Talal El Karkouri (Arabic: طلال القرقوري‎) (born July 8, 1976 in Casablanca, Morocco) is a Moroccan professional footballer.

He started his career in Raja Casablanca, and was discovered by French giants Paris Saint-Germain in 2000. He played in the UEFA Cup and UEFA Champions League, but failing to capture a regular place he was sent on loan to Aris in Greece and Sunderland in England. In the summer of 2004 he was bought by Charlton Athletic for £1m.

El Karkouri has been capped 53 times and scored 1 goal for Morocco. He was part of the team that finished second in the 2004 African Nations Cup.

After grabbing 5 goals in his debut season with the Addicks, including the clubs goal of the season against Arsenal, he recently grabbed his first goal in over 18 months with a stoppage time winner against Blackburn Rovers.

On 30 December 2006, El Karkouri was yellow carded by referee Rob Styles for an act of simulation in a home match against Aston Villa involving Villa defender Olof Mellberg. He was accused of a similar act against Reading F.C. on 9 April 2007 later in the same season, this time involving Reading striker Leroy Lita, who headbutted him.

Reading boss Steve Coppell accused El Karkouri of faking a 'death roll' and claimed that he would have needed treatment in intensive care had Lita butted him.^[1] Lita has urged the FA to do something about 'diving cheats' after being hit with the ban. He said "I didn't touch him, he went down like an idiot and it was cheating"^[2]. The FA disagreed and banned the Reading striker for 3 games for violent conduct. Coppell has not apologised for his comments.

On June 10, 2007 Talal El Karkouri signed a two year contract with Qatar Sports Club.

On January 29, 2008 he announced his retirement from international football, after his teams failure to qualify for the latter stages of the 2008 African Nations Cup, and retourned on March 28, 2009 for playing the 2010 World Cup qualifications match against Gabon in Casablanca.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Talal El Karkouri career stats at Soccerbase
• Bio at Charlton

v • d • e Morocco squad – 2004 Africa Cup of Nations Runners-up 1 Fouhami • 2 Regragui • 3 Roumani • 4 Ouaddou • 5 El Karkouri • 6 Naybet • 7 Zairi • 8 Kissi • 9 Baha • 10 Hdiouad • 11 Moha • 12 El Jarmouni • 13 Kharja • 14 Bidoudane • 15 Safri • 16 Mokhtari • 17 Chamakh • 18 Alla • 19 Alioui • 20 Hadji • 21 Chihab • 22 Lamyaghri • Coach: Zaki

v • d • e Morocco squad – 2006 Africa Cup of Nations 1 Jarmouni • 2 Regragui • 3 Kacemi • 4 Ouaddou • 5 El Karkouri • 6 Naybet • 7 Zairi • 8 Ouchla • 9 Boussaboun • 10 Moha • 11 Zerka • 12 Chadili • 13 Kharja • 14 Abdessadek • 15 Safri • 16 Erbati • 17 Chamakh • 18 Chippo • 19 Aboucherouane • 20 Hadji • 21 El Kaddouri • 22 Lamyaghri • 23 Armoumen • Coach: Fakhir

v • d • e Morocco squad – 2008 Africa Cup of Nations 1 Lamyaghri • 2 Chrétien • 3 Mahdoufi • 4 Ouaddou • 5 El Karkouri • 6 Erbati • 7 Alloudi • 8 Kissi • 9 El Moubarki • 10 Sektioui • 11 Zerka • 12 Fouhami • 13 Kharja • 14 Chahiri • 15 Safri • 16 Mokhtari • 17 Chamakh • 18 Kabous • 19 Alioui • 20 Hadji • 21 El Kaddouri • 22 Bagui • 23 Aboucherouane • Coach: Michel