Hicham Zerouali

Infobox Football biography
playername = Hicham Zerouali


fullname =
height = height|ft=5|in=7
dateofbirth = birth date|1977|1|17|df=y
cityofbirth =
countryofbirth = Morocco
dateofdeath = death date and age|2004|12|4|1977|1|17|df=y
cityofdeath = Rabat
countryofdeath = Morocco
position = Forward
years = 1996–1999
1999–2002
2002–2003
2003–2004
clubs = Fus Rabat
Aberdeen
Al-Nasr
FAR Rabat
caps(goals) =
37 (11)
nationalyears = 1999-2004
nationalteam = Morocco
nationalcaps(goals) = 17 0(3)

Hicham Zerouali (17 January 1977 - 4 December 2004), nicknamed 'Zero' or the 'Moroccan Magician', was a Moroccan footballer who played as a forward for a number of clubs across Europe, Africa and the Middle East. He was a Moroccan international who won 17 caps.

Career

Zerouali was a striker signed by Aberdeen manager Ebbe Skovdahl in 1999. He became the first player in Scotland to wear the shirt number '0' in 2000 (something outlawed the following season by the Scottish Premier League) and in one of his more memorable outings scored a hat-trick against Dundee.cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/scot_prem/1564871.stm|title=Zero hat-trick dumps Dundee|publisher=BBC Sport website|date=September 29, 2001]

In January 2000, Zerouali scored a stunning 30 yard free kick in a fourth round Scottish Cup tie away to St. Mirren to take the tie to a replay. Zerouali then scored in the 2-0 replay win at Pittodrie to help Aberdeen into the next round of the cup. Aberdeen eventually earned a place in the final of the cup.

In 2000, Zerouali was injured during a match against Motherwell, and subsequently missed out on a place at the Sydney Olympic Games.cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/a/aberdeen/900056.stm|title=Zero luck for Moroccan|publisher=BBC Sport website|date=August 28, 2000]

After falling out of favour at Aberdeen, Zerouali moved to play his football in the United Arab Emirates with the team Al-Nasr for a year,cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/africa/africans_abroad/2123317.stm|title=Zerouali leaves Aberdeen for Al Nasr|publisher=BBC Sport website|date=July 11, 2002] before returning to live in his home country of Morocco in 2003, signing for the football team FAR Rabat.

Zerouali won 17 caps for the Morocco national football team and scored three goals. He featured for Morocco in the African Nations Cup in Mali in 2002, and scored two goals in a 2-1 win over Burkina Faso. He also played in the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship.

Zerouali was killed in a car accident in Rabat in December 2004 aged 27.cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/a/aberdeen/4070807.stm|title=Zerouali killed in car accident|publisher=BBC Sport website|date=December 6 2004] Only the previous Saturday, he had scored two goals in a league game for his club. He is survived by a daughter to his girlfriend in Aberdeen.

References

External links

*soccerbase|18839|Hicham Zerouali