Adel Taarabt
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Adel Taarabt | ||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Second Striker | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team |
Queens Park Rangers (on loan from Tottenham Hotspur) | ||
| Number | 39 | ||
| ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 09:25, 14 March 2009 (UTC) | |||
Adel Taarabt (born 24 May 1989) is a Moroccan footballer who plays for Queens Park Rangers as a midfielder, on loan from Tottenham Hotspur. He grew up in Berre-l'Étang, France having moved there at the age of nine months and represented France at U-16, U-17 and U-18 level, but opted to play for Morocco, saying "I felt the time was right when I was given this opportunity"[1] and is able to play as a second striker, attacking midfielder or on either wing. He is known for his dribbling ability and shooting from distance.
Club career
In January 2007, Taarabt signed for Tottenham on loan after the club offered to quickly integrate him into the first team to offer him maximum playing time.[3]
Within two months he made his first senior appearance in a Spurs shirt aged 17, coming on as a substitute on the 85th minute against local rivals West Ham United, in a tense game which ended 4-3 to Spurs. He made an immediate impact with his first touch leading to the 3-3 equaliser as a driving run from half-way was ended by a foul on the edge of the box. Dimitar Berbatov subsequently scored the resulting free kick, before Paul Stalteri's winner in added time.
He made a second appearance in the 1-0 loss to Chelsea, again as a second half substitute.
On 8 June 2007 Tottenham confirmed that agreement had been reached for the permanent signing of Taarabt.[4] Taarabt scored his first goal for Spurs in a pre-season friendly against Stevenage Borough on 7 July 2007. Taarabt made his first appearance of the 2007–08 season with Tottenham against Derby County in the 4–0 win on 18 August. He was brought on in the 70th minute and instantly excited the fans with some sublime skill.
At the beginning of the 2008–09 season, Taarabt was not given a squad number by then manager Juande Ramos, though he was given his old number when Harry Redknapp took charge. On the 13 March 2009 he joined Championship team Queens Park Rangers on loan until the end of the season.[5] He scored his first goal for QPR in a 2-1 win over Bristol City.[6]
International career
On 11 February 2009 Taarabt played his first international match with Morocco in a friendly against Czech Republic in Casablanca.[7] He also made an appearance on March 29th, 2009 during Morocco's FIFA World Cup qualifier loss against Gabon 2-1.
Taarabt scored his first international goal in his first start for Morocco on 31 March 2009 in a friendly match that Morocco won 2-0 over Angola. The goal came after a poor clearance by Angola's goalkeeper. Taarabt latched onto the ball and lashed a stunning lofted strike over the 'keeper's head to give Morocco the lead in the ninth minute. In the same game, Taarabt brilliantly set up Morocco's second goal in the 50th minute by picking out star Bordeaux striker Marouane Chamakh along the floor, who tapped in for an easy goal. Taarabt readily claimed man-of-the-match honors.
References
- ^ a b "International ambition". Tottenham Hotspur. 2009-02-17. Retrieved 2009-02-16.
- ^ http://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/news/articles/internationalroundup010409.html THFC Site 1 April 2009
- ^ "Taarabt confirms Spurs move". Eurosport. 2006-12-29. Retrieved 2007-01-02.
- ^ Source: tottenhamhotspur.com - Adel Switch Agreed Template:En icon
- ^ "QPR complete Taarabt loan swoop". BBC Sport. 2009-03-13. Retrieved 2009-03-14.
- ^ "QPR 2-1 Bristol City". BBC Sport. 2009-03-21. Retrieved 2009-03-23.
- ^ "Morocco and Czech Republic draw 0-0 in friendly". USA Today. 2009-02-11. Retrieved 2009-02-13.
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External links
- Adel Taarabt at Soccerbase
- Adel Taarabt – French league stats at LFP – also available in French (archived)
- Adel Taarabt profile at the Tottenham Hotspur website