Karim Ziani
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Karim Koceila Yanis Ziani | ||
| Date of birth | 17 August 1982 | ||
| Place of birth | Sèvres, France | ||
| Height | 1.69 m (5 ft 7 in) | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
|
Current team
|
Orléans | ||
| Number | 21 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1995–1998 | RC Paris | ||
| 1998–2001 | Troyes | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2001–2005 | Troyes | 63 | (1) |
| 2004–2005 | → Lorient (loan) | 24 | (1) |
| 2005–2006 | Lorient | 37 | (7) |
| 2006–2007 | Sochaux | 36 | (8) |
| 2007–2009 | Marseille | 49 | (3) |
| 2009–2011 | VfL Wolfsburg | 15 | (0) |
| 2011 | → Kayserispor (loan) | 13 | (0) |
| 2011–2013 | El Jaish | 41 | (1) |
| 2013–2014 | Al-Arabi | 23 | (3) |
| 2014–2015 | Ajman | 3 | (0) |
| 2015 | Al-Fujairah SC | 11 | (0) |
| 2016 | Petrolul Ploiești | 14 | (0) |
| 2016– | Orléans | 21 | (1) |
| National team | |||
| 2004 | Algeria U23 | 2 | (0) |
| 2003–2011 | Algeria | 62 | (5) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16:40, February 20, 2017 (EST). |
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Karim Koceila Yanis Ziani (Arabic: كريم زياني; born 17 August 1982) is an Algerian professional footballer. He has the talent to play in many different positions in midfielder, but he is best known for being a playmaker. He plays for Orléans.
Ziani is considered to be a national hero by many Algerians, as it was his cross that led to the goal that put them into their first World Cup competition since 1986 at the expense of bitter rivals Egypt. He has participated in two continental tournaments 2004 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, the latter in which Algeria finished fourth, and the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Overall, he has participated in sixty-two official games for the Algerian national team, in which he has scored five goals.
Ziani was born in Sèvres, France, to an Algerian father from Béjaïa and a French mother. Ziani is married and has 2 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.
Ziani began his football career in 1995 with the junior side at Racing Club de Paris at the age of 13.
In 1998, he was spotted by scouts from Troyes, he was subsequently brought into the youth academy from RC Paris. Whilst playing for the youth team there was a significant amount of keen admirers interested in him. A number of clubs such as Lens and Nantes were very keen on him. 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 at the age of 17 and was assigned the number 17 shirt. He made his professional debut on 8 December 2001 against SC Bastia coming on as a substitute, replacing David Hamed in the seventy-second minute of the game. After making a few substitute appearances, he made his first start on 3 March 2002 in a 1–0 loss to Lille playing the full length of the game. He played a total of 8 games in the 2001–02 season. He became more of 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 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.
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