Naïm Aarab (born 7 February 1988) is a Belgian 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 for Tubize-Braine as a

centre-back 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 ...

Career

Aarab progressed through the youth ranks of

Tubize Tubize (; nl, Tubeke ) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the Belgian province of Walloon Brabant. On January 1, 2006 Tubize had a total population of 22,335. The total area is 32.66 km2 which gives a population density of 6 ...

and

Anderlecht Anderlecht (, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, and Saint-Gilles, as well as the ...

, before joining the reserves of

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

club

NEC is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational information technology and electronics corporation, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. The company was known as the Nippon Electric Company, Limited, before rebranding in 1983 as NEC. It prov ...

. He signed his first professional contract − a one-year deal − with the club in 2007. Aarab made his league debut in a 5–0 loss against PSV, as an 84th-minute substitute for Jonas Olsson on 25 August 2007. Aarab decided to leave NEC after not reaching a new agreement, and in July 2008 he joined AEL in the

Greek Super League 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 ...

. He spent the 2010–11 season on loan at

Charleroi Charleroi ( , , ; wa, Tchålerwè ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. By 1 January 2008, the total population of Charleroi was 201,593.

, suffering relegation from the top division but also managing to score his first professional goal – on 23 October 2010 in a 3–2 loss to

Sint-Truiden Sint-Truiden (; french: link=no, Saint-Trond ; li, Sintruin ) is a city and municipality located in the province of Limburg, Flemish Region, Belgium, and has over 41,500 inhabitants, which makes it one of the largest cities in Limburg. The muni ...

. On 23 July 2012, Aarab joined Hungarian

Nemzeti Bajnokság I The Nemzeti Bajnokság (, "National Championship"), also known as NB I, is the top level of the Hungarian football league system. The league is officially named OTP Bank Liga after its title sponsor OTP Bank. UEFA currently ranks the league 28th ...

side

Újpest Újpest (; german: Neu-Pest, en, New Pest) is the 4th District in Budapest, Hungary. It is located on the left bank of the Danube River. The name Újpest means "New Pest" because the city was formed on the border of the city of Pest, Hungary i ...

on a four-year contract. In September 2014, Aarab signed a three-year contract with

Wydad Wydad Athletic Club ( ar, نادي الوداد الرياضي, ) commonly referred to as Wydad AC and known as Wydad, or simply as WAC, is a Moroccan sports club based in Casablanca. Wydad AC is best known for its professional football team that ...

. In his first season with the Moroccan club, he only made one appearance. Wydad won the league title that season. In July 2015, he joined

Deinze Deinze () is a city and a municipality in the Belgian province of East Flanders. It comprises the city of Deinze, and the towns of Astene, Bachte-Maria-Leerne, Gottem, Grammene, Hansbeke, Landegem, Meigem, Merendree, Nevele, Petegem-aan-de-Leie, ...

on loan. There, he played 5 games until his loan period was terminated prematurely in January 2016. He played no more games for the remainder of the 2015–16 season. In Morocco, Aarab struggled with injuries and at his own request he returned to Belgium in 2016 for his rehabilitation and joined Deinze on a permanent contract at the end of that year, where he played 2 matches. In 2017, Aarab returned to Wydad. With the club, he won the national title twice and won the

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 ...

CAF Champions League The CAF Champions League, known for sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League and formerly the African Cup of Champions Clubs, is an annual football club competition organized by the Confederation of African Football and co ...

and the

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

CAF Super Cup The CAF Super Cup (also known as African Super Cup or for sponsorship reasons TotalEnergies CAF Super Cup) is an annual African association football competition contested between the winners of the CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederation ...

. In September 2019, Aarab moved to Tubize-Braine.

Honours

Wydad *

Botola The Botola Pro ( ar, البطولة الاحترافية, translit=al-buṭūla l-iḥtirāfiyya), is a Moroccan professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Moroccan football league system, it is the country's prima ...

: 2014–15, 2016–17, 2018–19 *

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Aarab, Naim 1988 births Living people Footballers from Brussels Belgian sportspeople of Moroccan descent Moroccan footballers Belgian footballers Belgium under-21 international footballers Association football defenders Association football midfielders Association football utility players A.F.C. Tubize players R.S.C. Anderlecht players NEC Nijmegen players Athlitiki Enosi Larissa F.C. players R. Charleroi S.C. players Újpest FC players Sint-Truidense V.V. players Wydad AC players K.M.S.K. Deinze players Belgian First Division B players Eredivisie players Super League Greece players Belgian Pro League players Nemzeti Bajnokság I players Botola players Belgian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate footballers in Greece Expatriate footballers in Hungary Belgian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Belgian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Belgian expatriate sportspeople in Hungary