided to represent Morocco, for whom he made his debut in February 2009 in a match against the Czech Republic, and played at the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations.

Club career

Excelsior

Born in Rotterdam, Netherlands, El Hamdaoui went through the youth academy of S.B.V. Excelsior, where he played together with his youth friends Robin van Persie and Saïd Boutahar.[2] In the 2001–02 season the player made his debut for the Rotterdam side under manager Adrie Koster, scoring two goals in six appearances. El Hamdaoui played a total of 74 league matches for Excelsior, scoring 32 goals. Excelsior big brother Feyenoord was also interested in signing the player, and El Hamdaoui trained a number of times with Feyenoord's first squad, but a transfer was never realised.[2]

Tottenham Hotspur

In January 2005 English club Tottenham Hotspur, managed by fellow Dutchman Martin Jol, signed El Hamdaoui from Excelsior on a three-and-a-half-year contract.[3] He never made an appearance in the Premier League.

Derby County

In September 2005 El Hamdaoui joined Derby County on loan. He made six appearances, scoring two goals before a dislocated shoulder forced the loan to be cut short.[4] Derby continued to monitor his progress and in January 2006 he returned to Pride Park for another loan spell. This too was to be disrupted due to injury, a groin problem forcing him to return to Tottenham in early March. This second loan deal was not cancelled, but after returning to duty with Derby in April, a further injury problem prematurely ended his season.

Willem II

In June 2006, El Hamdaoui moved back to his native Netherlands to play for Willem II, due to a lack of opportunities at Spurs. On 19 August 2006, he marked his league debut for Willem II by scoring in their 2–1 victory against FC Utrecht.[5] After an impressive start scoring three goals in four matches he again suffered an injury which prevented him playing for nine months.[2][6] El Hamdaoui only played seven competitive matches for the Tilburg side, scoring three goals. In his second season at the Willem II, he left the club after two league matches to join AZ.

AZ

El Hamdaoui with AZ

On 31 August 2007, El Hamdaoui signed with AZ Alkmaar until 2011 as a replacement for Danny Koevermans who left for PSV Eindhoven.[7] On 16 September 2007, he scored on his debut for AZ in a league match against Sparta Rotterdam.[8] By the end of his first season at AZ, he had scored 7 goals in 23 league matches.

The 2008–09 season proved to be an excellent one for El Hamdaoui and AZ. He scored in the first game of the season against NAC Breda, although AZ lost 2–1.[9] By the winter break, he had scored 16 goals in 17 league matches, including a hattrick against his old club Willem II.[10][11] At the winter break, AZ was leading the league table, and El Hamdaoui was leading the goal-scoring charts.[12] By the end of the season, AZ had won the second championship in their history, and El Hamdaoui was the top scorer in the Eredivisie, with 23 goals in 31 matches, one more than Ajax's Luis Suárez.[13][14] He was also named the Dutch Footballer of the Year.[15]

At the beginning of the 2009–10 season, there were a lot of changes at AZ. Manager Louis van Gaal had departed the club to go to FC Bayern Munich, and was replaced by Ronald Koeman.[16] Defending champions AZ had a bad start to the season, although El Hamdaoui still managed to score 9 goals in 11 matches by the winter break.[17] AZ found themselves in eighth place with 28 points in 20 matches, 24 points behind leaders PSV. Just before the winter break, Koeman was fired and veteran manager Dick Advocaat was brought in to take over.[18] Russia manager Advocaat stated that he expected at least 15 or 16 goals from the player, El Hamdaoui stated "Advocaat knows what he's talking about, I think. It gives me confidence, I know what I can do."[19]

