Kheireddine "Kiko" Zarabi (born 18 July 1984) is an Algerian 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 ...

who plays as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

Club career

Born in

Hussein Dey District Hussein Dey is a district in Algiers Province, Algeria. It was named after the Ottoman provincial ruler of the Regency of Algiers. He had installed his country house near the beaches of the suburb of Algiers. On the shores of Hussein Dey had fa ...

, Algiers, Zarabi started his career at age 10 with IRB Ouargla. When he turned 13 his family returned to live in the capital, and he joined

NA Hussein Dey Nasr Athlétique de Hussein Dey ( ar, نصر حسين داي), known as NA Hussein Dey or NAHD for short, is an Algerian football club based in Hussein Dey, Algiers. The club was founded in 1947 and its colours are red and yellow. Their home ...

first before leaving to

RC Kouba Raed Chabab Kouba (), known as RC Kouba or simply RCK for short, is an Algerian football club based in Kouba, a district of Algiers. The club was founded in 1945 and its colours are green and white. Their home stadium, Mohamed Benhaddad Stadi ...

two years later; he made his senior debut with the latter in 2002, remaining three seasons with the club. In May 2005, Zarabi went on trial with French Ligue 2 side

FC Lorient Football Club Lorient Bretagne Sud (; commonly referred to FC Lorient or simply Lorient) is a French association football club based in Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town ('' commune'') and seaport in the Morbihan department of Brittany in we ...

. However, nothing came of it, and he returned to his homeland where he successively represented

ES Sétif Entente Sportive Sétifienne ( ar, الوفاق الرياضي السطايفي), known as Entente de Sétif, commonly referred to as ES Sétif or ESS for short, is an Algerian professional football club based in Sétif. The club was founded in ...

and CR Belouizdad. Zarabi signed a two and a half year contract with

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

Turun Palloseura Turun Palloseura, commonly known as TPS, is a professional football club based in Turku, Finland. During the 2022 season, the men's first team of the club competes in Ykkönen, the second highest tier of men's football, and the women's repre ...

in late 2007. On 19 January 2009, he moved to Portugal where he would remain the following years, with

C.F. Os Belenenses Clube de Futebol Os Belenenses, commonly known as Os Belenenses (), is a Portuguese sports club best known for its football team. Founded in 1919, it is one of the oldest Portuguese sports clubs. It is based in the 25,000-seat Estádio do Rest ...

Vitória de Setúbal Vitoria or Vitória may refer to : People * Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian * Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer * Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer * Steven Vitória ...

Leixões S.C. Leixões Sport Club, commonly known as Leixões (), is a Portuguese sports club from Matosinhos. It is organised into several departments for many sports, such as football, boxing, karate, volleyball, swimming and billiards. It is most well kno ...

and F.C. Arouca, the first two teams in the Primeira Liga and the other in the

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

. In his second season with Arouca, Zarabi contributed 14 matches and two goals as the Aveiro District club reached the top flight for the first time in its history. A brief spell in the French Ligue 2 with

Nîmes Olympique Nîmes Olympique (commonly referred to as simply Nîmes) is a French association football club based in Nîmes. The club was founded on 10 April 1937 and currently plays in Ligue 2, the second level of French football. Until November 2022, ...

notwithstanding, he continued competing in the Portuguese second tier until his retirement, with C.F. União,

S.C. Covilhã Sporting Clube da Covilhã, commonly known as just Sporting da Covilhã, is Portuguese association football, football club from the city of Covilhã that plays in the second-tier Liga Portugal 2. The club was founded in 1923. Their nickname is the ...

and

C.D. Cova da Piedade Clube Desportivo Cova da Piedade is a football club established in the parish of Cova da Piedade, municipality of Almada, Portugal. History Clube Desportivo Cova da Piedade was founded on 28 January 1947, resulting from the merge between União ...

International career

During his time at Kouba, Zarabi was a regular member of the Algeria under-23 team and participated in various tournaments, most notably the 2005 Mediterranean Games.

Personal life

Zarabi's father, Abdelaziz, was also a footballer and a full Algerian international. His older brother, Abderraouf, also a defender, also played with Hussein Dey and in Finland.Football / Ligue 2: Hermach quitte Nîmes Olympique, Kheireddine Zarabi arrive (Football / League 2: Hermach leaves Nîmes Olympique, Kheireddine Zarabi arrives)

Midi Libre ''Midi Libre'' () is a French daily newspaper in Montpellier that covers general news. It began publication in 1944. Since 1949, the newspaper has organised a cycling stage race, the Grand Prix du Midi Libre. References External links W ...

, 29 December 2015 (in French)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zarabi, Kheireddine 1984 births Living people People from Hussein Dey (commune) 21st-century Algerian people Algerian footballers Men's association football defenders Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 players RC Kouba players ES Sétif players CR Belouizdad players Veikkausliiga players Turun Palloseura footballers Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players C.F. Os Belenenses players Vitória F.C. players Leixões S.C. players F.C. Arouca players C.F. União players S.C. Covilhã players C.D. Cova da Piedade players Ligue 2 players Nîmes Olympique players Algeria men's under-23 international footballers Competitors at the 2005 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games competitors for Algeria Algerian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Finland Expatriate footballers in Portugal Expatriate footballers in France Algerian expatriate sportspeople in Finland Algerian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Algerian expatriate sportspeople in France