Tarik Elyounoussi ( ar, طارق اليونسي, ', ; born 23 February 1988) 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 ...

who plays for Japanese club

Shonan Bellmare is a Japanese professional football club based in Hiratsuka, in the west of Kanagawa Prefecture, part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. Their home stadium is Hiratsuka ...

. His preferred position is a forward, but he can also play as a winger.

Club career

Born in

Al Hoceima Al Hoceima ( ber, translit=Lḥusima, label= Riffian-Berber, ⵍⵃⵓⵙⵉⵎⴰ; ar, الحسيمة; '' es, Alhucemas'') is a Riffian city in the north of Morocco, on the northern edge of the Rif Mountains and on the Mediterranean coast. It i ...

, Morocco, Elyounoussi moved to Norway with his family when he was 11 years old. He started playing football in the club Nylende in

Fredrikstad Fredrikstad (; previously ''Frederiksstad''; literally "Fredrik's Town") is a List of cities in Norway, city and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Viken (county), Viken Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the ...

, and then joined Trosvik, in which many of the young players in the Fredrikstad youth team have their roots. He was considered to be the greatest talent Fredrikstad has produced in decades. As such he was awarded the Norwegian Young Player of the Year trophy in 2006 and 2007, after two great seasons in the league, and a

Norwegian football 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 footba ...

trophy.

SC Heerenveen

Elyounoussi was sought after by various

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

clubs in the summer of 2008. However Fredrikstad accepted a bid on around €4 million from French club Le Mans on 8 July. But Elyounoussi had no interest in joining Le Mans. A few weeks later Elyounoussi signed a five-year contract with

Heerenveen Heerenveen (, fry, It Hearrenfean ) is a town and municipality in the province of Friesland (Fryslân), in the Northern Netherlands. In 2021, the town had a population of 29,790 (1 January) while the municipality had a population 50,859 (1 July). ...

worth €3.5 million, on 22 July. He joined Heerenveen in August 2008. He scored in his debut match against FC Volendam. He also netted an important equalizer for Heerenveen in their first round UEFA Cup match away against Vitória F.C., and his second league goal came against NEC Nijmegen.

Return to Norway

On 19 February 2010,

Lillestrøm SK Lillestrøm Sportsklubb is a Norwegian professional football club from the city of Lillestrøm, just outside of the capital Oslo. Lillestrøm SK is a Norwegian football club based in Lillestrøm, playing in Eliteserien. The club was founded in ...

loaned the 21-year-old talented forward until the end of season from SC Heerenveen. On 7 January 2011, Elyounoussi returned to

Fredrikstad FK Fredrikstad Fotballklubb (also known as Fredrikstad or FFK) is a Norwegian football club from the town of Fredrikstad. With nine league championships and eleven Norwegian Cup wins, FFK is one of the most successful clubs in Norwegian footbal ...

and

Tippeligaen Eliteserien () is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion ...

. Elyounoussi signed for Rosenborg on 9 August 2012, binding him to the club to the end of the 2015 season. Elyounoussi and Mikkel Diskerud's transfers was announced at half time during the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

qualifier against

Servette Servette is a district of the city of Geneva, Switzerland. The district's name comes from the Latin word for forest, ''silva'', and means "little forest". Its name alludes to Servette's rural past, before Geneva grew beyond its walls and incorpora ...

1899 Hoffenheim

Rosenborg announced on 18 June 2013 that they had sold Elyounoussi to

Hoffenheim Hoffenheim () is a village in Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It belongs to the municipality of Sinsheim and, as of 2020, it has a population of 3,191. History The village, settled since prehistoric times, and first mentione ...

, and bought Alexander Søderlund from Haugesund as his replacement. Elyounoussi joined the German side after Rosenborg's match against Strømsgodset on 22 June.

