Younes Kaboul

Auxerre

Born in Saint-Julien-en-Genevois, Haute-Savoie, Kaboul began his career at Bellegarde, Concordia and Plastics Vallée. He then joined Auxerre, where the player started his professional career. Kaboul appeared as an unused substitute against PSV in the second leg of the UEFA Cup, as the club lost 3–0 on 25 March 2004, resulting in their elimination from the tournament. He broke into the first team in the 2004–05 season and made his debut for Auxerre, playing the whole game, in a 2–1 win against Toulouse on 3 October. Three weeks later, on 21 October, Kaboul made his debut European debut, playing the whole game, in a 0–0 against Grazer AK. The 2004–05 season saw Kaboul make 15 appearances in all competitions for Auxerre and helped the club win the Coupe de France in 2005, as well as having European football experience in the UEFA Cup. With his playing time reduced for most of the 2005–06 season, Kaboul's playing time increased in mid March and he went on to make nine appearances in all competitions. At the start of the 2006–07 season, Kaboul started the season well when he played both legs against Farul Constanța in the third round of the UEFA Intertoto Cup to help Auxerre win 4–2 on aggregate. Kaboul then became a first-team regular for the club, playing at centre-back. In a match against Le Mans on 4 November 2006, however, he was sent off for a second bookable offence, in a 3–2 loss. After serving a one-match suspension, Kaboul returned to the first team…

Kaboul was eligible to play for France and Morocco, as he is of Moroccan descent through his parents. In October 2010, Kaboul turned down the chance to represent Morocco.

France U21

In August 2006, Kaboul was called up to the France under-21 team for the first time. He made his debut against Belgium on 15 August, playing the whole game in a 1–0 loss. He captained France for the first time against Romania on 1 June 2007 in a 1–1 draw. Kaboul had captained France on four occasions by the end of the year. In May 2008, Kaboul was called up to the under-21 team for the first time in six months. He appeared twice for France during the same month. He helped France keep clean sheets in matches against Malta and Bosnia and Herzegovina. He scored his first goal for France on 10 October in a 1–1 draw against Germany. Kaboul went on to make 12 appearances and scoring one for the under-21 team.

France

After turning down Morocco, Kaboul was called up to the France senior team for the first time on 15 November 2010. However, he appeared as an unused substitute against England two days later. In May 2011, Kaboul was called up to France for the second time. He scored on his national team debut on 6 June, with a header from Marvin Martin's corner in a 4–1 friendly win away to Ukraine at the Donbas Arena. Kaboul later played five times for the senior team by the end of the year. On 15 May 2012, Kaboul was ruled out of a possible place at UEFA Euro 2012 after suffering a…

Club

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International

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France score listed first, score column indicates score after each Kaboul goal

Growing up in the Rhône-Alpes region of eastern France close to the Swiss border, Kaboul has three sisters, with him being the only boy and the youngest in the family. He said: "My dad used to push me to play football. He played and I was into tennis. It was a choice between the two and tennis was too expensive, so I stopped." Kaboul is a Muslim. In addition to speaking French, he speaks English. During his time at Tottenham, Kaboul had been involved in campaigning against racism in English football.