Khalid Boulahrouz (; born 28 December 1981) is a Dutch 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 ...

who played as a defender. Nicknamed "The

Cannibal Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecology, ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is also well ...

" for his ability to "eat up" the opposition, Boulahrouz was noted for his technical ability, tackling and versatility in defence. He played top-flight football in the Netherlands, Germany, England, Spain, Portugal and Denmark. A full international from 2004 to 2012, he earned 35 caps and was included in the Dutch squads for two World Cups and two European Championships.

Personal life

Boulahrouz was born in

Maassluis Maassluis () is a town in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality had a population of in and covered of which was water. It received town rights in 1811. History Maassluis was founded circa 1340 as a se ...

, Netherlands to a family of Moroccan descent. He has eight siblings. As a youngster he went to the youth academies of

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

and

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English language, English) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the Provinces of the Nether ...

. When he was sixteen his father died and he had to take responsibility for his family. In December 2006, he married Sabia Thele. While Boulahrouz was in Switzerland preparing for the

Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of European ...

quarter finals against Russia, his then wife Sabia gave birth to a prematurely born daughter Anissa who died in a

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

hospital. He opted to play against Russia a few days later, during which the Dutch team wore black armbands in his daughter's memory. The couple has a second daughter, Amaya (born March 2010) and a son, Daamin (born 30 January 2011). In January 2013 the couple announced their separation.

Club career

In his youth Boulahrouz played consecutively for Excelsior Maassluis, DSOV,

and AZ.

RKC Waalwijk

After a difficult period playing for different clubs, he finally found some stability at

Waalwijk Waalwijk () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a city in the southern Netherlands. It had a population of in and is located near the A59 and N261 motorways. The villages of Capelle, Vrijhoeve-Capelle, Sprang (the former mun ...

, where coach

Martin Jol Maarten Cornelis "Martin" Jol (born 16 January 1956) is a Dutch football manager and former midfielder. He played over 400 games during his career which included spells in the Netherlands, Germany and England, as well as earning three caps wi ...

gave him the confidence he had been looking for. He began his professional career in the Dutch

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

for RKC on 9 March 2002, against

Heerenveen Heerenveen (, ) is a town and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Friesland (Fryslân), in the Northern Netherlands. In 2021, the town had a population of 29,790 (1 January) while the m ...

Hamburger SV

After playing two seasons for RKC he moved to

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

to play in the German

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

at the start of the 2004–05 season. While at Hamburg, he earned his nickname "Khalid der Kannibale" ("Khalid the Cannibal") for his ability to eat up the opposition. This is illustrated by the number of cards he received – 16 yellows and three reds in two seasons at the club. He was also part of a defence that conceded the fewest goals in the 2005–06 Bundesliga season: 30 goals in 34 games.

Chelsea

On 18 August 2006, Chelsea agreed a fee with Hamburg to sign Boulahrouz. The fee was thought to be around £8.5 million (€12 million). After Chelsea's opening game of the 2006–07 season, manager

José Mourinho José Mário dos Santos Mourinho Félix (; born 26 January 1963) is a Portuguese professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player, who is currently the head coach of Süper Lig club Fenerba ...

confirmed that the club had signed Boulahrouz but were waiting for his international clearance to be finalised, before speaking of the potential roles Boulahrouz would have in the side. Mourinho stated "in a short squad and in a country where you can have only 16 players for a match, it’s important to have cover for many positions." On 21 August 2006, Chelsea completed the signing of Boulahrouz. Six days later, he made his Premiership début against

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

. He wore the number 9 shirt, previously occupied by

Hernán Crespo Hernán Jorge Crespo (; born 5 July 1975) is an Argentine professional football coach and former player. He was most recently the head coach of UAE Pro League club Al Ain. A prolific striker, Crespo scored over 300 goals in a career spanning ...

