Nabil Baha

Nabil Baha (Arabic: نبيل باها; born 12 August 1981) is a retired Moroccan footballer who played as a striker.

Nabil Baha
Baha playing for Morocco in 2009
Personal information
Full name Nabil Baha
Date of birth (1981-08-12) 12 August 1981
Place of birth Remiremont, France
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
1994–1998 Épinal
1998–2000 Montpellier
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2000–2001 Montpellier B 25 (5)
2001–2004 Naval 84 (24)
2004 Braga B 4 (4)
2004–2005 Braga 10 (1)
2005–2006 Racing Ferrol 37 (8)
2006 Créteil 17 (5)
2007 Ponferradina 20 (9)
2007–2011 Málaga 109 (24)
2011 AEK Athens 9 (0)
2011–2013 Sabadell 32 (5)
2013 Dalian Aerbin 9 (2)
2014–2016 FUS Rabat 41 (6)
National team
2003–2010 Morocco 20 (4)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 14 August 2016

He started playing for Montpellier in 2000 and spent much of his career in the top divisions of Portugal and Spain, with notable stints at Braga and Málaga.

Baha won 20 caps for Morocco over the course of seven years. Since July 2017, he is the second trainer of FUS Rabat.

Club career

Born in Remiremont, France, and with both of his parents hailing from Douar Guerzine near Fes, Baha made his professional debuts with France's Montpellier HSC, then went on to represent Associação Naval 1º de Maio (second division) and S.C. Braga in Portugal, moving to neighbours Spain in 2005 and appearing for Racing de Ferrol in the second level. There, in spite of his eight league goals, the Galician club would be relegated.

After a brief return spell to France with lowly US Créteil-Lusitanos, Baha returned to Spain and its second tier in January 2007, scoring nine league goals for SD Ponferradina which would also drop down a level at the season's closure. In the 2007–08 campaign he played for another side in the category, Málaga CF, and, benefitting from several injuries to habitual first-choice Salva, finished with ten goals (squad's second-best) as the Andalusians returned to La Liga after two years.

In the early months of 2008, Baha was subject of a €2 million transfer to FC Steaua Bucureşti, however he rejected this as he wanted to play in Spain's top flight – he had a clause in his contract allowing him to talk to other clubs if the offer was of at least €5 million. In 2008–09 he scored his first goal in the competition, in a 4–0 away routing of Recreativo de Huelva on 5 October 2008;[1] the following month he also found the net, at the Santiago Bernabéu against Real Madrid, but in a 3–4 final loss,[2] and finished the first half of the season as the club's top scorer at eight for a total of nine, tied for best with midfielder Apoño.[3]

On 29 January 2011, free agent Baha joined AEK Athens F.C. from Greece, signing a six-month contract with an option for an extra year.[4] On 30 April he scored his only official goal of the campaign, in a 3–0 win against Atromitos F.C. for the Greek Cup final.[5]

On 18 August 2011, Baha returned to Spain and joined CE Sabadell FC, signing a two-year contract.[6] He was released by the club late in January 2013 and, in July, moved to the Chinese Super League with Dalian Aerbin FC.[7]

International career

A full Moroccan international since February 2003,[8] Baha took part in the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations where the national side finished second to hosts Tunisia, scoring once in a 4–0 semifinal win over Mali.[9][10]

Due to a dislocated shoulder suffered in the late months of October against Racing de Santander in a Spanish Cup match, Baha failed to win a place in the nation's final squad for the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, which was held in Ghana.

Honors

Morocco

References
  1. "El Málaga destroza al Recreativo" [Málaga destroy Recreativo] (in Spanish). Diario AS. 5 October 2008. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  2. Four-star Higuaín and Eto'o turn on the style; UEFA.com, 9 November 2008
  3. "Sandro y el exclusivo club de los 10" [Sandro and the exclusive 10 club] (in Spanish). El Desmarque. 20 April 2017. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  4. AEK Athens signs Baha Archived 25 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine; AEK Athens, 29 January 2011
  5. "AEK Athens claim Greek Cup honours". UEFA.com. 30 April 2011. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  6. Baha joins CE Sabadell Archived 1 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine; CE Sabadell, 18 August 2011
  7. 阿尔滨与巴哈签0.5+1合同 新援称半年没踢球; QQ, 24 July 2013 (in Chinese)
  8. Morocco name foreign legion; BBC Sport, 5 February 2003
  9. Morocco book final spot; BBC Sport, 11 February 2004
  10. Tunisia edge past Nigeria; UEFA.com, 11 February 2004
  11. http://www.rsssf.com/tables/04a.html
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