Ajax

El Hamdaoui (second from top left) with Ajax teammates in 2010

On 30 July 2010, El Hamdaoui signed a four-year deal with Ajax, rejoining with his former Spurs manager Martin Jol.[20][21] El Hamdaoui marked his league début for Ajax with two goals against Groningen on 8 August 2010. He scored a goal in the play-off round second leg of the 2010–11 UEFA Champions League against Dynamo Kyiv, helping Ajax win 2–1 on aggregate and ending a five-year drought from this competition.[22] He scored his first Champions League goal with his new club, netting the opener against Milan, with the game ending 1–1.[23]

During the 2010–11 season, El Hamdaoui fell out of favour with manager Frank de Boer following a dispute. De Boer, discontent with his performance despite a goal, substituted El Hamdaoui at half-time in the semi-final of KNVB Cup against RKC Waalwijk.[24]

In August 2011 manager Frank de Boer confirmed interest from Premier League club Blackburn Rovers for El Hamdaoui.[25] As the season went on, more European clubs were reported to be interested in El Hamdaoui, including Galatasaray[26] and Espanyol.[27]

At the end of the transfer window El Hamdaoui stayed at Ajax but did not play any part in the 2011–12 season due to his troubled relationship with De Boer. He played matches with Jong Ajax and while he was listed in the squad registered for the Champions League group stages, along with Ismaïl Aissati, who had been demoted to the second string at the beginning of the season as well, neither of them made any appearances or played any part in the competition.[24] Frank de Boer explained his reason for registering them as him making players eligible in case he were to be relieved of his managerial duties, so that a potential successor would have the full squad at his disposal. Aissati afterwards found his way back into the first team.[28][29]

Fiorentina

In July 2012, El Hamdaoui finally left Ajax and signed with Fiorentina receiving the number 9 shirt and signing a three-year deal.[30][31] On 11 November 2012 he scored his first goal in Italy in a 3–1 victory away to Milan.[32]

On 14 December 2014, El Hamdaoui scored in his first appearance of the season coming on as a substitute in the 85th minute in a game against Cesena. His contract with Fiorentina expired at the end of the 2014–15 season.

Loan to Málaga

El Hamdaoui joined La Liga club Málaga on loan in August 2013.[33] On 15 September 2013, he scored a hat-trick against Rayo Vallecano in a 5−0 home win.[34] In December 2019 he was removed from first-team contention, which according to head coach Bernd Schuster was due to weight issues.[35]

Later career

After having previously practiced with Excelsior, he began a trial at his former club AZ on 13 September 2015.[36] There, he signed a contract for the remainder of the season on 20 October 2015.[37] However, he left AZ again in January.[38]

In January 2016, El Hamdaoui signed with Qatari club Umm Salal. Seven months later he joined Al-Taawoun, the number four of the Saudi Professional League in the previous season.

After El Hamdaoui became a free agent in May 2017, he practiced at AZ to stay in shape.[39] He practiced with Jong FC Twente in January 2018.[40] He played a friendly match with Twente on 14 January and signed a six-month contract with the club three days later. He suffered relegation with the Eredivisie club at the end of the season. In September 2018, El Hamdaoui signed a contract with Excelsior until the end of the 2018–19 season.[41] With that club, he was also relegated.

In August 2019, El Hamdaoui continued his career with Al-Kharaitiyat, who played in the second-tier of Qatar.[42] In October 2020, he joined DHSC, competing in the Dutch fifth tier Hoofdklasse, after Wesley Sneijder who was involved in the club, asked him to join.[43] He made his debut for the club on 13 October in a 5–5 draw in the KNVB District Cup to VV Jonathan from Zeist, also scoring a goal in the 49th minute. DHSC subsequently lost the penalty shootout.[44] Ahead of the match, the amateur divisions had been suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, making the match his first and last appearance for the club for a while.[45] On 2 October 2021, he scored his first goal in the Hoofdklasse in a 3–1 loss to ARC.[46]

El Hamdaoui left DHSC in June 2022, and initially joined SteDoCo,[47] before cancelling his contract in August 2022 to pursue a career as a football agent for youth players of AZ Alkmaar.[48]

International career

El Hamdaoui (centre) takes on two Angolan defenders at the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations.

