Karim Koceila Yanis Ziani (; born 17 August 1982) is a former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

. He played in different midfield positions but was best known as a

playmaker In association football, a playmaker is a footballer who controls the flow of the team's play, and is often involved in offensively and defensively playing Passing (association football), passing moves which lead to Goal (sport), goals, through ...

. Born in France, he represented Algeria at international level. Ziani is considered a national hero by many Algerians as it was his cross that led to the goal that put Algeria into their first

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

since 1986 at the expense of bitter rivals

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. He played at the

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 ...

and

2010 Africa Cup of Nations The 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 27th Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial football championship of Africa ( CAF). It was held in Angola, where it began on 10 January 2 ...

, the latter in which Algeria finished fourth and the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

in South Africa. Overall, he participated in 62 official matches for the Algerian national team and scored five goals.

Club career

Ziani began his football career in 1995 with the junior side of Racing Club de Paris at the age of 13.

Troyes

In 1998, Ziani was spotted by scouts from

Troyes Troyes () is a Communes of France, commune and the capital of the Departments of France, department of Aube in the Grand Est region of north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about south-east of Paris. Troyes is situated within ...

and was subsequently brought into their youth academy. Playing for the youth team there garnered a significant amount of keen admirers interested in him, including the likes of

Lens A lens is a transmissive optical device that focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements'') ...

and

Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

. In 2001, having spent three seasons playing with the youth team and because of the level of interest, the president of Troyes offered Ziani a five-year deal, which in turn was his first professional contract. With Ziani agreeing to a five-year deal, he was immediately promoted to the senior squad by

Alain Perrin Alain André Christian Perrin (; born 7 October 1956) is a French professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player. Perrin made his managerial breakthrough at Troyes AC, Troyes, whom he took from t ...

at the age of 17 and was assigned the number 17 shirt. He made his professional debut on 8 December 2001 against

SC Bastia Sporting Club Bastia (, commonly referred to as SC Bastia or simply Bastia) is a French professional association football, football club based in Bastia on the island of Corsica. The club plays in Ligue 2, the second tier of Football in France, ...

coming on as a substitute, replacing David Hamed in the 72nd minute. After making a few substitute appearances, he made his first start on 3 March 2002 in a 1–0 loss to

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

, playing the entire match, adding up to a total of eight in the 2001–02 season. He became a regular in the 2002–03 season as he participated in a total of 24 games. After subsequently spending two seasons playing for Troyes in Ligue 1, the club was relegated to

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsorship reasons, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Prof ...

at the end of the 2002–03 season. Whilst in Ligue 2, during the 2003–04 season, Ziani played 28 games in total and scored his first professional goal against FC Rouen, in the 9th minute with the score ending 3–0. He spent the following season mostly on the bench for Troyes and with interest from other clubs being shown, Troyes had decided to part ways with Ziani. Turkish club Rivaspor had made a bid but could not negotiate a contract with Ziani, as Ziani had put in a condition which Rivaspor rejected. Ziani revealed the condition merely as having Madjid Bougherra have a trial with the club to display his qualities as they had both travelled to Turkey and Ziani would have liked a compatriot with him at the club as he was only 19 at the time. When Rivaspor rejected the condition, both Ziani and Bougherra left Turkey together.

Lorient

In the summer of 2004, Ziani was loaned out to

FC Lorient Football Club Lorient Bretagne Sud (;), commonly referred to as FC Lorient (), is a French professional association football club based in Lorient, Brittany. The club was founded in 1926 and currently competes in Ligue 2, having been relegated f ...

. In the next two seasons he would become

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginn ...

's top player and would lead them to promotion to

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

. He was voted as the top player in

for the 2005–06 season.

Sochaux

In the summer of 2006, Ziani signed a three-year deal with

FC Sochaux FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Paki ...

and reunited with his first coach at Troyes

. While at Sochaux he played as they won the 2007 Coupe de France Final. The game finished 2–2 and went to penalties, and he scored his penalty in the shootout as his side emerged victorious.

Marseille

The following summer, Ziani saw increasing attention from other French clubs, namely

Olympique de Marseille Olympique de Marseille (, ; , ), also known simply as Marseille, or by the abbreviation OM (, ), is a French professional Association football, football club based in Marseille which competes in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top f ...

. This interest culminated on 29 June 2007, when news broke that Ziani had finalized his move to Marseille for a transfer fee of $11 million. Karim scored his first goal with Marseille in a match against Valenciennes. He became a familiar face in Eric Gerets' starting eleven.

VfL Wolfsburg

On 7 July 2009, it was announced that Ziani had signed a four-year contract with Bundesliga champions

VfL Wolfsburg Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg (), is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of Wolfsburg. I ...

. During December 2010 and January 2011, a number of clubs showed interest in signing Ziani, these were

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

AS Monaco Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club, commonly referred to as AS Monaco (), is a professional football club based in Fontvieille, Monaco. Although not in France, they are a member of the French Football Federation (FFF) and currently ...

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V. (), commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German professional sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's Association football, football team is currently part of Germany's f ...

