Karim Ziani

Personal information
Full name	Karim Ziani
Date of birth	17 August 1982 (1982-08-17) (age 27)
Place of birth	Sèvres, France
Height	1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Wolfsburg
Number	15
Youth career
1995–2001	RC Paris
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2000–2005	Troyes	64	(1)
2004-2005	→ Lorient (loan)	24	(1)
2005-2006	Lorient	37	(7)
2006-2007	Sochaux	38	(8)
2007–2009	Marseille	62	(9)
2009–	Wolfsburg	9	(0)
National team‡
2003–	Algeria	52	(4)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16:15, 12 October 2009 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 21:58, 31 January 2010 (EET)

Karim Ziani (born 17 August 1982 in Sèvres, Hauts-de-Seine) is an Algerian footballer who plays for VfL Wolfsburg in Bundesliga. He has the talent to play in different positions, although he is best known for being a midfielder.

[edit] Personal life

Ziani was born to Algerian parents his father, originally from Bejaia in the Kabylie and his mother is also from the kabylie region region of Algeria,

[edit] Club career

Ziani started his playing career in the junior ranks at RC Paris where he was spotted by scouts from Troyes. Ziani spent three seasons playing with Troyes' junior team before joining the first team. He subsequently spent two seasons playing in Ligue 1 before Troyes were relegated to Ligue 2. He spent the next season mostly on the bench for Troyes and in the summer of 2004 was loaned out to FC Lorient. In the next two seasons he would become Lorient's top player and would lead them to promotion to Ligue 1. He was voted as the top player in Ligue 2 for the 2005–06 season.

In the summer of 2006, he signed a three-year deal with FC Sochaux and reunited with his first coach at Troyes Alain Perrin. The following summer, Ziani saw increasing attention from other French clubs, namely Olympique de Marseille. This interest culminated on 29 June 2007, when news broke that Ziani had finalized his move to Marseille for a transfer fee of $11 million. Karim scored his first goal with Marseille in a match against Valenciennes. He has since then become a familiar face in Eric Gerets' starting eleven.^[1]

[edit] VfL Wolfsburg

It was announced on July the 7th 2009 that Karim Ziani had signed a four-year contract with the Bundesliga champions VfL Wolfsburg. Armin Veh the Wolfsburg coach had been a keen admirer of the player and was delighted to have obtained the player's services, in a statement released by the club's website Armin Veh said "I'm delighted we were able to sign Ziani, He fits in well with our team and will help us achieve our goals".^[2]

[edit] International career

Ziani made his debut for the Algerian national team in 2003 when he was called up by Belgian caretaker Georges Leekens for a friendly against Belgium. He was a member of the Algerian 2004 African Nations Cup team, who finished second in their group in the first round of competition before being defeated by Morocco in the quarter-finals. He was also named as the best player at his position in the 2004 African Nations Cup. Karim Ziani scored his first goal for Algeria against Gambia with a penalty in a 2008 African Nations Cup qualifier, Algeria won 1-0. Ziani then added two more goals to his tally in a 2010 World Cup against Liberia. Algeria won the game 3-0. Ziani was also the artist of the recent Algerian team performances during the final phase of the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification together with 2010 African Cup of Nations. Algeria made three important victories; firstly at home with the score of 3-1 against the African champion Egypt(where Ziani had 3 assists), then won away against Zambia with the score of 0-2 while finally winning at home 3-1 against Rwanda

[edit] International goals

Scores and results list Algeria's goal tally first.

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Result	Competition	Scored
1	7 October 2006	Stade 5 Juillet 1962, Algiers	Gambia	1–0	2008 Africa Cup of Nations qualification	1
2	6 June 2008	Stade Mustapha Tchaker, Blida	Liberia	3–0	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)	2
3	6 June 2008	Stade Mustapha Tchaker, Blida	Liberia	3–0	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)	2
4	11 October 2009	Stade Mustapha Tchaker, Blida	Rwanda	3–1	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)	1

[edit] Honours

• Member of 2004 African Nations Cup Top 11 team^[3]
• DZFoot d'Or: 2004, 2005, 2006^[4]
• Top player in Ligue 2: 2005/2006 (FC Lorient)
• Algerian Ballon d’Or (Ballon d’Or El Haddaf): 2006, 2007
• Coupe de France: 2007 (FC Sochaux-Montbéliard)

[edit] Career

Season	Club	Country	Championship		National cup		European cup		International
			Played	Goals	Played	Goals	Played	Goals	Played	Goals
1995–2001	RC Paris	France	Youth team training						0	0
2001–02	Espérance Sportive Troyes Aube Champagne (L1)	France	8	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
2002–03	Espérance Sportive Troyes Aube Champagne (L1)	France	24	0	2	0	0	0	2	0
2003–04	Espérance Sportive Troyes Aube Champagne (L2)	France	28	1	2	0	0	0	10	0
2004–05	Espérance Sportive Troyes Aube Champagne (L2)	France	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
2004–05	FC Lorient (L2)	France	24	1	0	0	0	0	6	0
2005–06	FC Lorient (L2)	France	37	7	2	0	0	0	2	0
2006–07	Football Club Sochaux-Montbéliard (L1)	France	36	8	8	1	0	0	7	1
2007–08	Olympique de Marseille (L1)	France	21àç-	3	2	0	3 + 1	0	3	2

Last updated September 29, 2007

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Karim Ziani

• Video report of Karim Ziani (2006–07 season) on video.lequipe.fr (French)
• Karim Ziani French league stats at lfp.fr (French)
• Karim Ziani FIFA competition record

v • d • e Algeria squad – 2010 Africa Cup of Nations Fourth Place 1 Ousserir • 2 Bougherra • 3 Belhadj • 4 Yahia • 5 Halliche • 6 Mansouri • 7 Bezzaz • 8 Lemmouchia • 9 Ghezzal • 10 Saïfi • 11 Raho • 12 Babouche • 13 Matmour • 14 Laïfaoui • 15 Ziani • 16 Chaouchi • 17 Zaoui • 18 Bouazza • 19 Yebda • 20 Meghni • 21 Ziaya • 22 Abdoun • 23 Zemmamouche • Coach: Saâdane