Although being born in the Netherlands and having played for their under-21 side,[49] El Hamdaoui pledged his international future to the Morocco national team. El Hamdaoui played his only game with Morocco B in 2005 against Saudi Arabia.[50]

On 6 November 2006, El Hamdaoui stated in an interview to Dutch football magazine Voetbal International that he, at one point, wanted to play senior international football for the Morocco national team. A few months before he had said to the same magazine that he would choose the Netherlands if national coach Marco van Basten called him up.[51]

He was selected to join the Moroccan national team and made his first international cap with the team on 11 February 2009 against the Czech Republic.[52] El Hamdaoui struck his first goal in the 84th minute in a 2–1 loss to Gabon in March 2009.[53] His second international goal came in the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualification against Tanzania on 9 October 2010, where he scored the only goal in a 1–0 win, assisted by Marouane Chamakh.[54][55]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[lower-alpha 1] Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Excelsior 2001–02[56] Eerste Divisie 6200–50112
2002–03[56] Eredivisie 21276–623410
2003–04[56] Eerste Divisie 331732–644223
2004–05[56] Eerste Divisie 141112––1513
Total 74321110–17610248
Derby County 2005–06[56] Championship 9300––93
Willem II 2006–07[56] Eredivisie 4300––43
2007–08[56] Eredivisie 2000––20
Total 6300000063
AZ 2007–08[56] Eredivisie 2371030–277
2008–09[56] Eredivisie 312331––3424
2009–10[56] Eredivisie 2720214[lower-alpha 2]11[lower-alpha 3]13423
Total 81506271119554
Ajax 2010–11[56] Eredivisie 26132310[lower-alpha 4]3–3819
Fiorentina 2012–13[56] Serie A 19310––203
2014–15[56] Serie A 310000–31
Total 2241000–234
Málaga (loan) 2013–14[56] La Liga 13300––133
AZ 2015–16[56] Eredivisie 7100––71
Umm Salal 2015–16[56] Qatar Stars League 9700––97
Al-Taawoun 2016–17[57] Saudi Pro League 12500––125
Twente 2017–18[56] Eredivisie 5010––60
Excelsior 2018–19[56] Eredivisie 26410–10284
Al Kharaitiyat 2019–20[56] Qatari Second Division 18900––189
DHSC 2021–22[56] Hoofdklasse 21500––215
Career total 329139221517485376163
  1. ↑ Includes KNVB Cup, Coppa Italia
  2. ↑ Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  3. ↑ Appearance in Johan Cruyff Shield
  4. ↑ Eight appearances and two goals in UEFA Champions League, two appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League

International

Scores and results list Morocco's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each El Hamdaoui goal.
List of international goals scored by Mounir El Hamdaoui[58]
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
128 March 2009Stade Mohamed V, Casablanca, Morocco Gabon1–21–22010 FIFA World Cup qualification
29 October 2010Benjamin Mkapa National Stadium, Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania Tanzania1–01–02012 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
312 January 2013Stade Mohamed V, Casablanca, Morocco Namibia1–02–1Friendly

