Adel Taarabt

Personal information
Date of birth	24 May 1989 (1989-05-24) (age 20)[1]
Place of birth	Fes, Morocco
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Playing position	Midfielder, winger
Club information
Current club	Queens Park Rangers (on loan from Tottenham Hotspur)
Number	39
Youth career
2004–2006	RC Lens
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2005–2007	RC Lens B	14	(0)
2006–2007	RC Lens	1	(0)
2007	→ Tottenham Hotspur (loan)	2	(0)
2007–	Tottenham Hotspur	7	(0)
2009	→ Queens Park Rangers (loan)	7	(1)
2009–	→ Queens Park Rangers (loan)	17	(4)
National team‡
	France U18
	Morocco U20
	Morocco U21
2009–	Morocco	7	(3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 00:45, 5 December 2009 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 23:01, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

Adel Taarabt (Arabic: عادل تعرابت‎) (born 24 May 1989) is a Moroccan footballer who plays for Queens Park Rangers as a midfielder, on loan from Tottenham Hotspur.

Contents 1 Club career 1.1 Early career 1.2 Tottenham Hotspur 1.3 Loan to Queens Park Rangers 2 International career 3 Career statistics 3.1 Club 3.2 International goals 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Club career

[edit] Early career

Born in Fes, Fès-Boulemane,^[2] Taarabt grew up in Berre-l'Étang, France having moved there at the age of nine months.^{[citation needed]} He played 14 games for RC Lens B in the Championnat de France amateur.^[3] He made one first team appearance for Lens during the 2006–07 season.^[4]. He is also a Muslim.

[edit] Tottenham Hotspur

Taarabt signed for English Premier League team Tottenham Hotspur on a long-term loan on 2 January 2007 after the club offered to quickly integrate him into the first team to offer him maximum playing time.^[5] Within two months he made his first senior appearance in a Tottenham shirt, entering as a 87th minute substitute against local rivals West Ham United, which ended as a 4–3 victory.^[6] He made a second appearance in the 1–0 loss to Chelsea, again as a second half substitute, playing as a striker.

Tottenham signed Taarabt permanently on 8 June.^[7] Upon signing for Tottenham he was hyped as the next Zinedine Zidane. He scored his first goal for Spurs in a pre-season friendly against Stevenage Borough on 7 July. He made his first appearance of the 2007–08 season with Tottenham against Derby County in the 4–0 win on 18 August, which he entered at the 70th minute.

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 over team management.

[edit] Loan to Queens Park Rangers

On 13 March 2009 he joined Championship team Queens Park Rangers (QPR) on loan until the end of the season.^[8] He scored his first goal for QPR in a 2–1 win over Bristol City.^[9] His loan spell was cut short after he suffered a knee injury which required surgery.^[10]

Taarabt rejoined QPR on a season-long loan for the 2009–10 season on 23 July 2009.^[11] On 1 October, Taarabt scored with a "wonder strike" in a match against Preston North End, travelling 20 yards after collecting the ball on his chest inside the QPR half and turning, beating three players and superbly curling a shot from 25 yards. This led Jim Magilton labelling Taarabt as a "genius" and the goal is seen as one of the Championship's finest.^[12] He scored again the following week against Derby County. With Derby leading 2–0, Taarabt scored a free kick from 25 yards by placing unbelievable bend onto the ball send it around the wall and back into the corner of the net to make it 2-1 to Derby. The match finished Derby County 2–4 QPR.^[13] Taarabt scored the opening goal in a home defeat to Leicester City and contributed both assists in a victory over Sheffield Wednesday.

Tottenham confirmed in October 2009 that Taarabt could stay at QPR for the season providing a Premier League club does not make a bid for the player in the January transfer window.^[14]

[edit] International career

Taarabt represented France at under-16, under-17 and under-18 levels, but opted to play for Morocco, saying "I felt the time was right when I was given this opportunity".^[2] On 11 February 2009 Taarabt played his first international match with Morocco in a friendly against Czech Republic in Casablanca.^[15] He also made an appearance on 29 March during Morocco's 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier 2–1 defeat against Gabon.

Taarabt scored his first international goal on his first start on 31 March 2009 in a friendly 2-0 victory over Angola.^[16] On 6 September 2009 he scored his first goal in an official match against Togo in the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification after he broke through the opposing defence in stoppage time.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Career statistics

[edit] Club

As of 5 DECEMBER 2009.

Club	Season	League		Cups		Europe[17]		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
RC Lens	2006-07	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	Total	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Tottenham Hotspur	2006-07	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
	2007-08	6	0	1	0	3	0	10	0
	2008-09	1	0	2	0	1	0	4	0
	Total	9	0	3	0	4	0	16	0
Queens Park Rangers	2008-09	7	1	0	0	–		7	1
	2009-10	17	4	2	0	–		19	4
	Total	24	5	2	0	–		26	5
Career Total		34	5	5	0	4	0	43	5

[edit] International goals

Adel Taarabt: International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	31 March, 2009	Estádio do Restelo, Lisbon, Portugal	Angola	1-0	2-0	Friendly
2	6 September, 2009	Stade de Kégué, Lomé, Togo	Togo	1-1	1-1	2010 WCQ
3	10 October, 2009	Stade Omar Bongo, Libreville, Gabon	Gabon	1-3	1-3	2010 WCQ

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Adel Taarabt FIFA competition record
• Adel Taarabt career stats at Soccerbase
• Adel Taarabt French league stats at lfp.fr (French)
• Adel Taarabt profile at the Tottenham Hotspur website

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Persondata
NAME	Taarabt, Adel
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Taarabt, Adel
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Professional footballer
DATE OF BIRTH	24 May 1989
PLACE OF BIRTH	Fes, Morocco
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH