- Jaouad Zairi
Infobox Football biography
playername = Jaouad Zairi
fullname = Jaouad Zairi
nickname =
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1982|4|17
cityofbirth = flagicon|MoroccoTaza
countryofbirth =Morocco
height = height|m=1.81
currentclub = flagicon|GreeceAsteras Tripolis
position =attacking midfielder
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 2000–2001
2001–2006
2005–2006
2006–2007 2007-2008 2008-
clubs = flagicon|FranceFC Gueugnon
flagicon|FranceFC Sochaux
flagicon|Saudi ArabiaAl-Ittihad
flagicon|PortugalBoavista F.C. flagicon|FranceFC Nantes flagicon|GreeceAsteras Tripolis
caps(goals) = 28 (4)
87 (5)
0 (0)
6 (0) 8 (0) 17 (0)
nationalyears = 2000–
nationalteam = fb|MOR
nationalcaps(goals) = 28 (10)
pcupdate = July 21, 2008
ntupdate = 23 June 2006Jaouad Zairi ( _ar. جواد الزاري) (born
1982 inTaza ,Morocco ) is a Moroccan footballer currently playing forAsteras Tripolis ofGreece .Personal life
Zairi was born into a large family in the city of
Taza , central Morocco. As a young school boy he dreamt of playing football for the national team of Morocco, while being a huge fan ofDiego Maradona . He would be found playing football with his friends till late hours, upsetting his parents.In 1997 a scout for the French team FC Gueugnon was very impressed by Zairi's skills and took him to France.Football career
He joined the French Ligue 2 team FC Gueugnon at the age of 15. In the summer of 2001, he joined FC Sochaux as a striker and has a contract with them through 2008. Unhappy with the amount of play time he was getting under manager Domenica Bijotat, he was entertaining talks with Lyon as well as several Saudi teams. In January 2006 he was loaned to the Saudi giants
Al-Ittihad for 800,000 US dollars, but was released back to Sochaux due to his wish no longer to stay inSaudi Arabia .Currently, he plays for the Greek team
Asteras Tripolis which plays in Super League Greece.Notoriety
He gained particular notoriety within Morocco due to his performance over the course of the
African Nations Cup in 2004 when Morocco made it to the finals but lost to their North African rivals Tunisia. His skills remind many football commentators and analysts ofCristiano Ronaldo . He is often compared with him because of having the same style of playing and wearing the same shirt number.He is a regular forward (particularly right wing) on theMorocco national football team .External links
* [http://www.jaouadzairi.net/ Official Site]
*Moroccan Football
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