- Mehdi Benatia
-
Mehdi Benatia Personal information Full name Mehdi Amine El Moutaqui Benatia Date of birth 17 April 1987 Place of birth Courcouronnes, France Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Playing position Defender Club information Current club Udinese Calcio Number 17 Youth career ?–2002 Clairefontaine 2002–2003 Guingamp 2003–2006 Marseille Senior career* Years Team Apps† (Gls)† 2005–2008 Marseille 0 (0) 2006–2007 → Tours (loan) 29 (0) 2007–2008 → Lorient (loan) 0 (0) 2008–2010 Clermont 57 (2) 2010– Udinese 30 (3) National team‡ 2008– Morocco 13 (1) * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 09 December 2010.
† Appearances (Goals).
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 14 August 2009Mehdi Benatia (born 17 April 1987 in Évry, Essonne, France) is a Moroccan football defender, currently playing for Italian Serie A side Udinese.
Contents
Early life
He was born to a Moroccan father and an Algerian mother and opted to play for Morocco.[1]
Career
On 3 February 2010 Udinese Calcio signed the Moroccan defender from French Ligue 2 club Clermont, however the 23-year-old joined the Italian side in the following summer.[2].One oh the best defender in the Calcio this player is an international from 2009.
International career
Benatia represented France at the U-18 level but later decided to represent Morocco U-20.
On 19 November 2008 he played his first international match with Morocco, a friendly against Zambia at Mohamed V Stadium. He replaced Youssef Rabeh in second half while Morocco had the advantage of three goals to zero.
On 7 June 2009 Mehdi Benatia played his first official match against Cameroon in Yaounde and that counts for 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification.
On 4 June 2011 Mehdi Benatia scored his first goal for the national team, in a 4-0 African Nations Cup Qualifier over their arch-rivals Algeria.
Distinctions
References
External links
- Mehdi Benatia French league stats at LFP.fr (French)
Udinese Calcio – current squad 1 Handanovič · 3 Isla · 5 Danilo · 6 Belardi · 7 Agyemang-Badu · 8 Basta · 9 Barreto · 10 Di Natale (c) · 11 Domizzi · 13 Neuton · 16 Coda · 17 Benatia · 18 Battocchio · 20 Asamoah · 21 Padelli · 22 Sissoko · 23 Abdi · 24 Ekstrand · 25 Torje · 26 Pasquale · 27 Armero · 28 Romo · 30 Doubai · 31 Fabrini · 32 Ferronetti · 37 Pereyra · 66 Pinzi · 83 Floro Flores · Head coach: Guidolin
Categories:- 1987 births
- Living people
- People from Évry, Essonne
- Moroccan footballers
- Morocco international footballers
- Moroccan expatriate footballers
- Olympique de Marseille players
- Tours FC players
- FC Lorient players
- Clermont Foot players
- Ligue 2 players
- French people of Moroccan descent
- French people of Algerian descent
- Moroccan people of Algerian descent
- INF Clairefontaine players
- Udinese Calcio players
- Serie A footballers
- Expatriate footballers in Italy
- Moroccan football biography stubs
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
