Houssine Kharja ( ar, حسين خرجة; born 9 November 1982) is a Moroccan former 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 played 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 ...

. Born in France, he spent most of his career in Italy after starting out his senior career at

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional foot ...

, amassing

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

totals of 117 games and 13 goals. He represented in the competition

A.S. Roma ' (''Rome Sport Association''), commonly referred to as Roma (), is a professional football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its existence, except for ...

Internazionale Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is ...

and

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fo ...

, amongst other clubs. At international level, he represented the Morocco national team earning 78

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

and scoring 13 goals between 2003 and 2015.

Club career

Youth

Kharja began his career with

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...

's youth side and in 1998 he joined

Gazélec Ajaccio Gazélec Football Club Ajaccio ( co, Gazélec Football Club Aiacciu), commonly referred to as GFC Ajaccio, GFCA, Gazélec Ajaccio or simply Gazélec (), is a French football club from Ajaccio, Corsica. Founded in 1960, Gazélec plays in the Champ ...

Portugal

In 2000 he joined the Portuguese side

Italy

After only one season for Sporting, he joined

Ternana Ternana Calcio, commonly referred to as Ternana, is an Italian football club based in Terni, Umbria. The club was founded in 1925 and refounded in 1993. In its history, Ternana has twice played in Serie A (in the 1972–73 and 1974–75 seas ...

in 2001. He played four impressive

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 ...

seasons for the ''Rossoverdi'', gaining a place in the Moroccan national team, and being loaned to

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

in 2005, with option to buy him in co-ownership deal for €3.6 million. Kharja played 12 matches and scored one goal during a 1–1 draw against

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

. At the end of the 2005–06 season, Roma decided not to extend Kharja's loan, so the Moroccan player returned to Ternana, but he refused this transfer because in the meantime the ''Rossoverdi'' had been relegated to

Serie C1 Lega Pro Prima Divisione was the third highest football (soccer), football league in Italy. It consisted of 33 teams, divided geographically into two divisions of 16 and 17 teams for group A and B respectively. Until 2008 it was known as Serie C1 ...

. Ternana considered him as their own player, and Lega Calcio Serie C even suspended him until 26 April 2007. After appeals, FIGC's court decided that Kharja was a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

, and so, on 20 March 2007 he signed a three-year contract with Serie B team

Piacenza Piacenza (; egl, label= Piacentino, Piaṡëinsa ; ) is a city and in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, and the capital of the eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with over ...

. In January 2008, he was loaned to

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centuri ...

for the second half of the season, with this deal being turned a permanent one on 11 July. In June 2009,

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

announced the club was reaching an agreement to sign the player and on 2 July the transfer from Siena was completed. Genoa got Kharja for €6.5 million, while Siena signed the remain 50% registration rights of

Manuel Coppola Manuel Coppola (born 11 May 1982) is an Italian former footballer who played as a midfielder. Career Early career Born in Rome, Lazio, Coppola started his professional career at Tivoli. In January 2004 he was signed by Messina, but spent the ...

for €1.5 million and the full rights of

Gianluca Pegolo Gianluca Pegolo (born 25 March 1981) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Serie A side Sassuolo. Career Early career Pegolo was born in Bassano del Grappa. He joined Genoa on 6 July 2007 on free transfer. He left ...

for €1 million. It was announced on 29 January 2011, that Kharja had joined

on a loan deal with the option of Inter signing him permanently. He scored his first goal for Internazionale during his second appearance for the club against

Bari Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy a ...

on 3 February 2011. At the end of his loan spell, Inter decided not to give the player a permanent deal, and so he returned to Genoa. On 18 August 2011,

signed the player on a co-ownership deal, signing a two-year deal.

