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Sunday, November 14, 2010

Marouane Chamakh

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Marouane Chamakh
Chamakh Emirates Cup cropped.jpg
Personal information
Full nameMarouane Chamakh
Date of birth10 January 1984 (age 26)
Place of birthTonneins, France
Height1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[1]
Playing positionStriker
Club information
Current clubArsenal
Number29
Youth career
1988–1994Nérac
1994–2000Marmandais
2000–2003Bordeaux
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2003–2010Bordeaux230(56)
2010–Arsenal12(5)
National team
2003France U191(0)
2003–Morocco51(15)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 01:20, 11 November 2010 (UTC).

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 13 October 2010

Marouane Chamakh (Arabic: مروان الشماخ‎; born on 10 January 1984) is a French-born Moroccanfootballer who currently plays for English club Arsenal in the Premier League and the Moroccan national football team as a striker.

Chamakh began his career at Bordeaux in 2000 and made his professional debut in the 2002–03 season. He spent eight years at the club and helped Bordeaux win the Coupe de la Ligue in2007. In the 2008–09 season, Chamakh won his first league title as Bordeaux were crowned champions for the first time since the 1998–99 season. The club also won the Coupe de la Liguecompleting the league and league cup double. In May 2010, Chamakh joined Arsenal of thePremier League on a free transfer after agreeing to a four-year contract with the club. Chamakh is the first man to score in six consecutive Champions League games.

Although born and raised in France, Chamakh chose to play international football for Morocco, due to having Moroccan parents.[2] He made his national team debut in July 2003 and has played at three Africa Cup of Nations tournaments, which includes the 2004 edition where Morocco finished runner-up. He is the current captain of the national team.

Contents

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[edit]Career

[edit]Early career

Chamakh was born on 10 January 1984 in Tonneins, a small town near the Garonne River, toMoroccan parents, and was raised in the nearby commune of Aiguillon. His father, El Mostafa Chamakh, left the city of Casablanca for France in 1979 to locate more favorable living conditions and to find a better job.[3] Chamakh began his football career at the age of four playing for local club Nérac FC in nearby commune of Nérac. While at Nérac, he was equally adept on the field and off earning good grades in school. After six years at the club, Chamakh joined FC Marmandais. While in Marmande, he developed his physical skills and traits growing as tall as 6 ft 0 in (1.84 m) and also earning his first regional selection to play for the Aquitaine regional team in the Coupe Nationale.[3][4]

[edit]Bordeaux

In 2000, Chamakh was courted by several professional clubs that wanted to obtain his services. He drew interest from Lens, Toulouse, Lorient, and Bordeaux. Chamakh eventually decided to sign with Bordeaux due to the club's infrastructure and training facilities and also because of the close proximity to his family.[3] Upon his arrival to the club, Chamakh was inserted into the club's youth academy and began attending high school, with early ambitions of earning a Baccalauréat in accounting, which he later accomplished.[3] For the 2001–02 season, he was promoted to the club's Championnat de France amateur 2 team in the fifth division. The team was coached by Jean-Louis Garcia and Chamakh was involved heavily in team's campaign appearing in 17 matches and scoring six goals as the team finished first in their group, thus earning promotion to the Championnat de France amateur.[5]

Following the season, Chamakh turned professional and signed a three-year contract with Bordeaux. He spent the fall portion of the 2002–03 campaign playing in the fourth division, but following the winter break, was called up to the senior team by manager Elie Baup. Chamakh made his professional debut on 19 January 2003 in the team's Coupe de la Ligue match against Metz. He appeared as a substitute and played 15 minutes in a 1–0 defeat.[6] Chamakh made his league debut three weeks later in a 2–0 home defeat to Bastia again appearing as a substitute.[7] On 20 May, he scored his first professional goal against Nice netting the equalizing goal just a minute before injury time in a 1–1 draw.[8] Chamakh finished the campaign with 14 total appearances with all his appearances being as a substitute. In the 2003–04 season, he was promoted to the senior team permanently by new manager Michel Pavon and made his first professional league start on 1 November 2003 in a 1–0 win over Marseille.[9] In the team's following match, Chamakh scored the opening goal in a 1–1 draw with Strasbourg just before halftime. However, mid-way through the second half, he received his first career red card after incurring a second yellow.[10] Upon returning from his one-game suspension, Chamakh developed into a regular starter for the club scoring goals in consecutive matches against Metz andMontpellier.[11][12] He finished the league campaign with six goals in 25 matches. In the club's UEFA Cup campaign, Chamakh netted four time in eight appearances.

