Merzagua Abderrazak (born 1967 in Morocco) is a Moroccan former professional footballer and head coach. On 4 August 2001, he played in 2001 Sultan of Selangor Cup as a guest player.

Playing career

Penang

Brought in as a foreign player to Malaysian side

Penang Penang ( ms, Pulau Pinang, is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay ...

in the early 1990s. He joined Penang FA in 1995 and left the team in the next year. In 1998, he came back to Penang FA and helped the team won championships in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

after he scored the winning goal against

Selangor FA Selangor Football Club (Malay: ''Kelab Bola Sepak Selangor''), commonly referred to as Selangor F.C. is a Malaysian professional football club based in the city of Shah Alam, Selangor, that currently competes in the Malaysia Super League, the ...

at Shah Alam in the last minutes and that was the last league game. Called the 'Great Merz' by besotted fans, he has been described as one of the greatest foreign footballers to have ever played in Malaysia and Southeast Asia.

Gombak United

Moving to

Gombak United Gombak United Football Club was a professional football club which competed in the S.League, the top division of football in Singapore. The club was based in Bukit Gombak. During the early years of the S. League, Gombak United played their ho ...

of Singapore in 2001, Abderrazak reunited with his former Penang coach Moey Yoke Ham and Guinean Ballamodou Conde wearing the number 9. However, the forward was unable to concentrate on football due to his family business in Morocco failing. In the end, he left the club to support his family's business, apologizing to mentor Moey Yoke Ham along the way.

Coaching career

Penang

Announced as

head coach in late 2012, Abderrazak's aim was to lift the club out of the third-tier

Malaysia FAM League The FAM Cup (Malay: Piala FAM) was a knock-out tournament for teams in both the Malaysia M3 League and the Malaysia M4 League in Malaysian football league system, Malaysia. The tournament was a cup format, but from 2008 to 2018 was held as a thi ...

. Of the first three friendlies the team played through the preseason, they recorded two losses but won once against

Perak Perak () is a state of Malaysia on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Perak has land borders with the Malaysian states of Kedah to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kelantan and Pahang to the east, and Selangor to the south. Thailand's ...

of the Malaysia Super League thanks to the home fans. Leading the club to the 2013 FAM League championship and promotion to the

2014 Malaysia Premier League The 2014 Liga Premier ( en, 2014 Premier League), also known as the Astro Liga Premier for sponsorship reasons, is the ninth season of the Liga Premier, the second-tier professional association football, football league in Malaysia.http://www.rsss ...

, Abderrazak was disallowed from being their coach for the upcoming season in the second tier as he did not have the coaching badges that the league entailed. Three years later, the Moroccan earned his licenses and a number of sources close to Penang stated that he could return to helm the state team which never happened. Abderrazak was disappointed with

's performance in the

2017 Malaysia Super League The 2017 Malaysia Super League ( ms, Liga Super Malaysia 2017) was the 14th season of the Malaysia Super League, the top-tier professional football league in Malaysia.http://www.rsssf.com/tablesm/malay2017.html 2017 Liga Super The season began o ...

as his former club were at the bottom of the league table. Ever since his departure, he has been appraising the ''Panthers'' performances in competitions.

Sungai Ara FC

Picked to take the reins of Penang-based outfit Sungai Ara on a one-year contract in late 2014, the former striker was greeted by supporters, players and officials upon arrival to the Malaysian state. Improving the fitness level and morale of the players ahead of the season with six months of preparation and 30 friendlies played, his target was to gain promotion to the Malaysia Premier League by 2016, expressing gratefulness to the board.

Penang FC

In 2024, Merzagua was appointed as a Technical Director at

Penang F.C. Penang Football Club (or simply known as Penang FC) is a Malaysian professional football club based in George Town, Penang, that competes in the Malaysia Super League. Unofficially founded in 1920, officially as Football Association of Penang ...

Honours

As player

Penang * Malaysia Premier 1 League (2): 1998, 2001

As coach

Penang *

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

References

External links

'I respect him like my own father' - The New Paper
(only accessible from multimedia stations at NLB libraries)
Meet the Moroccan Magician Merzagua - Singapore Today
(only accessible from multimedia stations at NLB libraries) {{DEFAULTSORT:Abderrazak, Merzagua Moroccan men's footballers Men's association football forwards Moroccan football managers Living people 1967 births Penang F.C. players Expatriate men's footballers in Malaysia Expatriate men's footballers in Singapore Moroccan expatriate men's footballers Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in Malaysia Singapore Premier League players