Youssef Safri (, born 3 January 1977) 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 player who is the head coach of

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 ...

club

Qatar SC Qatar Sports Club () is a sports club based in Doha, Qatar. It is best known for its football team which competes in the Qatar Stars League. The club was founded in 1961 with the merger of two Qatari football clubs, Al-Oruba and Al-Nasour. They ...

Club career

Safri started his youth career at

Rachad Bernoussi Club Rachad Bernoussi is a Moroccan football club currently playing in the second division. The club was founded in 1961 and is located in the town of Casablanca. They play in the Complexe Bernoussi, and their president is Hicham Chbora.. Pe ...

. The following year, he was promoted to the senior squad. He was a midfielder best known for his passing and tackling ability. In 2001, he joined

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Coventry, West Midlands. The club plays in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club is nicknamed The Sky Blues after the sky blue colou ...

where he played until 2004, scoring once against

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

. In December 2003, he had come under fire after breaking the leg of

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

player

Colin Healy Colin Healy (born 14 March 1980) is an Irish Association football, football manager and former player. He was appointed manager of Cork City F.C., Cork City FC in late 2020, and held the post until May 2023. He has been the manager of League of ...

. The next season, he joined

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 ...

for an initial fee of £500,000 in the summer of 2004, after the Canaries had been promoted to the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

. Safri became popular among the Norwich fans towards the end of the 2004–05 campaign and during the 2005–06 season following a series of impressive performances. He scored a 40-yard strike against

Shay Given Séamus John James Given (born 20 April 1976) is an Irish former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. Widely regarded as one of the greatest Irish goalkeepers of all time ...

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 ...

in April 2005 during the team's fight against relegation from the Premiership. Safri was linked with a move to

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 ...

in the summer of 2005, but stayed at

Carrow Road Carrow Road is a association football, football stadium in Norwich, Norfolk, England, and is the home of EFL Championship club Norwich City F.C., Norwich City. The stadium is east of the city, near Norwich railway station and the River Wensum. ...

. Following the 3–1 defeat at

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...

in September 2006, Safri and teammate

Dickson Etuhu Dickson Paul Etuhu (born 8 June 1982) is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. He played in the Premier League for Manchester City, Sunderland and Fulham, as well as in the Football League for Preston N ...

were reported to have traded punches on the team bus during their return journey to

East Anglia East Anglia is an area of the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, with parts of Essex sometimes also included. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, ...

, although these reports are now thought to have been discredited. After Peter Grant was appointed Norwich manager in October 2006, Safri was not a regular selection. There was speculation that he would leave the club in January 2007, fuelled by his comments in the Eastern Daily Press on 29 December 2006 in which Safri indicated that he would seek a transfer if Grant continued to use him as a substitute. Safri remained at Carrow Road until the end of the 2006–07 season, but after falling out with manager Peter Grant, Grant stated in the press on 1 August that Safri would not play for the club again. On 2 August 2007 he signed for Norwich's championship rivals

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

on a two-year contract for a fee rumoured to be of the order of £250,000. On 24 October 2007 he was sent off in the 90th minute of Southampton's away defeat to Bristol City, for a heavy tackle on Lee Johnson, whose subsequent reaction to Safri pushing him by all accounts was exaggerated, resulting in a straight

Red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...

. On 7 July 2008 he joined

Qatar Sports Club Qatar Sports Club () is a sports club based in Doha, Qatar. It is best known for its football team which competes in the Qatar Stars League. The club was founded in 1961 with the merger of two Qatari football clubs, Al-Oruba and Al-Nasour. They ...

in a £300,000 transfer.

International career

Safri was a key player with the Moroccan national team during the 2004 African Nations Cup, and was a member of the national squad competing at 1997

FIFA World Youth Championship The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members' men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 when i ...

, the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. Safri qualified to play for Scotland through a maternal grandparent, but decided to play for his native Morocco, stating concerns about the Scottish weather.

Coaching career

At the end of 2013 season he retired and started a role of assisting coach in his first club

Raja CA Raja Club Athletic, widely known as Raja Casablanca or simply Raja, is a Football team, football club based in Casablanca, Morocco, that competes in Botola, the top flight of Moroccan football league system, Moroccan football. Founded on 20 M ...

. In the following 2015–16 season, he was assistant manager of Jamal Sellami at

Difaâ Hassani El Jadidi Difaâ Hassani El Jadidi () is a Moroccan football (soccer), football club based in El Jadida. They are currently playing in the Botola 2. Home stadium DHJ play their home games at the Stade El Abdi. Crest Image:DifaaJ.png, Former logo Image:D ...

. In May 2018, Safri returned to Raja, again as assistant manager, this time under manager Juan Carlos Garrido. Garrido was sacked on 28 January 2019, and Safri was appointed caretaker manager. It lasted for two days, before

Patrice Carteron Patrice Carteron (born 30 July 1970) is a French football manager and former player who is the head coach of Persian Gulf Pro League club Sepahan. Some of his previous managerial posts include the Mali national team, Al-Nassr and Al-Ettifa ...

was appointed. Safri however, left the club on 12 June 2019. In November 2019, Safri returned to

. Coached Islam Under-17s to a league title in 2017-18 and won Manager of the season.

Honours

;

* Moroccan League: 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 *

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 ...

: 1999 *

CAF Super Cup The CAF Super Cup, known as TotalEnergies CAF Super Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual African association football competition contested between the winners of the CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederation Cup. The competition was f ...

: 2000 ;

Qatar Crown Prince Cup The Qatar Cup (formerly known as Qatar Crown Prince Cup) is a tournament in men's football. It is played by the top 4 teams of the Qatar Stars League after each season. In 2013, the tournament was renamed Qatar Cup. Previous winners All-time ...

: 2009 Morocco *

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 ...

runner-up:

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 ...

References

External links

Youssef Safri player profile
at saintsfc.co.uk

at canaries.co.uk *
BBC Sport – Safri signs for Southampton
{{DEFAULTSORT:Safri, Youssef 1977 births Living people Moroccan men's footballers Footballers from Casablanca Morocco men's under-20 international footballers Morocco men's international footballers 2002 African Cup of Nations players 2004 African Cup of Nations players 2006 Africa Cup of Nations players 2008 Africa Cup of Nations players Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Qatar Moroccan Muslims Moroccan emigrants to the United Kingdom Moroccan expatriate men's footballers Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in England Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Raja CA players Coventry City F.C. players Norwich City F.C. players Olympic footballers for Morocco Footballers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Premier League players Qatar SC players Qatar Stars League players Men's association football midfielders Raja CA managers Moroccan expatriate football managers English Football League players