Mounir El Hamdaoui

Excelsior

Born in Rotterdam, Netherlands, El Hamdaoui went through the youth academy of Excelsior Rotterdam, where he played together with his youth friends Robin van Persie and Saïd Boutahar. In the 2001–02 season the player made his debut for the Rotterdam side under manager Adrie Koster, scoring two goals in six appearances. El Hamdaoui played a total of 74 league matches for Excelsior, scoring 32 goals. Excelsior big brother Feyenoord was also interested in signing the player, and El Hamdaoui trained a number of times with Feyenoord's first squad, but a transfer was never realised.

Tottenham Hotspur

In January 2005 English club Tottenham Hotspur, managed by fellow Dutchman Martin Jol, signed El Hamdaoui from Excelsior on a three-and-a-half-year contract. He never made an appearance in the Premier League.

Derby County

In September 2005 El Hamdaoui joined Derby County on loan. He made six appearances, scoring two goals before a dislocated shoulder forced the loan to be cut short. Derby continued to monitor his progress and in January 2006 he returned to Pride Park for another loan spell. This too was to be disrupted due to injury, a groin problem forcing him to return to Tottenham in early March. This second loan deal was not cancelled, but after returning to duty with Derby in April, a further injury problem prematurely ended his season.

Willem II

In June 2006, El Hamdaoui moved back to his native Netherlands to play for Willem II,…

Although being born in the Netherlands and having played for their under-21 side, El Hamdaoui pledged his international future to the Morocco national team. El Hamdaoui played his only game with Morocco B in 2005 against Saudi Arabia. On 6 November 2006, El Hamdaoui stated in an interview to Dutch football magazine Voetbal International that he, at one point, wanted to play senior international football for the Morocco national team. A few months before he had said to the same magazine that he would choose the Netherlands if national coach Marco van Basten called him up. He was selected to join the Moroccan national team and made his first international cap with the team on 11 February 2009 against the Czech Republic. El Hamdaoui struck his first goal in the 84th minute in a 2–1 loss to Gabon in March 2009. His second international goal came in the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualification against Tanzania on 9 October 2010, where he scored the only goal in a 1–0 win, assisted by Marouane Chamakh.

Club

International

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

AZ

Eredivisie: 2008–09 Johan Cruyff Shield: 2009 Ajax

Eredivisie: 2010–11 Individual

Dutch Footballer of the Year: 2008–09 Eredivisie top scorer: 2008–09