, Everton, and

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

. On 14 January 2011, it was reported that Ziani had moved to Turkish high-flyers Kayserispor on an initial six-month loan deal, with an option to sign him permanently at the end of the season. On 8 July 2011, Wolfsburg and Ziani reached a mutual agreement to terminate his contract.

El Jaish

On 20 July 2011, Ziani signed a three-year contract with

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

i club El Jaish. On 18 September 2009, Ziani made his

Qatar Stars League The Qatar Stars League (; abbreviated as QSL), known as Ooredoo Stars League for sponsorship reasons, is the top level football league in Qatar football league system. Contested by 12 teams, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation wi ...

debut for El Jaish as a starter in a league game against Al Khor. Although he failed to find the net in his first season, he finished the 2011–12 season as the top assistant with 13 assists.

Orléans

Ziani spent three seasons at Ligue club US Orléans, scoring nine goals in 92 matches. In summer 2019, Ziani ended his 18-year career at the age of 36.

International career

Ziani had stunned many people in 2003 in his choice to represent Algeria instead of France. Ziani made his debut for the Algerian national team in 2003 when he was called up by Belgian caretaker Georges Leekens for a friendly against Belgium. He represented Algeria at the

2004 Africa Cup of Nations The 2004 African Cup of Nations was held from January 24, 24 January to February 14, 14 February 2004 in Tunisia. It was the 24th edition of the biennial international men's football championship of Africa, organized by the Confederation of Afri ...

, as they finished second in their group before losing to Morocco in the quarter-finals. He was also named in that year's Team of the Tournament. Ziani scored his first goal in a 1–0 win against

the Gambia The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...

in the

2008 Africa Cup of Nations qualification 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. Etymology English ''eight'', from Old English '', æhta'', Proto-Germanic ''*ahto'' is a direct continuation of Proto-Indo-European '' *oḱtṓ(w)-'', and as such cognate wi ...

phase. He then added two more goals to his tally in a 3–0 win against

Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...

in the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers as Algeria advanced to the final tournament in South Africa. He also performed well at the

Style of play

Though diminutive in stature, Ziani more than makes up for his lack of physicality with his outstanding technique and never-say-die spirit.

Personal life

Ziani was born in

Sèvres Sèvres (, ) is a French Communes of France, commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris. It is located from the Kilometre zero, centre of Paris, in the Hauts-de-Seine department of the Île-de-France region. The commune, which had a populatio ...

, France to an Algerian father from

Béjaïa Béjaïa ( ; , , ), formerly known as Bougie and Bugia, is a Mediterranean seaport, port city and communes of Algeria, commune on the Gulf of Béjaïa in Algeria; it is the capital of Béjaïa Province. Geography Location Béjaïa owes its ...

and a French mother. Ziani is married and has two children: a girl, Lina and a boy, Kaïs. Ziani has a twin sister by the name of Karima who is married to fellow Algerian international Antar Yahia.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Algeria's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Ziani goal.''

Honours

Sochaux *

Coupe de France The Coupe de France (), also known in English language, English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Fed ...

: 2007 VfL Wolfsburg *

DFL-Supercup The Franz Beckenbauer Supercup or ''German Super Cup'' is a one-off association football, football match in Germany that features the winners of the Bundesliga championship and the DFB-Pokal. The competition is run by the Deutsche Fußball Liga (E ...

: runners-up 2009 El Jaish *

Qatari Stars Cup The Qatari Stars Cup is a Qatari football competition known as Ooredoo Cup due to sponsorship reasons. The knockout competition, which involves a round-robin structure, was first started in 2009 when the Qatar Stars League structure was amen ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

Algeria *

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 ...

fourth place:

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 ...

Individual *

Team of the Tournament:

* DZFoot d'Or: 2004, 2005, 2006DZFoot d'Or 2006
. DZfoot.com. * Ligue 2 Player of the Year: 2006 (FC Lorient) * Ligue 2 Team of the Year: 2005–06 (FC Lorient) * Algerian Footballer of the Year: 2006, 2007

References

External links

Video report of Karim Ziani (2006–07 season) on video.lequipe.fr
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ziani, Karim 1982 births Living people Footballers from Sèvres Kabyle people French people of Kabyle descent French men's footballers Algerian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Racing Club de France Football players ES Troyes AC players FC Lorient players FC Sochaux-Montbéliard players Olympique de Marseille players VfL Wolfsburg players Kayserispor footballers Al-Arabi SC (Qatar) players El Jaish SC players Fujairah FC players Ajman Club players FC Petrolul Ploiești players US Orléans players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Bundesliga players Süper Lig players Qatar Stars League players Liga I players UAE Pro League players Algerian expatriate men's footballers Algerian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Algerian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Algerian expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Expatriate men's footballers in Qatar Algerian expatriate sportspeople in Romania Expatriate men's footballers in Romania Algeria men's youth international footballers Algeria men's under-23 international footballers Algeria men's international footballers 2004 African Cup of Nations players 2010 Africa Cup of Nations players 2010 FIFA World Cup players Algerian twins French twins 21st-century French sportsmen 21st-century Algerian sportsmen