Mohammed "Moa" Abdellaoue ( ar, محمد عبد اللاوي; born 23 October 1985) is a retired Norwegian

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

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. He started his career with

Skeid Skeid is a Norwegian alliance sports club from Nordre Åsen, Oslo. It has sections for association football (one for elite and one for grassroots football), Nordic skiing and bandy. General history The club was founded as ''IK Skeid'' on 5 De ...

and

Vålerenga Vålerenga () is a neighbourhood in the city of Oslo, Norway, belonging to the borough of Gamle Oslo. Vålerenga is located between the neighbourhoods of Gamlebyen, Jordal, Ensjø, Etterstad and Lodalen. Vålerenga is in particular known for it ...

before moving to Germany where he played for

Hannover 96 Hannoverscher Sportverein von 1896, commonly referred to as Hannover 96 (), Hannover, HSV or simply 96, is a German professional football club based in the city of Hanover, Lower Saxony. They played in the Bundesliga for a total of 30 years betwe ...

and

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V., commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's football team is currently part of Germany's first division, the Bundesliga. VfB Stu ...

. After returning to Vålerenga he ended his career due to knee problems. At international level, Abdellaoue represented the Norway national team. In 2020 he became an employee—a '' miljølærer''—at a school in

Grorud Valley The Grorud Valley ( no, Groruddalen) is a valley and urban area or suburb in the northeastern part of Oslo, the capital of Norway. Four of Oslo's boroughs lie within the Grorud Valley; Bjerke (borough), Bjerke to the west, Alna to the south, Gror ...

in Oslo. He was raised in the

Sinsen Sinsen is a mixed residential and commercial area in Grünerløkka borough of Oslo, Norway. The westernmost part of Sinsen is part of the borough Nordre Aker. The Sinsen Interchange, located on the border between the boroughs of Nordre Aker, Grün ...

neighborhood. His younger brother striker

Mustafa Abdellaoue Mustafa "Mos" Abdellaoue (born 1 August 1988) is a Norwegian professional footballer who most recently played as a forward for Eliteserien side Sarpsborg 08. He is the younger brother of former Norway international Mohammed Abdellaoue. Club care ...

, known as "Mos", is also a professional footballer who plays as a striker.

Club career

Early career

Abdellaoue was born in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

and played for Hasle-Løren and

as a youth player. Before joining Skeid's first team squad in 2003 he had to have corrective surgery to his left foot due to the fact he was born with only four toes, something which was never a hindrance before top flight football. He made his debut on 9 June 2003, when he came on as a substitute against Hødd. In his fourth game of the season, he scored his first two goals in a 2–1 win over

Raufoss Raufoss is the administrative centre of Vestre Toten Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The village is located about south of the larger town of Gjøvik. The village area is located along the municipal border with the neighboring Gjøvi ...

. Abdellaoue scored a total of 42 league goals for Skeid in five seasons, and was their top scorer in 2004 and 2007. He appeared once for the Norwegian under-21 team, six times for the under-18 team and once for under-19 team.

Vålerenga

At the end of the 2007 season, he signed a three-year contract with

, transferring to his new club on 15 November. During his first season, he became the club's top goalscorer in the league with nine goals in 23 appearances, including a hat-trick of penalties in one game, earning him his debut for the Norway national team against the Republic of Ireland. Abdellaoue scored six goals in the 2008 Norwegian Cup, including two goals in the final itself, in which Vålerenga defeated Stabæk 4–1 to become Norwegian cup champions.

Hannover 96

On 17 August 2010, Vålerenga and

reported on their official websites that Abdellaoue would be joining the Bundesliga club on a four-year contract, and it was reported that the transfer fee was around

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

1.2–1.4 million. He made his Bundesliga debut in a 2–1 home win against

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The team is currently playing in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the Germa ...

on 21 August 2010, and he scored his first Bundesliga goal on 28 August 2010 against

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (), Schalke 04 (), or abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine ...

in a 2–1 away win. The following match against

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH, also known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen (), Bayer Leverkusen, or simply Leverkusen, is a professional football club based in Leverkusen in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The club competes in the Bundesliga, th ...

he scored his first goal at home as Hannover 96 failed to secure a safe win having gone 2–0 up. And in the next match he scored his third goal of the season in a 4–1 home win – making it the end result. And then in the next game against

Kaiserslautern Kaiserslautern (; Palatinate German: ''Lautre'') is a city in southwest Germany, located in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate Forest. The historic centre dates to the 9th century. It is from Paris, from Frankfur ...

