Mehdi Benatia

Mehdi Benatia

Personal information
Full name	Mehdi Amine El Moutaqui Benatia
Date of birth	17 April 1987 (1987-04-17)
Place of birth	Courcouronnes, France
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position	Defender
Club information
Current club	Udinese Calcio
Number	17
Youth career
000?–2002	Clairefontaine
2002–2003	Guingamp
2003–2006	Marseille
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2005–2008	Marseille	0	(0)
2006–2007	→ Tours (loan)	29	(0)
2007–2008	→ Lorient (loan)	0	(0)
2008–2010	Clermont	57	(2)
2010–	Udinese	30	(3)
National team‡
2008–	Morocco	13	(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 09 December 2010. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 14 August 2009

Mehdi Benatia (المهدي بنعطية, born 17 April 1987 in Évry, Essonne, France) is a Moroccan football defender, who plays for Italian Serie A side Udinese.

Early life

He was born to a Moroccan father and an Algerian mother and opted to play for Morocco national football team.

Career

On 3 February 2010 Udinese Calcio signed the Moroccan defender from French Ligue 2 club Clermont, however he joined the Italian side in the following summer.

International career

Benatia represented France at the U-18 level but later decided to represent Morocco U-20.

On 19 November 2008, he played his first international match with Morocco, a friendly against Zambia at Mohamed V Stadium. He replaced Youssef Rabeh in second half while Morocco had the advantage of three goals to zero.

On 7 June 2009, Benatia played his first official match against Cameroon in Yaoundé and that counts for 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification.

On 4 June 2011, Benatia scored his first goal for the national team, in a 4–0 African Nations Cup Qualifier over their arch-rivals Algeria.

External links

• Mehdi Benatia French league stats at LFP.fr (French)