Moubarak "Mbark" Boussoufa ( ar, مُبارك بوصوفة; born 15 August 1984) is a 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 an
attacking midfielder
A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As #Cent ...
. He won the
Belgian Golden Shoe In association football, the Belgian Golden Shoe ( nl, Gouden Schoen, french: Soulier d'Or) is an award given in Belgium at the beginning of each civil year to the best footballer of the Belgian First Division A for the past year. The trophy is spon ...
in 2006 and 2010.
Born in the Netherlands, he represented the
Morocco national team from 2006 to 2019 making 70 appearances and scoring eight goals.
Club career
Boussoufa started off at the youth academy of
Ajax
Ajax may refer to:
Greek mythology and tragedy
* Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea
* Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris
* ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...
before joining
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club is an English professional football club based in Fulham, West London. Founded in 1905, they play their home games at Stamford Bridge. The club competes in the Premier League, the top division of English football. Th ...
He spent the 2005–06 season with
K.A.A. Gent
Koninklijke Atletiek Associatie Gent (, English: ''Royal Athletic Association Ghent''), often simply known as Ghent or by their nickname ' ( en, The Buffalos), is a Belgian sports club, based in the city of Ghent, East Flanders. Their football ...
, winning several prizes in 2006:
Belgian Golden Shoe In association football, the Belgian Golden Shoe ( nl, Gouden Schoen, french: Soulier d'Or) is an award given in Belgium at the beginning of each civil year to the best footballer of the Belgian First Division A for the past year. The trophy is spon ...
,
Belgian Footballer of the Year,
Belgian Young Footballer of the Year and
Belgian Ebony Shoe
The Ebony Shoe award (Dutch: ''Ebbenhouten schoen'', French: ''Soulier d'ébène'') is a football award in Belgium given annually to the best African or African origin player in the Belgian Pro League. The jury is composed of the coaches of leagu ...
.
In June 2006, Boussoufa signed a four-year contract with
R.S.C. Anderlecht
; french: Les Mauves et Blancs)
, short name = R.S.C.A.
, founded =
, ground = Constant Vanden Stock Stadium
, capacity = 22,500
, owntitle = Chairman
, owner = Wouter Vandenhaute
, manager = Brian Riemer
, ...
after a €3.5 million transfer. In his
first season he was a regular in the title-clinching squad. He became a key player for the team that finished second in both the
2007–2008 and the
2008–09 seasons. Boussoufa was named Belgian Footballer of the Year for a second time after the 2008–09 season in which Anderlecht barely missed out on the title, losing the
Championship play-off
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this system ...
against
Standard de Liège Standard may refer to:
Symbols
* Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs
* Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification
Norms, conventions or requirements
* Standard (metrology), an object th ...
. The
next year
"Next Year" is a song released as the last single from the third Foo Fighters' album ''There Is Nothing Left to Lose''.
History
A shorter version (running at just 3:21 compared to the original's 4:36) was released as a single in 2000 and wa ...
, he managed 14 goals and 24 assists which made him the most valuable player in Anderlecht's championship-winning squad. He was named Belgian Footballer of the Year for a second consecutive time and the third time overall. After the season, he renewed his contract with a significant raise, making him the best paid footballer in Belgium. He won the Belgian Golden Shoe for the second time in 2010.
["Mbark Boussoufa wins Golden Shoe 2010"](_blank)
(Dutch), Sporza, 19 January 2011
In March 2011, Russian side
FC Terek Grozny
Republican Football Club Akhmat ( ce, футболан клуб Ахмат Соьлжа-ГӀала; russian: Республиканский футбольный клуб Ахмат Грозный), commonly known as Akhmat Grozny, is a Russian ...
announced his signing, but his transfer fell through three days later. Instead, Boussoufa signed for another Russian team,
Anzhi Makhachkala
Football Club Anzhi Makhachkala (russian: link=no, Футбо́льный клуб «Анжи́» Махачкала́, ), known simply as FC Anji, was a Russian professional football club based in the Dagestani capital of Makhachkala. Founded ...
.
Boussoufa signed a three-year contract with
FC Lokomotiv Moscow
FC Lokomotiv Moscow (''FC Lokomotiv Moskva'', russian: link=no, Футбольный клуб "Локомотив" Москва, ) is a Russian professional football club based in Moscow. Lokomotiv have won the Russian Premier League on three oc ...
in August 2013.
