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Youssef Safri

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Youssef Safri
Personal information
Date of birth (1977-01-03) 3 January 1977 (age 47)
Place of birth Casablanca, Morocco
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
–1996 Rachad Bernoussi
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1996–1998 Rachad Bernoussi 23 (1)
1998–2001 Raja CA 101 (11)
2001–2004 Coventry City 98 (1)
2004–2007 Norwich City 92 (4)
2007–2008 Southampton 39 (0)
2008–2013 Qatar 90 (8)
Total 443 (25)
International career
1997 Morocco U20 3 (0)
2000 Morocco U23 3 (0)
1999–2009 Morocco 79 (9)
Managerial career
2014–2015 Raja CA (assistant)
2015–2016 DHJ (assistant)
2018–2019 Raja CA (assistant)
2019 Raja CA (caretaker)
2019–2021 Raja CA (assistant)
2021–2023 Qatar SC
2024– Qatar SC
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Youssef Safri (Arabic: يوسف سفري, born 3 January 1977) is a Moroccan football coach and former player who is currently the head coach of Qatar Stars League club Qatar SC.

Club career

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Safri started his youth career at Rachad Bernoussi. The following year, he was promoted to the senior squad.[2] He was a midfielder best known for his passing and tackling ability.

In 2001, he joined Coventry City where he played until 2004, scoring once against Sheffield Wednesday.[3] In December 2003, he had come under fire after breaking the leg of Sunderland player Colin Healy.[4] The next season, he joined Norwich City for an initial fee of £500,000 in the summer of 2004, after the Canaries had been promoted to the Premier League.

Safri became popular among the Norwich fans towards the end of the 2004–05 campaign and during the 2005–06 season following a series of impressive performances. He scored a 40-yard strike against Shay Given of Newcastle United in April 2005 during the team's fight against relegation from the Premiership. Safri was linked with a move to Feyenoord in the summer of 2005, but stayed at Carrow Road.

Following the 3–1 defeat at Plymouth Argyle in September 2006, Safri and teammate Dickson Etuhu were reported to have traded punches on the team bus during their return journey to East Anglia, although these reports are now thought to have been discredited.[5] After Peter Grant was appointed Norwich manager in October 2006, Safri was not a regular selection. There was speculation that he would leave the club in January 2007, fuelled by his comments in the Eastern Daily Press on 29 December 2006 in which Safri indicated that he would seek a transfer if Grant continued to use him as a substitute. Safri remained at Carrow Road until the end of the 2006–07 season, but after falling out with manager Peter Grant, Grant stated in the press on 1 August that Safri would not play for the club again.[6]

On 2 August 2007 he signed for Norwich's championship rivals Southampton on a two-year contract for a fee rumoured to be of the order of £250,000. On 24 October 2007 he was sent off in the 90th minute of Southampton's away defeat to Bristol City, for a heavy tackle on Lee Johnson, whose subsequent reaction to Safri pushing him by all accounts was exaggerated, resulting in a straight Red.[7]

On 7 July 2008 he joined Qatar Sports Club in a £300,000 transfer.[8]

International career

[edit]

Safri was a key player with the Moroccan national team during the 2004 African Nations Cup, and was a member of the national squad competing at 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship, the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. Safri qualified to play for Scotland through a maternal grandparent, but decided to play for his native Morocco, stating concerns about the Scottish weather.

Coaching career

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At the end of 2013 season he retired and started a role of assisting coach in his first club Raja CA. In the following 2015–16 season, he was assistant manager of Jamal Sellami at Difaâ Hassani El Jadidi.

In May 2018, Safri returned to Raja, again as assistant manager, this time under manager Juan Carlos Garrido.[9] Garrido was sacked on 28 January 2019, and Safri was appointed caretaker manager.[10] It lasted for two days, before Patrice Carteron was appointed. Safri however, left the club on 12 June 2019.[11] In November 2019, Safri returned to Raja CA. Coached Islam Under-17s to a league title in 2017-18 and won Manager of the season.[12]

Honours

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Raja CA
Qatar SC

Morocco

References

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  1. ^ "Youssef Safri profile". ESPN. Archived from the original on 17 July 2012.
  2. ^ "EFFECTIF 1999". members.tripod.com. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  3. ^ "Coventry 2-0 Sheff Wed". BBC. 27 October 2001. Retrieved 13 November 2009.
  4. ^ "Sunderland fume at Safri". 9 December 2003. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  5. ^ "Norwich Players Trade Blows After Defeat". Archived from the original on 15 October 2006. Retrieved 27 September 2006.
  6. ^ "No way back for Safri". Retrieved 1 August 2007.
  7. ^ "Bristol C 2 Saints 1". Archived from the original on 27 October 2007. Retrieved 25 October 2007.
  8. ^ "Safri heading to Gulf". Sky Sports. 7 July 2008. Retrieved 7 July 2008.
  9. ^ Raja: Youssef Safri nommé entraîneur adjoint de Garrido, sport24info.ma, 4 May 2018
  10. ^ Raja Casablanca sacks head coach Carlos Garrido, yabiladi.com, 29 January 2019
  11. ^ Officiel: Safri quitte le Raja, sport24info.ma, 12 June 2019
  12. ^ Sellami et Safri au Raja, un come-back programmé ?, telquel.ma, 13 November 2019
  13. ^ "African Nations Cup 2004".
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