Anouar Diba ( Riffian-Berber: ⴰⵏⵡⴰⵔ ⴷⵉⴱⴰ, born 27 February 1983 in

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Net ...

, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

) is a Dutch-Moroccan former footballer.

Club career

Diba is a forward who was made his debut in professional football during the 2002–03 season, being part of the NAC Breda squad. He spent five seasons with NAC in the Dutch

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

and had a short spell at

FC Twente Football Club Twente () is a Dutch professional football club from the city of Enschede, sometimes known internationally as Twente Enschede. The club was formed in 1965 by the merger of 1926 Dutch champions Sportclub Enschede with Enschedese ...

in 2010. In the winter of 2011, after sustaining a leg injury, Diba had to be treated in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, subsequently missing much of the league matches of his then-new club, Lekhwiya. As a result, Diba was cut from the squad. While numerous news outlets had reported Diba's departure, he himself had not received any official confirmation of being released by the club officials, and was first informed after receiving calls from his agent and friends. Before Diba's trip to London, Lekhwiya coach Djamel Belmadi had claimed Diba was one of the most prominent professionals in the team. This came as a surprise to Diba, as he was just 2–3 weeks from being released from the hospital. On 22 January 2012, Diba joined

Al-Wakrah Al Wakrah ( ar, الوكرة, al-Wakra) is the capital city of the Al Wakrah Municipality in Qatar. Al Wakrah's eastern edge is the shores of the Persian Gulf and Qatar's capital Doha is situated to the city's immediate north. Governed by Sheikh ...

, signing a contract until the end of the season.

International career

He made his debut for

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 t ...

in a November 2006

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against

Gabon Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the nort ...

.El-Akchaoui in Marokkaanse selectie
- Gelderlander

References

External links

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Anouar Diba Interview
1983 births Living people Footballers from Utrecht (city) Dutch sportspeople of Moroccan descent Riffian people Association football forwards Dutch footballers Moroccan footballers Morocco international footballers USV Elinkwijk players NAC Breda players Al-Wakrah SC players Al-Nasr SC (Dubai) players FC Twente players Lekhwiya SC players Al Kharaitiyat SC players Eredivisie players Qatar Stars League players Dutch expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Qatar Expatriate footballers in the United Arab Emirates Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Dutch expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates UAE Pro League players {{Morocco-footy-forward-stub