Honours

AZ

Ajax

Individual

References

  1. ↑ "Acta del Partido celebrado el 25 de marzo de 2014, en Málaga" [Minutes of the Match held on 25 March 2014, in Málaga] (in Spanish). Royal Spanish Football Federation. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 Jesper Remmen (20 April 2010). "Uitgelicht: Mounir El Hamdaoui schiet weer met scherp" (in Dutch). Road to 2010. Archived from the original on 24 July 2010. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
  3. ↑ "Tottenham pull off double signing". BBC Sport. 26 January 2005. Retrieved 10 October 2009.
  4. ↑ "Derby sign Tottenham duo on loan". BBC Sport. 16 September 2005. Retrieved 10 October 2009.
  5. ↑ "Willem II vs. Utrecht". Soccerway. 19 August 2006. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
  6. ↑ El Hamdaoui scheurt kruisband Archived 11 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine, NOS.nl, 21 September 2006
  7. ↑ "Mounir el Hamdaoui naar AZ Alkmaar" (in Dutch). Aktueel.nu. 31 August 2007. Archived from the original on 28 July 2010. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
  8. ↑ "Match: Sparta Rotterdam v AZ Alkmaar". ESPN Soccernet. 16 September 2007. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
  9. ↑ "Match: AZ Alkmaar v NAC Breda". ESPN Soccernet. 31 August 2008. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
  10. ↑ "Mounir El Hamdaoui 2008/09 Game Log". ESPN Soccernet. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
  11. ↑ "Match: Willem II Tilburg v AZ Alkmaar". ESPN Soccernet. 27 September 2008. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
  12. ↑ "AZ wint in eigen huis van Utrecht" (in Dutch). Het Parool. 20 December 2008. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
  13. ↑ "El Hamdaoui topscorer" (in Dutch). Trouw. 10 May 2009. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
  14. ↑ Schaerlaeckens, Leander (20 April 2009). "Dutch football round-up: How AZ Alkmaar became champions". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
  15. ↑ "El Hamdaoui is Voetballer van het Jaar" (in Dutch). V-Bal!. 13 May 2009. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
  16. ↑ "Koeman named Van Gaal successor at Alkmaar". FIFA.com. FIFA. 18 May 2009. Archived from the original on 23 May 2010. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
  17. ↑ "Mounir El Hamdaoui 2009/10 Game Log". ESPN Soccernet. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
  18. ↑ "AZ sacks Koeman, calls on Advocaat". DutchNews.nl. 7 December 2009. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
  19. ↑ Eredivisie (28 February 2010). "El Hamdaoui na drieklapper: "Heb gehoord wat Advocaat heeft gezegd"" (in Dutch). Goal.com. Retrieved 6 August 2010.
  20. ↑ "UPDATE: El Hamdaoui definitief Ajacied" [UPDATE: El Hamdaoui to be Ajax-ized]. AT5 Nieuws (in Dutch). Amsterdam. 30 July 2010. Retrieved 14 May 2012. Mounir El Hamdaoui komt definitief naar Ajax (Mounir El Hamdaoui to come to Ajax)
  21. ↑ "El Hamdaoui tekent alsnog" (in Dutch). De Telegraaf. 30 July 2010. Archived from the original on 1 August 2010. Retrieved 30 July 2010.
  22. ↑ "Strike pair end Ajax exile". UEFA. 25 August 2010. Retrieved 3 October 2010.
  23. ↑ Ajax Amsterdam 1 - 1 AC Milan ESPN Soccernet, 29 September 2010
  24. 1 2 "Ajax Demote Striker Mounir El Hamdaoui To Reserves". Goal.com. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
  25. ↑ "Blackburn Rovers meldt zich voor El Hamdaoui". NU.nl. 25 August 2011. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  26. ↑ "Galatasaray heeft interesse in El Hamdaoui". NU Sport. 5 September 2011. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  27. ↑ "Espanyol meldt zich voor El Hamdaoui". De Volkskrant (in Dutch). 23 January 2012. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  28. ↑ AFC Ajax UEFA Champions League Squad 2011-12 UEFA.com, 5 February 2012.
