Ezzaki Badou (; born 2 April 1959), nicknamed Zaki, is a Moroccan

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach and former professional player who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

. He manages the Niger national team.

Playing career

Born in Sidi Kacem, Zaki represented AS Salé,

Wydad AC Wydad Athletic Club (, ), often known outside Morocco as Wydad Casablanca, is a Moroccan sports club based in Casablanca. Wydad AC is best known for its professional Association football, football team that competes in Botola, the top tier of th ...

RCD Mallorca Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (, , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or RCD Mallorca, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Palma de Mallorca, ...

and

Fath Union Sport Fath Union Sport (), commonly known as FUS Rabat, is a Moroccan professional football club based in Rabat and currently playing in the first division. The club was founded on 10 April 1946. 'Fath Union Sport' is the name of the sports club whi ...

during a 17-year professional career. With Mallorca, for which he signed in 1986 after being named by

France Football ''France Football'' is a French monthly magazine containing football news from all over the world. It is considered to be one of the most reputable sports publications in Europe, mostly because of its photographic reports, in-depth and exclus ...

African Footballer of the Year The African Footballer of the Year award, presented to the best African association football, footballer each year, has been conferred by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) since 1992. Samuel Eto'o and Yaya Touré have won the award the ...

, he won promotion to

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

while winning the

Ricardo Zamora Trophy The Zamora Trophy () is a football award, established by Spanish newspaper '' Marca'' in 1958. The award goes to the goalkeeper who has the lowest "goals-to-games" ratio.Similar to goals against average in ice hockey or earned run average in b ...

. Zaki played for the Morocco national team in the

1986 FIFA World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-tea ...

and four

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...

. In the former tournament, held in Mexico, he helped his country to become the first African team to reach the round-of-16; additionally, the recipient of 76 full

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

competed in the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

. In 2006, Zaki was selected by the

Confederation of African Football The Confederation of African Football (CAF) is the administrative and controlling body for association football, beach soccer, and futsal in Africa. It was established on 8 February 1957 at the ''Grand Hotel'' in Khartoum, Sudan. At the FIFA Co ...

as one of the best 200 African footballers of the last 50 years.

Coaching career

Zaki retired in 1993 at the age of 34, immediately becoming a manager. In 2002, after coaching a host of clubs, including former sides FUS and WAC, he was appointed at the helm of Morocco, leaving his post after three years and returning in May 2014. He managed to create a young group and qualify the national team for the African Cup then organized in Tunisia in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

without a defeat. Zaki's protégés reached the final by losing to

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

2–1. He left by mutual consent in February 2016. Zaki subsequently returned to club duties, going on to be in charge of several sides. On 9 July 2017, Zaki was named as the coach of

IR Tanger Ittihad Riadi Tanger (; ), often shortened to IR Tanger or the abbreviation IRT, is a Moroccan football club based in Tangier, that competes in Botola, Morocco's top professional football league. The club was founded in 1936 as Unión Deportiv ...

. On 12 March 2023, he was named as coach of

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

, with his salary being paid by the Saudi Arabian FA as part of a co-operation agreement. In managing his first game for Sudan, he managed to claim a 1–0 victory against

Gabon Gabon ( ; ), officially the Gabonese Republic (), is a country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, on the equator, bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo to the east and south, and ...

in the

2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification The 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification matches were organised by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to decide the participating teams for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast, the 34th edition of the international men's fo ...

. On 8 December 2023, The Niger Football Federation announced, that it has officially signed a contract with coach Badou Zaki to lead the

Niger national football team The Niger national football team ( French: '' Equipe de football du Niger'') represents Niger in international football through the Nigerien Football Federation, a member of Confederation of African Football (CAF). Niger plays in the colors of ...

for two years.

Honours

Player

Wydad Casablanca *

Botola Pro The Botola Pro (), officially known as the Botola Pro Inwi for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Morocco and the top tier of the Moroccan football league system. Organized by the Ligue Nationale de Football Pro ...