With Lokomotiv he won the 2015 Russian Cup, scoring the second goal as they beat
Kuban Krasnodar 3–1 after extra time in the final. He returned to K.A.A. Gent on loan from in February 2016.
In July 2016, Boussoufa signed a two-year contract with
UAE
The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...
club
Al Jazira. He made 16 appearances and scored three times as Al-Jazira went on to win the 2016-17 UAE Arabian Gulf League.
On 3 January 2019, Boussoufa signed a contract until the end season with Saudi club
Al-Shabab.
International career
Eligible to play for both
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 ...
and
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 ...
, Boussoufa chose to represent Morocco and made his international debut against the
USA
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
on 23 May 2006.
Boussoufa has represented Morocco at
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 ...
tournaments; in
2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
,
2017
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...
and
2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
.
In May 2018, he was named in Morocco's 23-man squad for the
2018 FIFA World Cup
The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...
in Russia.
On 5 July 2019, Boussoufa announced his retirement after Morocco's loss against
Benin
Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north ...
in the round of 16, 4–1 in penalties (following a 1–1 draw), in the
2019 Africa Cup of Nations
The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (abbreviated as AFCON 2019 or CAN 2019), known as the Total 2019 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 32nd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's football champion ...
.
Career statistics
Club
International
:''Scores and results list Morocco's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Boussoufa goal.''
Honours
Anderlecht
*
Belgian First Division
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 ...
:
2006–07,
2009–10
*
Belgian Cup
The Belgian Cup (french: link=no, Coupe de Belgique; nl, Beker van België []; german: link=no, Belgischer Fußballpokal) is the main Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in Belgium, run by the Belgia ...
: 2007–08 Belgian Cup, 2007–08
*
Belgian Supercup
The Belgian Super Cup ( nl, Belgische Supercup, ; french: Supercoupe de Belgique; german: Belgischer Fußball-Super Cup), ''Pro League Supercup'', is a Belgian club competition played as a single match between the Belgian First Division A champion ...
:
2007
File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...
,
2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
Anzhi Makhachkala
*
Russian Cup runners-up:
2012–13
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 ...
Lokomotiv Moscow
* Russian Cup:
2014–15
Al Jazira
*
UAE Arabian Gulf League
The UAE Pro League ( ar, دوري المحترفين الإماراتي), known for sponsorship reasons as the ADNOC Pro League, is the top professional football league in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The first team to win the title was Al O ...
:
2016–17
Individual
*
Best Gent player of the Season: 2005–06
*
Belgian Young Professional Footballer of the Year: 2005–06
*
Belgian Professional Footballer of the Year: 2005–06, 2008–09, 2009–10
*
Man of the Season (Belgian First Division): 2005–06
*
Best africain player in Belgium: 2005–06, 2008–09, 2009–10
*
Belgian Golden Shoe In association football, the Belgian Golden Shoe ( nl, Gouden Schoen, french: Soulier d'Or) is an award given in Belgium at the beginning of each civil year to the best footballer of the Belgian First Division A for the past year. The trophy is spon ...
: 2006, 2010
*
Belgian Lion Award: 2010, 2011
References
External links
Profile on Anzhi Makhachkala official website
*
*
Boussoufa named as Belgium's finest By Berend Scholten @ UEFA.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boussoufa, Mbark
1984 births
Living people
Dutch sportspeople of Moroccan descent
Citizens of Morocco through descent
Footballers from Amsterdam
Association football midfielders
Dutch footballers
Moroccan footballers
Morocco international footballers
2012 Africa Cup of Nations players
2017 Africa Cup of Nations players
K.A.A. Gent players
R.S.C. Anderlecht players
FC Anzhi Makhachkala players
FC Lokomotiv Moscow players
Al Jazira Club players
Al-Shabab FC (Riyadh) players
Al-Sailiya SC players
Belgian Pro League players
Russian Premier League players
UAE Pro League players
Saudi Professional League players
Qatar Stars League players
Dutch expatriate footballers
Moroccan expatriate footballers
Expatriate footballers in Belgium
Expatriate footballers in Russia
Expatriate footballers in the United Arab Emirates
Expatriate footballers in Saudi Arabia
Expatriate footballers in Qatar
Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in Belgium
Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in Russia
Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates
Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia
Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in Qatar
2018 FIFA World Cup players
2019 Africa Cup of Nations players