Chamakh signing autographs in 2005

In the 2004–05 season, Pavon decided to move Chamakh into the lead striker position with theArgentine playmaker Juan Pablo Francia acting as a support striker. The move was a success with Chamakh scoring ten league goals. He opened the campaign by scoring his first professional hat trick in a 5–1 victory over Nice.[13] In September 2004, Chamakh scored goals in back-to-back weeks against Bastia and Derby de la Garonne rivals Toulouse.[14][15] He finished the campaign by scoring the opening goal in a 1–1 draw with Monaco.[16] Despite the positive individual season from Chamakh, Bordeaux finished the campaign in 15th place; its worst finish since ending the league campaign in 16th over a decade ago. Pavon, due to heart problems, stepped down from his position and was replaced by Ricardo Gomes. Under Gomes, Chamakh struggled to meet the success of his previous season scoring only 12 league goals in 58 matches over the course of two seasons. Two of his notable performances during Gomes' reign included scoring a double in league matches against Metz and Nancy.[17]In the match against the former club, Chamakh scored both of his goals within a minute of each other. He was later ejected from the match after committing a red card offense.[18] Chamakh ended the 2006–07 Ligue 1 campaign by hoisting the Coupe de la Ligue trophy after featuring in the team's 1–0 victory over Lyon in the final match.[19] It was Chamakh's first major club honour.

Under manager Laurent Blanc, Chamakh struggled to earn meaningful minutes in the 2007–08 season with Blanc preferring new signing David Bellion. His playing time up front was further hampered by the arrival of striker Fernando Cavenaghi who had a prolific season scoring 15 goals in only 23 appearances. Due to Cavenaghi's emergence, Chamakh was utilized as a target man and scored a career-low four goals, since becoming a professional, in the league . In the 2008–09 season, Chamakh was relegated to appearing as a substitute for the first-half of the campaign. However, on 21 December 2008, Chamakh convinced Blanc to change his mind. With Bordeaux trailing 3–0, Chamakh appeared as a substitute and, within minutes on the field, scored a goal. Following a goal from Alou Diarra to make the match 3–2, Chamakh equalized three minutes from time and, two minutes later, Cavenaghi netted the game-winner to give Bordeaux a 4–3 victory.[20] Following the winter break, Blanc decided to implement both Chamakh and Cavenaghi in the attack with influential playmaker Yoann Gourcuff acting in support. It was former who developed a consistent partnership with Gourcuff and Chamakh responded by scoring eight league goals in the second half of the season. On 30 May 2009, Bordeaux sealed their first league title since the 1998–99 season after defeating Caen 1–0 at theStade Chaban Delmas.[21][22] Chamakh played the entire match. The club also won the Coupe de la Ligue completing the league and league cup double.[23]

Chamakh during a 2009 training session with Bordeaux.

During the club's victory parade, with only one year left on his contract Chamakh declared that he would be staying at Bordeaux for the 2009–10 season, despite strong interest from Premier Leagueclub Arsenal.[24] Despite the statement, rumors of a move to Arsenal continued to surface with negotiations reportedly having been ongoing throughout the summer. On 3 August 2009, presidentJean-Louis Triaud declared that Arsenal had sent a bid of 7 million for Chamakh and that he had rejected it demanding that Arsenal improve their offer.[25] The following day, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger announced that he would not be offering an improve deal and declared the possible transfer dead.[26] The announcement, subsequently, led to Chamakh confirming his intentions to remain at Bordeaux for the 2009–10 season.[27] On 29 August, Chamakh reportedly snubbed a move to West Ham.[28] The club offered Bordeaux £18 million for the player and offered Chamakh a four-year contract worth £3 million a year. However, Chamakh again remained firm on his stance reiterating his commitment to Bordeaux.[29]

In his final season with Bordeaux, Chamakh was equally adept in both the league and the UEFA Champions League. He began the season claiming his 5th silverware with Bordeaux on 25 July 2009, winning the 2009 Trophée des Champions title in a 2–0 victory over Guingamp. Chamakh scored ten goals in league play and netted five in the Champions League, which included goals against Italianclub Juventus and German club Bayern Munich in the group stage.[30][31][32] Bordeaux were only one of two clubs to finish the group stage portion undefeated. In the knockout rounds, Chamakh scored a goal in Bordeaux's 2–1 victory overGreek club Olympiacos in the second leg of the team's UEFA Champions League opening knockout round match.[33] Bordeaux won the tie with a 3–1 aggregate scoreline to advance to the quarter-finals where they faced league rivals Lyon. In the first leg, which Lyon won 3–1, Chamakh scored a vital away goal.[34] In the second leg, Chamakh converted another goal to get the scoreline 3–2 on aggregate. However, in the second half, Bordeaux were unable to score another as Lyon advanced to the semi-finals on the aggregate scoreline.[35] In Ligue 1, Chamakh appeared in all 38 matches for the first time in his career. Despite starting the campaign strong, Bordeaux fell out of the running for the league title in the spring and eventually finished the season in 6th place failing to qualify for European competition next season.