Qatar

On 29 June 2012, Kharja signed a two-year deal with Qatari club Al-Arabi. He was involved in an altercation with

Al Gharafa Al-Gharafa Sports Club ( ar, نادي الغرافة الرياضي) is a Qatari multisports club based in the Al Gharrafa district of Al Rayyan. It is best known for its football team, although it also has teams for other sports. It was estab ...

player

Nenê Nenê (; born Maybyner Rodney Hilário; September 13, 1982) is a Brazilian former professional basketball player. Known previously as Nenê Hilario, he legally changed his name to simply Nenê in 2003. Early life Born Maybyner Rodney Hilário i ...

on 19 March 2013 in a

Qatari Stars Cup The Qatari Stars Cup is a Qatari football competition played during the Qatar Stars League season known as Ooredoo Cup due to sponsorship reasons. The knockout competition, which involves a round-robin league structure, was first started in 2009 ...

match. After Kharja persistently fouled Nenê for the majority of the match, Nenê was sent off in an unrelated incident after a challenge on one of Kharja's teammates. When Nenê attempted to protest the referee's decision, Kharja shoulder-blocked him, preventing him from reaching the referee. Nenê responded by elbowing Kharja in the back of the head. After a delayed reaction, Kharja attacked Nenê, who was then being restrained by teammates. This induced a brawl between the two teams. Harsh sanctions followed after the match, with four players being fined and banned from match play as well as a member of Al Arabi's staff being fined and warned. Kharja received the most harsh penalty, being fined QR 380,000 and receiving a ten-game ban, the largest penalty in the history of the

Qatar Stars League The Qatar Stars League ( ar, دوري نجوم قطر), or the QSL, also called QNB Stars League for sponsorship reasons, is the top level football league in Qatar football league system. Contested by 12 teams, it operates on a system of promotio ...

. Later, on 31 March, after a 4–1 defeat to

Lekhwiya Al-Duhail Sports Club ( ar, نادي الدحيل الرياضي), formerly Lekhwiya SC, is a Qatari sports club, best known for its football team, which plays in the Qatar Stars League. The club is based in the Duhail district in the city ...

in the league, Al Arabi terminated his contract as a result of the aftermath of the brawl. He later stated that he had not received notification that his contract was terminated.

France

On 10 October 2014, Sochaux announced that Kharja had joined on a one-year contract after playing 16 years away from his native France.

Romania

In September 2015, Kharja joined Romanian defending champions Steaua București on a one-year deal. He made his

Liga I The Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1, is a Romanian professional league for men's association football clubs. Currently sponsored by betting company Superbet, it is officially known as the SuperLiga. It is the country's top ...

debut in the 3–1 win against

Concordia Chiajna Clubul Sportiv Concordia Chiajna, commonly known as Concordia Chiajna, is a Romanian professional football club based in Chiajna, Ilfov County, which competes in the Liga II. Founded in 1957, the team's best period was between 2011 and 2019, when ...

, three days after signing the contract.

Career statistics

Club

Morocco vs Czech Republic, February 11 2009-08 cropped

International

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

Honours

Inter Milan *

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...

: 2010–11 Steaua București *

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

: 2015–16 Morocco *

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 ...

runner-up:

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kharja, Houssine 1982 births Living people People from Poissy Citizens of Morocco through descent Footballers from Yvelines Association football midfielders Moroccan footballers Moroccan expatriate footballers Morocco international footballers 2004 African Cup of Nations players 2006 Africa Cup of Nations players 2008 Africa Cup of Nations players 2012 Africa Cup of Nations players French sportspeople of Moroccan descent Sporting CP footballers Ternana Calcio players A.S. Roma players Piacenza Calcio 1919 players A.C.N. Siena 1904 players Genoa C.F.C. players Inter Milan players ACF Fiorentina players Al-Arabi SC (Qatar) players FC Sochaux-Montbéliard players FC Steaua București players Serie A players Serie B players Qatar Stars League players Ligue 2 players Liga I players Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in Portugal Expatriate footballers in Qatar Expatriate footballers in Romania Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in Italy Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in Romania Olympic footballers of Morocco Footballers at the 2012 Summer Olympics