he also scored the only goal of the match. He scored a total of 10 goal in his first season for the German side. In his second Bundesliga season, "Moa" notched up seven goals in seven games. His consistent performances attracted interest from bigger clubs, most notably Bayern Munich. In the opening match of the

2011–12 Bundesliga The 2011–12 Bundesliga was the 49th season of the Bundesliga, Germany's premier football league. The season started on 5 August 2011 with the opening match involving defending champions Borussia Dortmund and ended with the last games on 5 May ...

season, he scored a goal against 1899 Hoffenheim at the 30th minute. He scored his first hat-trick in the Hannover jersey versus

Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen (), Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen, Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, they are be ...

on 2 October in a game they won 3–2. Abdellaoue was troubled with injuries during the

2012–13 Bundesliga The 2012–13 Bundesliga was the 50th season of the Bundesliga, Germany's premier football league. The season began on 24 August 2012 with the season opening match at Westfalenstadion involving defending champions Borussia Dortmund and SV Werd ...

season, but managed to score eight goals in the league. He made a total of 80 appearances for Hannover in the Bundesliga, scoring 29 goals.

VfB Stuttgart

On 11 June 2013, Abdellaoue signed a four-year deal with

, and it was reported that the transfer fee was around

4 million. He made his debut for his new team in the qualifying match for the

2013–14 UEFA Europa League The 2013–14 UEFA Europa League was the 43rd season of Europe's secondary club association football, football tournament organised by UEFA, and the fifth season under its current title. The 2014 UEFA Europa League Final was played between Sevil ...

against

Botev Plovdiv Profesionalen Futbolen Klub Botev, commonly referred to as Botev Plovdiv ( bg, „Ботев“ Пловдив, ) or simply Botev (within its associated city), is a Bulgarian professional football club based in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, that competes ...

on 1 August 2013 when he came on as a substitute in the 88th minute. Abdellaoue scored his first goal for Stuttgart in the 1–2 loss against

Mainz 05 1. Fußball- und Sportverein Mainz 05 e. V., usually shortened to 1. FSV Mainz 05, Mainz 05 () or simply Mainz (), is a German sports club, founded in 1905 and based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. 1. FSV Mainz 05 play in the Bundesliga, the top ...

on 25 January 2014, which also was the first match he started for Stuttgart. That goal ended a 274 days goal-drought, as he had not scored a goal in the Bundesliga since 26 April 2013. He was sent to the

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

and started in the 2–0 win against

1. FSV Mainz 05 II 1. FSV Mainz 05 II is a German association football club from the town of Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is the reserve team of 1. FSV Mainz 05. The team's greatest achievement came in 2014 when it won promotion to the 3. Liga for the first tim ...

Vålerenga

Abdellaoue signed a contract with his former club

on 7 August 2015. In December 2017 he retired from football due to injuries.

International career

Abdellaoue made his debut for the Norway national team on 20 August 2008, in a friendly against

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. His first goal came in his seventh match; a

UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying The qualifying competition for UEFA Euro 2012 was a series of parallel association football competitions held over 2010 and 2011 to decide the qualifiers for UEFA Euro 2012, held in Poland and Ukraine. The draw for the qualifying rounds was held ...

match against

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

. In the friendly match against

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

on 29 February 2012, Abdellaoue was the captain of Norway in the absence of the regular captain

Brede Hangeland Brede Paulsen Hangeland (born 20 June 1981) is a Norwegian former professional footballer who played as a central defender. He began his career with Viking, where he won the Norwegian Cup in 2001. In 2006, he moved to Copenhagen, and went on to ...

. Moa was awarded the Gold Watch after his 25th cap against

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

in March 2013.

International goals

:Source:

Career statistics

Source:

Honours

Vålerenga *

Norwegian Cup The Norwegian Football Cup ( no, Norgesmesterskapet i fotball for herrer) is the main knockout cup competition in Norwegian football. It is run by the Football Association of Norway and has been contested since 1902, making it the oldest football ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

Individual * Kniksen of the Year: 2011

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Abdellaoue, Mohammed 1985 births Living people Footballers from Oslo Association football forwards Norwegian people of Moroccan descent Norwegian footballers Norwegian men's futsal players Norwegian expatriate footballers Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Norway international footballers Skeid Fotball players Vålerenga Fotball players Hannover 96 players VfB Stuttgart players VfB Stuttgart II players Eliteserien players Norwegian First Division players Norwegian Second Division players Bundesliga players 3. Liga players Expatriate footballers in Germany Norway youth international footballers Norway under-21 international footballers