[edit]Arsenal

Chamakh playing with Arsenal at the Emirates Cup

On 21 May 2010, Chamakh completed his move to Arsenal on a free transfer. The transfer took effect on 1 July 2010.[36] He made his debut in a pre-season friendly against Barnet on 17 July appearing as a substitute.[37] On 27 July, he scored his first pre-season goal for the club converting a penalty in a 4–0 victory over Austrian club SC Neusiedl.[38] In the 2010 edition of the Emirates Cup, Chamakh scored on his home debut against Italian club Milan.[39] He made his Premier League debut on 15 August in the team's 1–1 draw with Liverpool. Chamakh contributed to the team's equalizing goal by heading a cross off the goal post, which then redirected off of goalkeeper Pepe Reina and in to the back of the net resulting in an own goal.

On 21 August 2010, Chamakh scored his first Premier League goal with a header against Blackpool. In the same match, he won a penalty when he was fouled by Ian Evatt, which Andrei Arshavin subsequently converted in a 6–0 win for Arsenal.[40] In his third start in four games, Chamakh scored the team's second goal against Bolton in a 4–1 victory.[41] On 15 September, in his first UEFA Champions League match for the club, he scored the third goal in a 6–0 win against Portuguese club SC Braga.[42] Two weeks later, Chamakh scored his second Champions League goal for Arsenal against Serbian outfit FK Partizan. The goal was his 7th goal in his last eight Champions League matches.[43] Following the international break, Chamakh continued his solid form scoring the winning goal in a 2–1 victory over Birmingham City.[44]Three days later, he scored his 8th goal in nine Champions League matches against Ukrainian clubShakhtar Donetsk in a 5–1 rout.[45] On 10 November, Chamakh scored both goals in a midweek victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers.[46]He scored the opening goal 37 seconds into play, which is the fastest premier league goal scored in the club's history.[47] The previous record was held by Thierry Henry, who scored a goal after 58 seconds for Arsenal against Reading on 22 October 2006.

[edit]International career

Chamakh playing in a 2010 World Cup qualification match againstGabon.

Chamakh is a Moroccan international at senior level. Prior to representing Morocco, he played for theunder-19 team of France and made his debut on 12 February 2003 in a friendly match against the Czech Republic.[48] That was his only appearance with the team. Chamakh was called up to the team for the2003 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship, but declined the offer after being called up for Morocco national team by coach Badou Zaki for the team's 2004 African Cup of Nations qualificationmatches against Sierra Leone and Gabon.[49] On 7 June 2003, he made his debut with the team in the match against Sierra Leone. On 10 September 2003, Chamakh scored both goals, which included his first international goal, in a 2–0 victory over Trinidad and Tobago.[50][51][52][53] He participated in the rest of the qualification matches and was later named to participate in the tournament. Chamakh scored two goals in the competition; one against Benin in the group stage and another in the quarter-finals againstAlgeria. Morocco beat Mali in the semi-finals to reach the final where they faced Tunisia. In the match, Chamakh played the entire match as Morocco were defeated 2–1 at the Stade 7 Novembre in Tunis.

In qualification for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Chamakh scored three goals. One of his goals during qualification occurred on 8 October 2010 against Tunisia. With Morocco needing a win to qualify for the World Cup, Chamakh opened the scoring in the third minute. However, the match finished 2–2 meaning Morocco only had the satisfaction of qualifying for the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations. In the tournament, Morocco were eliminated in the group stage and departed the tournament without scoring a goal. In 2008, Chamakh was selected to participate in his third consecutive Africa Cup of Nations and was held scoreless in the competition as Morocco were again eliminated in the group stage. In 2009–2010, Chamakh appeared in only four matches and scored no goals as Morocco failed to qualify for both the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

In 2010–2011, Chamakh has formed a fruitful partnership with Ajax's Mounir El Hamdaoui for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualification, where Morocco is currently tied for first place in Group D.

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