  29. ↑ El Hamdaoui ingeschreven voor Champions League (Dutch) Archived 9 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine Ajax1.nl, 5 February 2012.
  30. ↑ Fiorentina verlost Ajax en El Hamdaoui (Dutch) Archived 8 July 2012 at the Wayback Machine voetbalprimeur.nl, 5 July 2012.
  31. ↑ "Fiorentina sign El Hamdaoui from Ajax". Goal.com. 11 July 2012. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
  32. ↑ "Milan 1 - 3 Fiorentina - legaseriea.it". Archived from the original on 5 February 2013.
  33. ↑ "El Málaga CF se refuerza con el delantero Mounir El Hamdaoui" [Málaga CF reinforce with striker Mounir El Hamdaoui]. Málaga CF (in Spanish). malagacf.com. 29 August 2013.
  34. ↑ El Hamdaoui hat-trick on debut 15 September 2013; SkySports
  35. ↑ "'Te dikke El Hamdaoui moet afvallen'". Het Parool (in Dutch). 26 December 2013.
  36. ↑ "El Hamdaoui: na Woudestein nu meetrainen bij AZ". Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). 13 September 2015. Retrieved 25 December 2020.
  37. ↑ "El Hamdaoui tekent contract tot einde van seizoen bij AZ". Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). 20 October 2015. Retrieved 25 December 2020.
  38. ↑ "El Hamdaoui laat AZ achter en vertrekt naar Qatar". Voetbal International (in Dutch). 23 January 2016. Retrieved 25 December 2020.
  39. ↑ Kok, Nik (3 September 2017). "Transfervrije El Hamdaoui traint weer bij AZ: 'Ik wil voetballen'". Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 25 December 2020.
  40. ↑ "El Hamdaoui traint mee bij Jong FC Twente en hoopt op contract". nu.nl (in Dutch). 3 January 2018. Retrieved 25 December 2020.
  41. ↑ "Na bijna 16 jaar scoort El Hamdaoui weer voor Excelsior". De Telegraaf (in Dutch). 27 January 2019. Retrieved 25 December 2020.
  42. ↑ "Tighadouini acaba en Catar... con El Hamdaoui". Desmarque (in Spanish). 22 February 2020. Retrieved 25 December 2020.
  43. ↑ Bos, Stan (12 October 2020). "Zo haalde Wesley Sneijder El Hamdaoui over om naar DHSC te komen". Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 25 December 2020.
  44. ↑ "Dit zijn de uitslagen van de regionale duels in de districtsbeker". Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). 13 October 2020.
  45. ↑ "Eerste wedstrijd El Hamdaoui voor DHSC voorlopig ook de laatste". RTV Utrecht (in Dutch). 13 October 2020.
  46. ↑ "Hoofdklasse: Winnend Eemdijk nestelt zich in de top, nederlaag DHSC". rtvutrecht.nl (in Dutch). 2 October 2021.
  47. ↑ "Officieel: Nieuwe club voor Mounir El Hamdaoui (37)". Soccernews.nl (in Dutch). 15 June 2022. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
  48. ↑ "Mounir El Hamdaoui zegt SteDoCo af". Regio-Voetbal (in Dutch). 12 August 2022. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
  49. ↑ "El Hamdaoui in Jong Oranje". Rijnmond (in Dutch). 1 October 2004.
  50. ↑ "El Hamdaoui mag niet voor Oranje spelen | Goal.com". goal.com (in Dutch). 29 October 2008.
  51. ↑ "Mounir El Hamdaoui: 'Ik ben zeker niet minder dan Robin van Persie'". Voetbal International (in Dutch). 30 August 2006.
  52. ↑ "El Hamdaoui kan Tsjechië geen schade aanrichten". soccernews.nl (in Dutch). 11 February 2009.
  53. ↑ "El Hamdaoui scoort voor Marokko". BN DeStem (in Dutch). 29 March 2009.
  54. ↑ "El Hamdaoui schiet Marokko langs Tanzania". Rijnmond (in Dutch). 9 October 2010.
  55. ↑ Dam, Erik van (9 October 2010). "El Hamdaoui schiet Marokko langs Tanzania in kwalificatie Afrika Cup". Voetbalzone (in Dutch).
  56. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 "Mounir El Hamdaoui » Club matches". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  57. ↑ "M. El Hamdaoui". Soccerway. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  58. ↑ Mounir El Hamdaoui at National-Football-Teams.com
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