Karim Ziani

Karim Koceila Yanis Ziani (Arabic: كريم زياني‎; born 17 August 1982) is an Algerian former professional footballer. He played in different midfield positions in but was best known for being a playmaker.

Karim Ziani
Ziani in 2007
Personal information
Full name Karim Koceila Yanis Ziani[1]
Date of birth (1982-08-17) 17 August 1982
Place of birth Sèvres, France
Height 1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
1995–1998 RC Paris
1998–2001 Troyes
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2001–2005 Troyes 63 (1)
2004–2005 → Lorient (loan) 24 (1)
2005–2006 Lorient 37 (7)
2006–2007 Sochaux 36 (8)
2007–2009 Marseille 49 (4)
2009–2011 VfL Wolfsburg 15 (0)
2011 → Kayserispor (loan) 13 (0)
2011–2013 El Jaish 41 (1)
2013–2014 Al-Arabi 23 (3)
2014–2015 Ajman 3 (0)
2015 Al-Fujairah SC 11 (0)
2016 Petrolul Ploiești 14 (0)
2016–2019 Orléans 78 (9)
Total 407 (34)
National team
2004 Algeria U23 2 (0)
2003–2011 Algeria 62 (5)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Ziani is considered to be a national hero by many Algerians, as it was his cross that led to the goal that put them into their first World Cup competition since 1986 at the expense of bitter rivals Egypt.[2] He has participated in two continental tournaments 2004 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, the latter in which Algeria finished fourth, and the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Overall, he has participated in 62 official games for the Algerian national team, in which he has scored five goals.

Early life

Ziani was born in Sèvres, France, to an Algerian father from Béjaïa and a French mother. Ziani is married and has two children: a girl, Lina, and a boy, Kaïs.[3] Ziani has a twin sister by the name of Karima who is married to fellow Algerian international Antar Yahia.[4]

Club career

Ziani began his football career in 1995 with the junior side at Racing Club de Paris at the age of 13.[5]

Troyes

In 1998, he was spotted by scouts from Troyes, he was subsequently brought into the youth academy from RC Paris. Whilst playing for the youth team there was a significant amount of keen admirers interested in him. A number of clubs such as Lens and Nantes were very keen on him. In 2001, having spent three seasons playing with the youth team and because of the level of interest, the president of Troyes offered Ziani a five-year deal, which in turn was his first professional contract. With Ziani agreeing to a five-year deal, he was immediately promoted to the senior squad by Alain Perrin at the age of 17 and was assigned the number 17 shirt. He made his professional debut on 8 December 2001 against SC Bastia coming on as a substitute, replacing David Hamed in the seventy-second minute of the game. After making a few substitute appearances, he made his first start on 3 March 2002 in a 1–0 loss to Lille playing the full length of the game. He played a total of 8 games in the 2001–02 season. He became more of a regular in the 2002–03 season as he participated in a total of 24 games. After subsequently spending two seasons playing for Troyes in Ligue 1, the club was relegated to Ligue 2 at the end of the 2002–03 season. Whilst in Ligue 2, during the 2003–04 season, Ziani played 28 games in total and scored his first professional goal against FC Rouen, in the 9th minute with the score ending 3–0. He spent the following season mostly on the bench for Troyes and with interest from other clubs being shown, Troyes had decided to part ways with Ziani. Turkish club Rivaspor had made a bid but could not negotiate a contract with Ziani, as Ziani had put in a condition which Rivaspor rejected. Ziani revealed the condition merely as having Madjid Bougherra have a trial with the club to display his qualities as they had both travelled to Turkey and Ziani would have liked a compatriot with him at the club as he was only 19 at the time. When Rivaspor rejected the condition, both Ziani and Bougherra left Turkey together.[6]

Lorient

In the summer of 2004, Ziani was loaned out to FC Lorient. In the next two seasons he would become Lorient's top player and would lead them to promotion to Ligue 1. He was voted as the top player in Ligue 2 for the 2005–06 season.

Sochaux

In the summer of 2006, he signed a three-year deal with FC Sochaux and reunited with his first coach at Troyes Alain Perrin. While at Sochaux he played as they won the 2007 Coupe de France Final. The game finished 2-2 and went to penalties, and Ziani scored his penalty in the shootout as his side emerged victorious.[7]

Marseille

The following summer, Ziani saw increasing attention from other French clubs, namely Olympique de Marseille. This interest culminated on 29 June 2007, when news broke that Ziani had finalized his move to Marseille for a transfer fee of $11 million. Karim scored his first goal with Marseille in a match against Valenciennes. He became a familiar face in Eric Gerets' starting eleven.[8]

VfL Wolfsburg

On 7 July 2009, it was announced that Ziani had signed a four-year contract with Bundesliga champions VfL Wolfsburg.[9]

During December 2010 and January 2011, a number of clubs showed interest in signing Ziani, these were Newcastle United, AS Monaco, FC Lorient, VfB Stuttgart,[10] Everton, and Birmingham City.[11] On 14 January 2011, it was reported that Ziani had moved to Turkish high-flyers Kayserispor on an initial six-month loan deal, with an option to sign him permanently at the end of the season.[12]

On 8 July 2011, Wolfsburg and Ziani reached a mutual agreement to terminate his contract.