: 1977–78, 1985–86 *

Moroccan Throne Cup The Moroccan Throne Cup or the Throne Cup () is a knockout football tournament in Moroccan football, organized by the Royal Moroccan Football Federation.The first club to win this cup was Mouloudia Oujda. Since the inception of the cup, the sy ...

: 1978, 1979, 1981 *

Mohammed V Cup The Mohammed V Cup, also known as International Mohammed-V Cup, was an international association football, football tournament in the Kingdom of Morocco held in the cities of Casablanca, Rabat and Marrakech. The trophy was named after Mohammed ...

: 1979 RCD Mallorca *

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

: runner-up 1990–91 Morocco *

1980 African Cup of Nations The 1980 African Cup of Nations was the 12th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa ( CAF). It was hosted by Nigeria. Just like in 1978, the field of eight teams was split into two groups of four. Nigeria won its ...

third place: 1980

Manager

Wydad Casablanca *

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

: 1998 *

CAF Cup The CAF Cup was an annual competition organised by the CAF for domestic leagues runners-up of member associations who have not qualified to one of the two pre-existing CAF international club competitions the African Cup of Champions Clubs or t ...

runner-up: 1999 *

Arab Club Champions Cup The Arab Club Champions Cup (, ) is a club football competition organised by the Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA) and contested by top clubs from the Arab world. The tournament is contested by a total of 37 teams from Asia and Africa. F ...

runner-up: 2009 *

CAF Champions League The CAF Champions League, known for sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League and formerly the African Cup of Champions Clubs, is an annual football club (association football), club football competition organized by the Conf ...

runner-up:

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

CR Belouizdad *

Algerian Cup The Algerian Cup () also known the Republic Cup (), is a football competition in Algeria, pitting regional teams against each other. It was established in October 1962, three months after independence, and has been played yearly since then apart ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

Morocco *

runner-up:

Individual

*Moroccan Footballer of the Year: 1979, 1981, 1986, 1988 *Moroccan Goalkeeper of the Year: 1978, 1979, 1986 * CAF African Footballer of the Year: 1986 * Arab Footballer of the Year: 1986 * Algerian Coach of the Year: 2017 *

: 1988–89 * La Liga Goalkeeper of the Year: 1988, 1989, 1990 * Best Arab Goalkeeper of the 20th century *

IFFHS The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for so ...

Best African Goalkeeper of the 20th century *

All-time Morocco Men's Dream Team Orders *

Order of the Throne The Order of the Throne () is a state decoration of the Kingdom of Morocco awarded for distinguished services of a civil or military nature. The Order was instituted on 16 May 1963 by King Hassan II of Morocco, who reigned between 1961 and 199 ...

: 2004

References

External links

Real Mallorca bio
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Badou, Ezzaki 1959 births Living people People from Sidi Kacem Footballers from Rabat-Salé-Kénitra Moroccan men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Botola players AS Salé (football) players Wydad AC players Fath Union Sport players La Liga players Segunda División players RCD Mallorca players Morocco men's international footballers 1986 FIFA World Cup players 1980 African Cup of Nations players 1986 African Cup of Nations players 1988 African Cup of Nations players 1992 African Cup of Nations players Footballers at the 1984 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for Morocco Competitors at the 1979 Mediterranean Games Competitors at the 1983 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games medalists in football Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Morocco Moroccan expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in Spain African Footballer of the Year winners Moroccan football managers Wydad AC managers Fath Union Sport managers SCC Mohammédia managers CR Belouizdad managers Morocco national football team managers 2004 African Cup of Nations managers Expatriate football managers in Algeria Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in Algeria KAC Marrakech managers Olympic Club Safi managers Maghreb of Fez managers IR Tanger managers MC Oran managers Difaâ Hassani El Jadidi managers Botola managers Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in Sudan Expatriate football managers in Sudan Sudan national football team managers Moroccan expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Tunisia Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in Tunisia Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in Niger Expatriate football managers in Niger Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 managers 20th-century Moroccan sportsmen