Soufian El Hassnaoui

Soufian El Hassnaoui (born 28 October 1989) is a Dutch-Moroccan professional footballer who last played for IR Tanger, as a striker. He has previously played for Dutch sides De Graafschap and Sparta Rotterdam, and the Scottish Premiership side Heart of Midlothian.

Career

De Graafschap

Born in Ede, Netherlands and raised there, El Hassnaoui began playing youth football for local side De Graafschap. Then in November 2008, El Hassaoui signed his first professional contract with the club, keeping him until 2010.

El Hassnaoui made his De Graadschap debut, where he came on as a substitute for Steve De Ridder in the 84th minute, in a 3–0 win over Eindhoven in the second round of KNVB Cup. However, El Hassnaoui suffered an arm injury that kept him out for weeks. After making his return to the first team against Telsar on 8 February 2010, El Hassnaoui scored his first De Graadschap league goal, in a 3–2 loss against Emmen four days later. El Hassaoui later added four more goals later this season against Excelsior, Volendam Omniworld and AGOVV. In his first season which saw De Graafschap promoted to Eredivisie, El Hassnaoui made twenty-two appearances and scoring five times.

The 2010–11 season saw El Hassnaoui make four appearances for the club before suffering a knee injury, which he sustained a match against Jong FC Groningen and was out for six to eight months. Upon recovering from injury, El Hassnaoui declared himself fit, though he needs to train to regain his fitness ahead of the new season.

In the 2011–12 season, El Hassnaoui made his first team return, in the opening game of the season, in a 4–1 loss against Ajax, which he talked about his return in the post-match. Then seven days later, El Hassnaoui scored his first goal of the season, in a 2–2 draw against Utrecht. His first three appearances of the 2011–12 season saw El Hassnaoui signed a contract with the club, keeping him until 2014. El Hassanaoui scored his second goal of the season two weeks later on 10 September 2011, in a 1–0 win over NEC. His third goal of the season later came on 19 November 2011, which saw them lost 3–1 against PSV Eindhoven. El Hassnaoui was sidelined for one game for the next game against VVV-Venlo. After making his first team return, El Hassnaoui later scored five goals against Roda JC, Twente, Heracles, Excelsior and ADO Den Haag. However, El Hassaoui was unable to help the club to secure their league status in Eredivisie, therefore relegated to Eerste Divisie. El Hassnaoui was almost ever present at the club, making thirty-three appearances and scoring once.

Ahead of the 2012–13 season, El Hassnaoui wore number nine shirt. However, El Hassnaoui was linked with a move to Metalist Kharkiv and the talks had started. El Hassnaoui rejected a move to Metalist Kharkiv and signed a contract extension, keeping him until 2015. El Hassnaoui started the season well when he scored in a 2–0 win over Excelsior. El Hassnaoui then scored three goals in three matches against Oss, Emmen and Dordrecht. El Hassnaoui later two more goals later in the 2012–13 season, but was dropped from the first team, citing unprofessional conduct. But then, El Hassnaoui returned to the first team, but was used as an un-used in the substitute bench in the last game of the season, as he finished his 2012–13 season, making twenty-six appearances and scoring six times.

Sparta Rotterdam

It was announced on 18 June 2013 that El Hassnaoui joined Sparta Rotterdam on a free transfer, signing a two-year contract.

El Hassnaoui made his Sparta Rotterdam debut on 3 August 2013, in the opening game of the season, in a 2–2 draw against Jong PSV. It took until 29 September 2013 when El Hassnaoui scored his first Sparta Rotterdam goal, in a 3–0 win over Telstar. El Hassnaoui scored his second goal of the season on 5 November 2013, in a 1–0 win over Achilles '29. El Hassnaoui

then scored his third goal of the season two weeks later on 22 November 2013, in a 5–1 win over Helmond Sport. However, El Hassnaoui's playing time was soon reduced, as he made twenty-three appearances and scoring three times. At the end of the 2013–14 season, it was announced that El Hassnaoui was released by the club despite a year on his contract left.

Heart of Midlothian

On 16 June 2014, he signed a three-year deal with Scottish Championship club Heart of Midlothian.

However, his start at Hearts was not as planned after suffering from a groin injury. Though recovered from a groin injury, El Hassnaoui did not make his debut until on 13 September 2014 against Dumbarton, where he came on as a substitute for James Keatings in the 64th minute. Two weeks later on 28 September 2014, El Hassnaoui scored his first Hearts goal, in a 5–0 win over Livingston. El Hassnaoui's second goal of the season came on 15 November 2014 two months later, in a 2–1 win over Falkirk. Unfortunately, El Hassnaoui suffered an ankle injury that kept him out for months. Though recovered from an ankle injury, El Hassnaoui remained on the substitute bench until he made his return to the first team, coming on as substitute for Jamie Walker in the second half and then provided assist for Osman Sow, in a 10–0 win over Cowdenbeath Later in the 2014–15 season, El Hassnaoui later scored two more goals against Alloa Athletic and Raith Rovers. In his first season at Hearts, El Hassnaoui made 18 appearances, scoring four times, as he helped Hearts reach back to Scottish Premiership and resulting him earning the winners' medal. El Hassnaoui reflected his first season at Hearts, as bad, citing his injury overshadowed his season.

He was released by Hearts in the summer of 2016.

IR Tanger

On 17 January 2017, he signed a one and a half year deal with IR Tanger.

International career

El Hassnaoui played for the Morocco national under-23 football team in the qualifying rounds of the 2011 CAF U-23 Championship and was called up to the squad for the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Career statistics

Honours

De Graafschap
* Eerste Divisie: 2009–10

Heart of Midlothian
* Scottish Championship 2014–15

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hassnaoui, Soufian
1989 births
Living people
People from Ede, Netherlands
Footballers from Gelderland
Men's association football midfielders
Men's association football forwards
Dutch footballers
De Graafschap players
Sparta Rotterdam players
Heart of Midlothian F.C. players
Eredivisie players
Eerste Divisie players
Scottish Professional Football League players
Dutch sportspeople of Moroccan descent
Olympic footballers for Morocco
Footballers at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Dutch expatriate footballers
Expatriate footballers in Scotland