– this is an unconventional number for a defender, being traditionally associated with strikers, but was given to him just because it happened to be one of the numbers not currently allocated to a player by Chelsea at the time of signing. Boulahrouz made a promising start to his Chelsea career, featuring prominently in high-profile games against

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

and

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

. However, Boulahrouz gradually dropped out of favour. Boulahrouz was out for a lengthy period of time after a knee injury, followed by a

shoulder The human shoulder is made up of three bones: the clavicle (collarbone), the scapula (shoulder blade), and the humerus (upper arm bone) as well as associated muscles, ligaments and tendons. The articulations between the bones of the shoulder m ...

injury while playing in an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

tie against

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

. Boulahrouz eventually dropped out of contention as the season wound down, with

John Terry John George Terry (born 7 December 1980) is an English professional Coach (association football), football coach and former Association football, player who played as a centre-back. He was previously captain of Chelsea F.C., Chelsea, the En ...

and

Ricardo Carvalho Ricardo Alberto Silveira de Carvalho (; born 18 May 1978) is a Portuguese professional association football, football coach and former player who is currently assistant head coach of the Portugal national football team, Portugal national team ...

as the first-choice defensive pairing. When Carvalho was injured, manager Mourinho paired Terry with

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

ian midfielder

Michael Essien Michael Kojo Essien (born 3 December 1982) is a Ghanaian Association football, football coach and former player who is currently an assistant coach at Danish Superliga club FC Nordsjælland, Nordsjælland. During his prime he was regarded as on ...

Sevilla (loan)

Boulahrouz joined Spanish club

Sevilla Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Seville ...

on a year-long loan for the 2007–08 season. However, he played just six games for them and was deemed surplus to requirements. He returned to Chelsea in 2008 but was not given a squad number and made no appearances.

VfB Stuttgart

On 21 July 2008, Boulahrouz moved to

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 ...

for a fee of around €5 million. He struggled in his first three seasons. Early in the 2011–12 Bundesliga season, however, Khalid became a regular in the starting line-up. The 29-year-old defender had his 100th cap in the top German league on 17 September 2011 at

SC Freiburg Sport-Club Freiburg e.V., commonly known as SC Freiburg (), is a Football in Germany, German professional football club, based in the city of Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg. It plays in the Bundesliga, having been promoted as champions ...

. Two weeks later, Boulahrouz scored his first goal (only his second in the Bundesliga) for Stuttgart on 30 September 2011. His goal came in the 69th minute of a 2–0 win over

1. FC Kaiserslautern 1. Fußball-Club Kaiserslautern e. V., also known as 1. FCK, FCK (), FC Kaiserslautern (), K'lautern or colloquially Lautern (), is a German sports club based in Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate. In addition to Association football, football ...

. In May 2012 VfB Stuttgart announced that his expiring contract would not be extended.

Sporting CP

On 18 July 2012, Boulahrouz signed a two-year contract with

Sporting Clube de Portugal Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

. He made 11 league appearances for the club, and on 3 September 2013 his contract was terminated.

Brøndby IF

On 7 October 2013, Boulahrouz signed a contract which is due until the summer 2014. The transfer was confirmed after many weeks of negotiating. He made 13 league appearances for Brøndby IF that season. Boulahrouz had quite a lot of injuries during his stay at Brøndby, which was one of the reasons why a new contract was not discussed.

Feyenoord

On 14 July 2014, it was officially announced that Boulahrouz had signed a one-year contract with

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...

on a free transfer. He was one of the replacements for outgoing defenders

Stefan de Vrij Stefan de Vrij (; born 5 February 1992) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Inter Milan and the Netherlands national team. De Vrij began his career at his local club VV Spirit, and debuted as a professiona ...

, Daryl Janmaat and

Bruno Martins Indi Rolando Maximiliano "Bruno" Martins Indi (born 8 February 1992) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a defender for Eredivisie club AZ and the Netherlands national team. Martins Indi began his career with Dutch club Feyenoord, aft ...

after their performances for the Netherlands at the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

. On 11 February 2016, more than half a year after his contract with Feyenoord had expired, Boulahrouz announced his retirement from professional football.

International career

Boulahrouz' displays for RKC caused

Marco van Basten Marcel "Marco" Van Basten (; born 31 October 1964) is a Dutch former football manager and player who played as a striker for Ajax and AC Milan, as well as the Netherlands national team. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all t ...

to pick him for the

Netherlands national football team The Netherlands national football team ( or simply ''Het Nederlands elftal'') has represented the Netherlands in international men's football matches since 1905. The men's national team is controlled by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNV ...