Olympiacos

Olympiacos announced that this club had agreement with

TSG Hoffenheim Turn- und Sportgemeinschaft 1899 Hoffenheim e.V., or simply TSG 1899 Hoffenheim or just Hoffenheim () is a German professional football club based in Hoffenheim, a village of Sinsheim municipality, Baden-Württemberg. Originally founded in 1 ...

for signing Tarik Elyounoussi on 26 August with the transfer fee estimated to €1 million. On 11 September 2016, he scored his first goal with the club in a hammering 6-1 home win against

Veria F.C. Veria ( el, Βέροια or Βέρροια), officially transliterated Veroia, historically also spelled Berea or Berœa, is a city in Central Macedonia, in the geographic region of Macedonia, northern Greece, capital of the regional unit of I ...

He played a vital role in the club, in acquiring the 7th consecutive Super League title.

Qarabağ

On 31 August 2017, Azerbaijani champions Qarabağ FK signed Elyounoussi on loan until the end of 2017–18 season. The 30-year-old Moroccan-born Norwegian international was a member of Qarabağ during the first half of 2017–18 season, on loan from the Reds, but made only seven official performances in all competitions and failed to impress.

AIK

On 30 January 2018, Swedish outfit

AIK AIK Fotboll (), more commonly known simply as AIK (), an abbreviation for Allmänna Idrottsklubben (meaning ''the public'' or ''general sports club''), is a Swedish football club competing in Allsvenskan, the top flight of Swedish football. The ...

announced the transfer of Elyounoussi from Olympiacos on a two-year deal; details of the fees involved have not been disclosed. In 2018, he won the Swedish league, Allsvenskan, together with AIK.

Shonan Bellmare

On 12 January 2020, Japanese side

announced the transfer of Elyounoussi from AIK on a two-year deal; details of the fees involved were not disclosed. He scored his first goal for the club in a 3–1 defeat to

Kawasaki Frontale is a Japanese professional football club based in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. Their home stadium is Kawasaki Todoroki Stadium, in Nakahara ...

on 26 July 2020.

International career

Elyounoussi scored on his debut for the national team against

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

on 28 May 2008 after only four minutes on the pitch; this was one of the fastest ever debut goal on the national team. He scored his second national team goal on 15 January 2012, in the opening match of

2012 King's Cup The 2012 King's Cup was the 41st edition of the tournament which was held in Bangkok, Thailand from 15 January until 21 January. The King's Cup is an international football competition held in Thailand. This edition featured four teams and revert ...

against

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

, which was his fifth cap for Norway. Elyounoussi was chosen as captain for the international friendlies against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

and

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...

in January 2013, and scored the winning goal in the 1–0 victory against South Africa.

Personal life

Elyounoussi was born in Morocco, he represents the Norway national team. Elyounoussi is he cousin of

Mohamed Elyounoussi Mohamed Amine Elyounoussi (born 4 August 1994), nicknamed Moi (), is a professional footballer who plays as a forward or winger for Premier League club Southampton and the Norway national team. Early life Elyounoussi was born in Al Hoceim ...

, who is also a Norwegian international footballer.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Norway's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Elyounoussi goal.''

Honours

Fredrikstad *

Norwegian Football 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 footba ...

: 2006 SC Heerenveen * KNVB Cup: 2008–09 Olympiacos * Super League Greece: 2016–17 AIK * Allsvenskan:

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 Unit ...

Individual *Norwegian Young Player of the Year: 2006, 2007

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Elyounoussi, Tarik 1988 births Living people People from Al Hoceima Sportspeople from Fredrikstad Moroccan emigrants to Norway Naturalised citizens of Norway Norwegian footballers Moroccan footballers Norway international footballers Norway under-21 international footballers Fredrikstad FK players SC Heerenveen players Lillestrøm SK players Rosenborg BK players TSG 1899 Hoffenheim players Olympiacos F.C. players Qarabağ FK players AIK Fotboll players Shonan Bellmare players Eliteserien players Eredivisie players Bundesliga players Super League Greece players Azerbaijan Premier League players Allsvenskan players J1 League players Norwegian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate footballers in Germany Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate footballers in Azerbaijan Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in Azerbaijan Expatriate footballers in Greece Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate footballers in Sweden Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Expatriate footballers in Japan Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in Japan Norwegian people of Moroccan descent Association football midfielders Association football wingers Association football forwards Riffian people