Youssef Rossi ( ar, يوسف روسي; born June 28, 1973) 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 ...

who played as a defender.

Club career

Rossi was born in Casablanca, Morocco. started his playing career with local side

Raja Casablanca Raja Club Athletic ( ar, نادي الرجاء الرياضي, Nādī ar-Rajāʾ ar-Riyāḍī, zgh, ⴰⵙⵔⵉⵔ ⵏ ⵕⴰⵊⴰ ⴰⵎⴰⵏⵓⵏ), commonly referred to as Raja CA, Raja Casablanca or simply RCA is a professional footb ...

in 1995, before being signed by French side Stade Rennais. After over 40 games for the Ligue 1 side, Rossi then signed al loan-contract for NEC Nijmegen, where he disappeared after only four matches, before moving to Scottish Premier League side

Dunfermline Athletic Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently play in Scottish League One after being relegated from the 2021–22 Scottish Championship. Dunfermline ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

. After four months with the SPL side, Rossi first appeared in an under-21 match against St Johnstone in November 2000 but was sent off after 25 minutes. He received another red card later that month, after being sent off for a second bookable offence against

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...

. As he made his way off the pitch, Rossi was seen to make a gesture that provoked United fans. He scored his only goal for the club against Aberdeen on Boxing Day 2000. In August 2001, Rossi had his wages stopped in what proved to be a long drawn out saga which would see him leave Scotland for Morocco, only to have a worldwide ban placed on him by FIFA after going

AWOL Desertion is the abandonment of a military duty or post without permission (a pass, liberty or leave) and is done with the intention of not returning. This contrasts with unauthorized absence (UA) or absence without leave (AWOL ), which ...

for more than a year. Rossi finally left Dunfermline in December 2003 to re-sign for his first club Raja Casablanca. He stayed in Morocco for one year before moving to

Al Khor Al Khor ( ar, الخور; also spelled ''Al Khawr''), officially Al Khor and Al Thakhira, is a municipality in coastal northeastern Qatar. Al Khor City, the municipal seat, is located in the northeast coast of Qatar, around from the capital, ...

in Qatar.

International career

Rossi played for the Morocco national team and was a participant at the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

Managerial career

Rossi was the Technical Director of

Raja ''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia. The title has a long history in South Asia and Southeast Asia, being attested f ...

from 2009 to 2012 and 2014 to 2016. In November 2015, he claimed he had not been paid by Raja's President, Mohamed Boudrika, for nine months.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rossi, Youssef 1973 births Living people Footballers from Casablanca Association football defenders Moroccan footballers Morocco international footballers Moroccan expatriate footballers Raja CA players Stade Rennais F.C. players NEC Nijmegen players Dunfermline Athletic F.C. players Scottish Premier League players Eredivisie players Ligue 1 players 1998 FIFA World Cup players 1998 African Cup of Nations players Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in France Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in Qatar Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate footballers in Scotland Al-Khor SC players Al-Shamal SC players