. He made his international début on 3 September 2004 in a 3–0 win for the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

against Liechtenstein, and was named in the squad for the

2006 World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams represe ...

. He managed 34 caps for the national team, as of November 2011. Boulahrouz was sent off from the Netherlands match against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

in the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

Round of Sixteen after a second bookable offence. He was judged to have used an elbow on Portugal's

Luís Figo Luís Filipe Madeira Caeiro Figo (; born 4 November 1972) is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a winger for Sporting CP, Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Inter Milan. He won 127 caps for the Portugal national team, a one-t ...

. Before that, he was first booked in the seventh minute after a violent tackle that injured

Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for and Captain (association football), captains both Saudi Pr ...

, eventually forcing the substitution of the Portuguese player.

Referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other title ...

Valentin Ivanov issued a total of 16 yellow cards and four red cards in this match, a World Cup record. Having initially missed the cut for the Dutch

squad, following an injury to

Ryan Babel Ryan Guno Babel (; born 19 December 1986) is a Dutch former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. Babel began his career at Ajax in 1997, working his way up through the youth tea ...

, he was reinstated to the 23-man squad. He was chosen to start in the group games.

2010 FIFA World Cup

Boulahrouz was included in the preliminary squad for 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. On 27 May 2010, coach

Bert van Marwijk Lambertus van Marwijk (; born 19 May 1952) is a Dutch Association football, football manager who is a member of the supervisory board for MVV Maastricht. As a player, he played for the Go Ahead Eagles, AZ Alkmaar, AZ, MVV Maastricht, MVV and For ...

announced that Boulahrouz would be part of the final 23-man squad. Boulahrouz started in the Netherlands' last group match on 24 June, a 2–1 win over

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

, in place of

Gregory van der Wiel Gregory Kurtley van der Wiel (born 3 February 1988) is a Dutch former professional association football, footballer who played as a right-back. Born in Amsterdam, Van der Wiel is a product of the AFC Ajax youth system. In 2010, he was awarded t ...

. He also played in the semi-final match against

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

Style of play

Goalkeeper and international teammate

Edwin van der Sar Edwin van der Sar (; born 29 October 1970) is a Dutch association football, football executive and former professional player who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. He was most recently the chief executive of AFC Ajax, A ...

said of Boulahrouz "He is an important defender, but he is also the man to lift spirits within the squad. He is the sort of guy you need around during long evenings at training camp." Former Dutch centre-back

Jaap Stam Jakob "Jaap" Stam (; born 17 July 1972) is a Dutch professional football coach and former player. As a player, he played as a centre-back and is regarded as one of the best defenders of all-time. Stam was part of the Manchester United team that w ...

said that Boulahrouz could become his successor.

Coaching career

In early 2021, Boulahrouz returned to his boyhood club AZ, joining as an assistant coach for the Under-18 team; in September 2021 he successively signed a two-year contract with the club as an assistant and defensive coach for the senior team, a role he left by the end of the 2021–22 season.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Hamburger SV *

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was dis ...

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

Netherlands *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

runner-up:

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 ...

References

External links

Continued dialogue with Khalid Boulahrouz
* * * *
Official Danish Superliga player statistics
at danskfodbold.com * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Boulahrouz, Khalid 1981 births Living people Footballers from Maassluis 2006 FIFA World Cup players 2010 FIFA World Cup players Men's association football central defenders Brøndby IF players Bundesliga players Chelsea F.C. players Danish Superliga players Dutch expatriate men's footballers Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Germany Dutch expatriate sportspeople in England Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Spain Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Dutch people of Riffian descent Dutch men's footballers Dutch people of Moroccan-Berber descent Eredivisie players Excelsior Maassluis players Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Feyenoord players Hamburger SV players La Liga players Netherlands men's international footballers Premier League players RKC Waalwijk players Sevilla FC players Sporting CP footballers UEFA Euro 2008 players UEFA Euro 2012 players VfB Stuttgart players