El Jaish

On 20 July 2011, Ziani signed a three-year contract with Qatari club El Jaish.[13] On 18 September 2009, Ziani made his Qatar Stars League debut for El Jaish as a starter in a league game against Al Khor.[14] Although he failed to find the net in his first season, he finished the 2011–12 season as the top assistant with 13 assists.[15]

Orléans

Ziani spent three seasons at Ligue club US Orléans, scoring 9 goals in 92 matches.[16]

In summer 2019, Ziani ended his 18-year career at the age of 36.[16]

International career

Ziani had stunned many people in 2003 in his choice to represent Algeria instead of France.[17]

Ziani made his debut for the Algerian national team in 2003 when he was called up by Belgian caretaker Georges Leekens for a friendly against Belgium. He was a member of the Algerian 2004 African Nations Cup team, who finished second in their group in the first round of competition before being defeated by Morocco in the quarter-finals. He was also named in the Team of the Tournament at the 2004 African Nations Cup. Karim Ziani scored his first goal for Algeria against Gambia with a penalty in a 2008 African Nations Cup qualifier, Algeria won 1–0. Ziani then added two more goals to his tally in a 2010 World Cup against Liberia. Algeria won the game 3–0. Ziani was also the artist of the recent Algerian team performances during the final phase of the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification together with 2010 African Cup of Nations.

Style of play

Though diminutive in stature, Ziani more than makes up for his lack of physicality with his outstanding technique and never-say-die spirit.

Career statistics

Club
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[18][19]
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Troyes 2001–02 Ligue 1 8020–100
2002–03 2401010–260
2003–04 Ligue 2 2811010–301
2004–05 30–30
Total 63140200000691
Lorient (loan) 2004–05 Ligue 2 241–241
Lorient 2005–06 Ligue 2 37721–398
Sochaux 2006–07 Ligue 1 3685031–449
Marseille 2007–08 Ligue 1 211202130–282
2008–09 28390–373
Total 494202112000655
VfL Wolfsburg 2009–10 Bundesliga 10020–40–160
2010–11 5020–00–70
Total 15040004000230
Kayserispor (loan) 2010–11 Süper Lig 13000–00–130
El Jaish 2011–12 Qatar Stars League 22000–00–220
2012–13 19100—70–261
Total 41100007000481
Al-Arabi 2013–14 Qatar Stars League23321—00–254
Ajman 2014–15 UAE Pro-League 30000000–30
Al-Fujairah 2014–15 UAE Pro-League 110000000–110
Petrolul Ploiești 2015–16 Liga I 140000000–140
Orléans 2016–17 Ligue 2 32300100020353
2017–18 245002100–266
2018–19 221212000–262
Total 789215100208711
Career total 407341921442302046540

International
Appearances and goals by national team and year[20]
National teamYearAppsGoals
Algeria 200330
2004110
200560
200631
200780
200882
200971
2010141
201120
Total625
Scores and results list Algeria's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Ziani goal.
List of international goals scored by Karim Ziani[21]
GoalDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
17 October 2006Stade 5 Juillet 1962, Algiers Gambia1–01–02008 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
26 June 2008Stade Mustapha Tchaker, Blida Liberia2–03–02010 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)
33–0
411 October 2009Stade Mustapha Tchaker, Blida Rwanda3–13–12010 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)
55 June 2010Playmobil-Stadion, Germany United Arab Emirates1–01–0Friendly

Honours

Club

Sochaux

VfL Wolfsburg

El Jaish

International

Algeria

Individual

References
  1. "List of Players" (PDF). FIFA. Retrieved 13 July 2010.
  2. "Inscription - Connexion". www.elwatan.com. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  3. "Créer un site web gratuit - Pages perso Orange". algeriafoot2.voila.net. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  4. "Antar Yahia a officialisé hier son mariage". Djazairess. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  5. https://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/southafrica2010/players/player=205717/profile.html
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 19 January 2011. Retrieved 16 January 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. "African quartet win French Cup". BBC. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
  8. "Algeria's Ziani joins Marseille". BBC Sport. 29 June 2007. Retrieved 30 June 2007.
  9. "Wolfsburg sign Algeria's Ziani". Reuters. 7 July 2009. Archived from the original on 9 July 2009. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  10. "Ziani vers Newcastle ?". Le Figaro (in French). 1 January 2011. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  11. "Premier League Transfer Talk - January 6". The Telegraph. 6 January 2011. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  12. "Transferts : Ziani officiellement prêté à Kayserispor". DZfoot.com (in French). Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  13. Transferts : Karim Ziani officiellement à Al-Jaish (Qat.)
  14. "El Jaish vs. Al Khor – 18 September 2011 – Soccerway". SoccerWay. 18 September 2012. Retrieved 16 April 2012.
  15. "KoraMania.com". archive.is. 10 July 2012. Archived from the original on 10 July 2012. Retrieved 8 February 2018.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  16. C., Ishak (23 June 2019). "Retraite : Ziani arrête et reste à Orléans". dzfoot.com (in French). Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  17. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 9 August 2011. Retrieved 11 January 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  18. Karim Ziani at Soccerway. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  19. "Karim Ziani » Club matches". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  20. "Karim Ziani". National-Football-Teams.com. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  21. Karim Ziani - International Appearances
  22. 2009 German Supercup
  23. http://www.rsssf.com/tables/2010a-det.html
  24. L’apport de la légion étrangère Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine. L'Observateur Paalga – Jan 2004.
  25. DZFoot d'Or 2006 Archived 20 December 2006 at the Wayback Machine. DZfoot.com.
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