Mehdi Ballouchy
مهدي بلوشي

Personal information
Full name	Mehdi Ballouchy
Date of birth	6 April 1983 (1983-04-06) (age 26)
Place of birth	Casablanca, Morocco
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Colorado Rapids
Number	8
Youth career
1996–1999	Raja Casablanca
2002	Creighton Bluejays
2004–2005	Santa Clara Broncos
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2005	Boulder Rapids Reserve	2	(0)
2006–2007	Real Salt Lake	46	(2)
2007–	Colorado Rapids	56	(4)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 30 October, 2009. † Appearances (Goals).

Mehdi Ballouchy (Arabic: مهدي بلوشي‎) (born April 6, 1983 in Casablanca) is a Moroccan footballer who currently plays for Colorado Rapids in Major League Soccer.

Contents 1 Career 1.1 Youth and College 1.2 Professional 1.3 International 2 See also 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Career

[edit] Youth and College

Ballouchy played in the youth system of Raja Casablanca before moving to the United States in 2000 at the age of 16. He attended Gunn High School in Palo Alto, California, and played a year of college soccer at Creighton and two at Santa Clara, where he was named first team All-American in 2005. He also briefly played with Boulder Rapids Reserve in the USL Premier Development League.

[edit] Professional

Ballouchy signed a Generation adidas contract with MLS, and was taken second overall by Real Salt Lake at the 2006 MLS SuperDraft. After spending two years in Utah he was traded to the Colorado Rapids for Kyle Beckerman in July 2007.

You can't spell Ballouchy without the ball, which makes the former Moroccan youth international's switch to a true #10 role this season all the more fitting. After serving mostly on the left flank during his rookie season, RSL Head Coach John Ellinger had seen enough from Ballouchy to determine that Mehdi was ready to handle the central playmaking role in the squad's new-look 4-3-3 offensive formation. After honing his skills on the streets of Casablanca, the 2007 season could end up looking a lot like those playground games for Ballouchy if he can continue live up to the potential he displayed during his rookie campaign.

[edit] International

Ballouchy has played for various youth Moroccan national teams, but is currently in the process of becoming a US citizen.^[1]

[edit] See also

• List of current MLS players

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• MLS player profile

v • d • e Colorado Rapids – current squad 2 Harvey · 3 Moor · 5 Harden · 6 Dalby · 7 Gibbs · 8 Ballouchy · 9 Casey · 10 Diz · 12 Noonan · 13 Schunk · 14 Cummings · 15 Peterson · 17 Burpo · 18 Pickens · 19 O'Brien · 20 Smith · 21 Baudet · 22 LaBrocca · 23 Clark · 25 Mastroeni · 26 Holody · 27 Kimura · 29 Palguta · 31 Ceus · 35 Valentino · Head Coach: Smith Assistant Coach: Guppy Goalkeeper Coach: Kramer General Manager: Plush

This biographical article related to Moroccan football is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v • d • e