Abdessalam Benjelloun (born 28 January 1985) is a Moroccan professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for

Raja Beni Mellal Raja Beni Mellal is a Moroccan football club currently playing in the second division Botola 2. The club was founded in 1956 and is located in the town of Beni Mellal. History Raja Beni Mellal was founded in 1956 by Monsieur Abdellatif Mesf ...

. Benjelloun started his career in his native Morocco, before moving to

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...

club Hibernian in 2006. Benjelloun had some success at Hibs, scoring twice in the 2007 Scottish League Cup Final win, but was twice loaned to

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct language ...

clubs afterwards before being released at the end of his contract in 2010. Benjelloun then signed for

Egyptian Premier League The Egyptian Premier League ( ar, الدوري المصري الممتاز), also known as WE Egyptian Premier League (WE EPL) after the addition of title sponsor WE, is a professional association football league in Egypt and the top level of th ...

club

Ismaily SC Ismaily Sporting Club ( ar, نادي الإسماعيلي الرياضي) is an Egyptian professional football club, established on 20 March 1921 as El Nahda Sporting Club ( ar, جمعية نهضة الشباب المصري ) ( Egyptian pronunci ...

, but returned to his native Morocco in January 2011. At international level, he represented the Morocco national team.

Club career

Hibernian

Benjelloun was born in

Fes Fez or Fes (; ar, فاس, fās; zgh, ⴼⵉⵣⴰⵣ, fizaz; french: Fès) is a city in northern inland Morocco and the capital of the Fès-Meknès administrative region. It is the second largest city in Morocco, with a population of 1.11 mi ...

. He trained with Hibernian for several weeks during the early part of 2006, while ''Hibs'' assessed whether to sign him from his hometown club

Maghreb Fez The Maghreb (; ar, الْمَغْرِب, al-Maghrib, lit=the west), also known as the Arab Maghreb ( ar, المغرب العربي) and Northwest Africa, is the western part of North Africa and the Arab world. The region includes Algeria, ...

. Hibs then had to undertake the complex process of obtaining the documentation needed to sign him. During this time, rumours grew on Hibs-related internet sites that Hibs had unearthed a major talent, so expectations were high when Benjelloun's signing was formally announced in March 2006. He made his debut for Hibernian in the 2006

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,local rivals Hearts on 2 April 2006.

Manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

Tony Mowbray Anthony Mark Mowbray (born 22 November 1963) is an English former professional footballer who is currently the manager of Sunderland. Mowbray played for Middlesbrough, Celtic and Ipswich Town as a defender. He began his coaching career with Ip ...

was forced to play Benjelloun in that game because of injury (

Chris Killen Christopher John Killen (born 8 October 1981) is a former New Zealand international footballer. Killen grew up in Wellington and played his club football for Miramar Rangers. After a trial with Manchester City, he joined City's youth academy. ...

), suspension (

Derek Riordan Derek George Riordan (born 16 January 1983) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a striker. He has been capped three times by the Scotland national team. Riordan started his career with Hibernian in 2001 and had a brief spell o ...

), cup transfer rules (

Paul Dalglish Paul Kenneth Dalglish (born 18 February 1977) is a Scottish former professional footballer. Playing career Dalglish, son of former Scotland international Kenny Dalglish, was born in Glasgow though spent his childhood in the city where his fa ...

) and the sale of

Garry O'Connor Garry Lawrence John O'Connor (born 7 May 1983) is a Scottish former professional footballer. He played for Hibernian, Peterhead, Lokomotiv Moscow, Barnsley, Tom Tomsk, Birmingham City, Greenock Morton and represented Scotland. O'Connor began ...

. Benjelloun demonstrated his potential in the

Edinburgh derby The Edinburgh derby is an informal title given to any football match played between Scottish clubs Heart of Midlothian (Hearts) and Hibernian (Hibs), the two oldest professional clubs based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The two clubs have a fierce r ...

on 22 April 2006, when he came off the bench to score the winning goal. 'Benji' became an instant hero with the Hibernian supporters, although his goal celebration caused some controversy. He ran wildly towards the Hearts supporters, having scored the goal at the other end of the ground. Fortunately the Hibs goalkeeper, Zibi Małkowski, managed to prevent Benji from reaching the Hearts supporters, or a major incident could have ensued. A fellow Moroccan,

Merouane Zemmama Merouane Zemmama, ar, مروان زمامة, (born 7 October 1983) is a Moroccan football manager and a retired Moroccan professional footballer who used to play as an attacking midfielder. Zemmama represented Morocco at the 2004 Summer Olympi ...

, was signed by Hibs at the start of the 2006–07 season. It was thought that this should help Benji to settle into Scottish football, and he rewarded Hibs with two goals in the 2007 Scottish League Cup Final victory against

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

. Benjelloun was then expected to feature prominently during the 2007–08 season, but he suffered a season plagued by injuries, scoring only one goal in competitive matches. He was the subject of interest from

Belgian First Division A The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 team ...

clubs.

