Jaouad Zairi ( ar, جواد الزايري; born 17 April 1982) 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 played as a winger. He played for the Morocco national team between 2000 and 2009, making 34 appearances and scoring six goals.

Early life

Zairi was born into a large family in

Taza Taza ( ber, ⵜⴰⵣⴰ, ar, تازة) is a city in northern Morocco occupying the corridor between the Rif mountains and Middle Atlas mountains, about 120 km east of Fez and 150 km west of Al hoceima. It recorded a population of 148 ...

, Morocco. At the age of 2, his family moved to

Mâcon Mâcon (), historically anglicised as Mascon, is a city in east-central France. It is the prefecture of the department of Saône-et-Loire in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. Mâcon is home to near 34,000 residents, who are referred to in French as M� ...

, a small French city. In 1997, he moved to FC Gueugnon.

Club career

Zairi joined the French

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by Balkrishna Industries, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions ...

team

FC Gueugnon Football Club Gueugnonnais (commonly called Gueugnon ) is a French association football club based in Gueugnon, Burgundy. The club was formed in 1940 and plays its home matches at the Stade Jean Laville located within the city. The club has ...

at the age of 15. In the summer of 2001, he joined

FC Sochaux FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Pakis ...

and played for them until 2008. In January 2006 he was loaned to the Saudi club

Al-Ittihad Al-Ittihad (Arabic: الاتحاد "The Union"), sometimes transliterated as Al-Etihad or Al-Ettihad may refer to: Sports Football Libya *Al-Ittihad Club (Tripoli), a football club based in Bab Ben Gashier * Al Ittihad Gheryan, a football club bas ...

. He moved to Portugal and played for one year with

Boavista F.C. Boavista Futebol Clube, commonly known as Boavista (), is a Portuguese sports club from the city of Porto. Founded on 1 August 1903 by British entrepreneurs and Portuguese textile workers (thus the "FC" being appended – the British way as oppos ...

(2006–2007). He returned in France and played another year with

FC Nantes Football Club de Nantes (; Gallo: ''Naunnt''), commonly referred to as FC Nantes or simply Nantes (), is a French professional football club based in Nantes in Pays de la Loire. The club was founded on 21 April 1943, during World War II, a ...

(2007–2008). He moved to Greece and played for Super League Greece side

Asteras Tripolis Asteras Tripolis Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ Αστέρας Τρίπολης), commonly referred to as Asteras Tripolis (meaning "Star of Tripoli"), is a Greek professional football club based in the city of Tripoli in Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greec ...

for the 2008–09 season. On 25 April 2009,

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...

announced Zairi would join for the 2009–10 season. He won the

2010–11 Super League Greece The 2010–11 Super League Greece was the 75th season of the highest football league of Greece and the fifth under the name ''Super League''. The league consisted of 16 teams, the 13 best teams of the 2009–10 season and three teams that had ...

with the club. After two seasons with Olympiacos he was informed by Olympiacos' manager

Ernesto Valverde Ernesto Valverde Tejedor (born 9 February 1964) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a forward. He is the current manager of La Liga club Athletic Bilbao. Over ten seasons, he amassed La Liga totals of 264 games and 68 ...

that he was not to renew his contract with the club and that he was free to leave. In July 2017, he made an appearance for Indonesian club

Persija Jakarta Persatuan Sepakbola Indonesia Jakarta ( 'Indonesian Football Association of Jakarta'; abbreviated as Persija), is an Indonesian professional football club based in the Indonesian capital city of Jakarta. Persija Jakarta is one of the most suc ...

in a friendly match against

Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league sy ...

International career

Zairi made a debut for Morocco national team in 2000. He played in the

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internati ...

in 2004 when Morocco made it to the finals but lost to their North African rivals

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

. Zairi also played for Morocco at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

International goals

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

Honours

Olympiacos *

Superleague Greece The Super League Greece 1 ( el, Ελληνική Σούπερ Λιγκ 1), or Super League 1, is the highest professional association football league in Greece. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and replaced ''Alpha Ethniki'' at the top of ...

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

Morocco *

runner-up:

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zairi, Jaouad Living people 1982 births People from Taza Men's association football wingers Men's association football midfielders Moroccan men's footballers Morocco men's international footballers Moroccan expatriate men's footballers Naturalized citizens of France French men's footballers 2004 African Cup of Nations players 2006 Africa Cup of Nations players Primeira Liga players Super League Greece players Cypriot First Division players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Saudi Pro League players FC Gueugnon players FC Sochaux-Montbéliard players Boavista F.C. players FC Nantes players Asteras Tripolis F.C. players Olympiacos F.C. players PAS Giannina F.C. players Anorthosis Famagusta FC players Al-Ittihad Club (Jeddah) players Al-Nasr SC (Salalah) players GOAL FC players Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia Expatriate men's footballers in Oman Olympic footballers for Morocco Footballers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in Oman Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in Greece Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in France