Mohamed Timoumi (; born 15 January 1960) is a Moroccan former

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 an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. He was named

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 ...

in 1985, and was the last player to win this award while playing club football in an African country. In 2006, he was selected by CAF as one of the best 200 African football players of the last 50 years.

Career

Timoumi took part 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 ...

in Mexico. At club level, he won the

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 ...

with FAR Rabat, the biggest Moroccan football club of his era. He also competed for Morocco at 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 ...

. Timoumi played at a young age for the team of the Union of Touarga, where he was the youngest player. It was there where he was first noticed by the observers and experts of Moroccan football. His burgeoning talent led him to join one of the biggest Moroccan clubs: FAR Rabat, with whom he won the CAF Champions League in 1985. In 1985, his talent exploded despite a fracture during the FAR Rabat match against the Egyptian team Zamalek in the semifinals. During this year, Timoumi was, in the unanimous opinion of the international sports press, the star of Africa. He also received the Ballon d'Or Africain. A year later, he participated in the final phase of the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. In Mexico City, he was considered one of the most important elements of the Moroccan selection. Morocco ranked first in its group with 0 defeats and a resounding victory against Portugal 3–1. This result allowed Morocco to be the first Arab and African country to reach the second round of the World Cup.

Career statistics

International

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

Honours

As Far * Botola Pro: 1984 *

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

* Coupe du Trône:

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

Morocco * 1983 Mediterranean Games Champion:

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

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 ...

: 3rd place *

Pan Arab Games The Arab Games (), also known as the Pan-Arab Games, are a regional multi-sport event held between nations from the Arab world. They are organized by the Union of Arab National Olympic Committees. The first Games took place in 1953 in Alexandr ...

runner-up:

Nehru Cup The Nehru Cup was an international football tournament organised by the All India Football Federation (AIFF), named after the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru. It was launched in 1982, but was not held from 1998 to 2006. After ...

: 3rd place individual *

: 1985 *Best Moroccan player in 1985 *Best player of the

* African Footballer of the 20th century: 30th place *

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 ...

All-time Morocco Men's Dream Team

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Timoumi, Mohamed 1960 births Living people Moroccan men's footballers Footballers from Rabat Moroccan expatriate men's footballers Morocco men's international footballers Olympic footballers for Morocco Men's association football midfielders Footballers at the 1984 Summer Olympics 1986 FIFA World Cup players 1980 African Cup of Nations players 1988 African Cup of Nations players Competitors at the 1979 Mediterranean Games Competitors at the 1983 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Morocco Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in Oman Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Oman Expatriate men's footballers in Spain AS FAR players K.S.C. Lokeren Oost-Vlaanderen players Suwaiq Club players Real Murcia CF players Belgian Pro League players La Liga players African Footballer of the Year winners Olympique Club de Khouribga players Mediterranean Games medalists in football Arab Games silver medalists CAF Champions League–winning players 20th-century Moroccan sportsmen