Anderlecht Anderlecht (, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, and Saint-Gilles, as well as the ...

were reported to be watching him and

Westerlo Westerlo () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises seven towns: * Westerlo centrum * * Tongerlo * Heultje * Voortkapel * Oosterwijk * In 2021, Westerlo had a total population of 25,288. The ...

had an offer rejected in July 2008. After Benjelloun completed two loan spells during the 2008–09 season, new Hibernian manager John Hughes claimed that Benjelloun still had a future at the club. On 20 July 2009,

club

Al Ahly AL, Al, Ål or al may stand for: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Al (''Aladdin'') or Aladdin, the main character in Disney's ''Aladdin'' media * Al (''EastEnders''), a minor character in the British soap opera * Al (''Fullmetal ...

claimed that they had signed Benjelloun on a three-year contract, but the deal was cancelled days later. Benjelloun eventually returned to training with Hibs in early August, and he scored the winning goal in their first game of the 2009–10 season. He held down a regular place in the side playing as a

second striker Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

during the next few months, but struggled for first team action after this and was released at the end of the season. At the last game of the season, Benji was shown to be in tears, perhaps anticipating his release.

Charleroi

Hibs agreed to loan Benji to

Charleroi Charleroi ( , , ; wa, Tchålerwè ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. By 1 January 2008, the total population of Charleroi was 201,593.

in August 2008 on a season long loan, with the Belgian side having the option to purchase the player outright. The deal was confirmed that day on the official site of

Charleroi Charleroi ( , , ; wa, Tchålerwè ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. By 1 January 2008, the total population of Charleroi was 201,593.

, with Benjelloun pictured in his new side's colours. Despite scoring on his debut against

Roeselare Roeselare (; french: Roulers, ; West Flemish: ''Roeseloare'') is a Belgian city and municipality in the Flemish province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Roeselare proper and the towns of Beveren, Oekene and Rumbeke. The ...

, Benji failed to hold down a regular spot and made only eight appearances during his loan spell. ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its par ...

'' newspaper reported on 2 January 2009 that Benjelloun had "endured" a difficult spell in Belgium due to injuries. Charleroi decided not to exercise their option to sign Benjelloun, which meant that he returned to Hibs. Benjelloun later commented that he had experienced personal problems during his time with Charleroi.

Roeselare

Sharjah Sharjah (; ar, ٱلشَّارقَة ', Gulf Arabic: ''aš-Šārja'') is the third-most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai and Abu Dhabi, forming part of the Dubai-Sharjah-Ajman metropolitan area. Sharjah is the capital o ...

-based club Al Shaab reached an agreement in principle to sign Benjelloun, but could not conclude a deal with Hibs. Towards the end of the transfer window, Benjelloun signed on loan for another

club,

, until the end of the season. Benjelloun scored five goals in the first five of Roselare's last six matches as they retained their league status in relegation play-offs. He was withdrawn injured in their penultimate match and missed their final match.

Ismaily

After his release by Hibs in May 2010, Benjelloun agreed a two-year contract with German

2. Bundesliga The 2. Bundesliga ( ) is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked below ...

club Greuther Fürth. He did not complete the move, however, with the club claiming that he had demanded too much money. Soon afterwards, Benjelloun signed for

club

. He made only seven appearances before leaving the club in January 2011.

Return to Morocco

Benjelloun then had a short spell with

Raja Casablanca Raja Club Athletic ( ar, نادي الرجاء الرياضي, Nādī ar-Rajāʾ ar-Riyāḍī, zgh, ⴰⵙⵔⵉⵔ ⵏ ⵕⴰⵊⴰ ⴰⵎⴰⵏⵓⵏ), commonly referred to as Raja CA, Raja Casablanca or simply RCA is a professional Footb ...

. He signed for his first club

Wydad de Fès Wydad Athletic de Fès is a Moroccan football club currently playing in the Second division. The club was founded in 1948 and is located in the town of Fès. Wydad Athletic Club de Fès (W.A.F) were promoted from the 2nd Division in 2008–09 ...

, later in 2011. He then moved to

FUS Rabat Fath Union Sport ( ar, اتحاد الفتح الرياضي), commonly called FUS or FUS Rabat, is a Moroccan professional football club based in Rabat and currently playing in the first division. The club was founded on 10 April 1946. 'Fath U ...

and was recalled to the Moroccan national team in the 2011–12 season.

International career

Benjelloun was first selected by

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

during the 2007–08 season. He scored on his international debut, in a 4–1 win against

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

in Brussels. He was then selected for the 2010 World Cup qualifiers at the end of the season. Benjelloun scored in the first two matches, against

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

and

Mauritania Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Morocco's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Benjelloun goal.''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Benjelloun, Abdessalam 1985 births Living people People from Fez, Morocco Moroccan footballers Association football forwards Morocco A' international footballers Morocco international footballers Morocco under-20 international footballers 2016 African Nations Championship players Botola players Scottish Premier League players Belgian Pro League players Egyptian Premier League players Maghreb de Fès players Hibernian F.C. players R. Charleroi S.C. players K.S.V. Roeselare players Raja CA players Ismaily SC players AS FAR (football) players Fath Union Sport players Kawkab Marrakech players Wydad de Fès players Moroccan expatriate footballers Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Expatriate footballers in Scotland Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate footballers in Belgium Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in Egypt Expatriate footballers in Egypt