Anwar El Ghazi
.jpg) El Ghazi playing for Ajax in 2016 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Anwar El Ghazi | ||
| Date of birth | 3 May 1995 | ||
| Place of birth | Barendrecht, Netherlands | ||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||
| Playing position | Winger | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Ajax | ||
| Number | 7 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2000–2006 | BVV Barendrecht | ||
| 2006–2008 | Feyenoord | ||
| 2008–2009 | Spartaan '20 | ||
| 2009–2013 | Sparta Rotterdam | ||
| 2013–2014 | Ajax | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2014– | Ajax | 58 | (20) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2011 | Netherlands U17 | 2 | (1) |
| 2012–2013 | Netherlands U18 | 3 | (2) |
| 2014– | Netherlands U21 | 11 | (3) |
| 2015– | Netherlands | 2 | (0) |
|
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 9 May 2016 (UTC). | |||
Anwar El Ghazi (born 3 May 1995), officialy written as Anwar el-Ghazi, is a Dutch-Moroccan professional footballer who plays for Ajax and the Netherlands national team as a winger.
Club career
Early career
El Ghazi began his football career in the youth ranks of his local club BVV Barendrecht, joining the youth academy of Feyenoord for two seasons. He then joined the ranks of Spartaan '20, before getting recruited to Sparta Rotterdam where he progressed through the academy. In 2013 he joined the Ajax Youth Academy, playing for the A1 selection (under-19), competing in the UEFA Youth League for Ajax.[1]
AFC Ajax
El Ghazi was signed by AFC Ajax in July 2013.[2] During the 2014–15 pre-season, El Ghazi scored eight goals in 150 minutes. The top scorer of the preparation period was intended to play for the reserves team Jong Ajax, but due to his performance was listed for the first team of Ajax following the loan of winger Lesley de Sa to Go Ahead Eagles. He made his official debut for Ajax in the 2014 Johan Cruijff Schaal against PEC Zwolle, coming on for Ricardo Kishna in the 1–0 loss at home[3] He made his regular season debut for Ajax in the 2014–15 season opener against Vitesse. The match ended in a 4–1 home victory, with El Ghazi providing the assist for the fourth goal by Lasse Schöne in the 87th minute.[4] On 17 August 2014 he scored his first Eredivisie goal against AZ in the 90th minute of the 3–1 win in Alkmaar.[5] He scored his first goal in the UEFA Champions League on 22 October 2014 at Camp Nou, in the 88th minute of the 3–1 loss to FC Barcelona. He was the first player to score at Camp Nou since the beginning of the 2014–15 season, when Barcelona went five matches at home without conceding a goal.[6]
International career
Having dual citizenship, El Ghazi is eligible to represent both the Netherlands as well as Morocco at senior level. He made his international debut playing for the Netherlands under-18 side in a friendly match against Austria U-18 on 15 October 2012, which ended in a 2–0 loss.[7]
El Ghazi met Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid during the summer break, a player who he looks up to and asked him whether he should choose between the Netherlands and Morocco. Ronaldo advised him to choose for the Netherlands since he has a higher chance to participate at an international tournament based on their history. As a result, El Ghazi mentioned that he will choose to represent the Netherlands and was called up for two UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying games in October 2015.[8] El Ghazi directly made his way into the starting line-up for the Netherlands in those two matches, though it was not enough to qualify for EURO 2016.
Career statistics
Club performance
- As of 20 April 2016.[9]
| Club performance | League | Cup | Continental1 | Other2 | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Club | League | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Netherlands | League | KNVB Cup | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
| 2014–15 | Ajax | Eredivisie | 31 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 43 | 10 |
| 2015–16 | 27 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 11 | ||
| Total | Ajax | 58 | 20 | 3 | 0 | 18 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 80 | 21 | |
1 Includes UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League matches.
2 Includes Johan Cruijff Shield matches.
- Statistics accurate as of last match played on 17 May 2015.[10]
Honours
Individual
- AFC Ajax Talent of the Year: 2015
References
- ↑ Voormalig Sparta-talent El-Ghazi mikt op Ajax 1, Rijnmond.nl, 6 May 2014
- ↑ "Ajax contracteert Anwar El-Ghazi". AFC Ajax. 2013-04-16. Retrieved 2014-08-03.
- ↑ "PEC Zwolle vs. Ajax". Soccerway. 2014-08-03. Retrieved 2014-08-03.
- ↑ Ajax vs. Vitesse 4-1, Soccerway.co, 10 August 2014
- ↑ "AZ vs. Ajax". Soccerway. 2014-08-17. Retrieved 2014-08-17.
- ↑ "El Ghazi zorgt voor opmerkelijke statistiek". Soccernews.nl. 2014-10-22. Retrieved 2014-10-22.
- ↑ "Speler: Anwar El-Ghazi". OnsOranje. Retrieved 2014-08-05.
- ↑ "El Ghazi in line for Netherlands debut". Soccerway. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
- ↑ "Anwar El Ghazi Statistics". Soccerway. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
- ↑ "Anwar El Ghazi - Soccerway profile". Soccerway.
External links
- Netherlands U17 stats at OnsOranje
- Netherlands U18 stats at OnsOranje