Karim Ziani
Encyclopedia
Karim Koceila Yanis Ziani (born 17 August 1982 in Sèvres
, France
) is an Algeria
n professional footballer
. He currently plays as a creative midfielder for the Qatar
i club Al-Jaish
on loan from German Bundesliga
club VfL Wolfsburg
, and for the Algerian national team
. He has the talent to play in different positions, although he is best known for being a midfielder
.
Ziani alongside Antar Yahia
and Faouzi Chaouchi
is considered to be a national hero by many Algeria
ns 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
.
, 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
.
, 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.
. In the next two seasons he would become Lorient
's top player and would lead them to promotion to Ligue 1
. He was voted as the top player in Ligue 2
for the 2005–06 season.
. 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 has since then become a familiar face in Eric Gerets' starting eleven.
said "I'm delighted we were able to sign Ziani, He fits in well with our team and will help us achieve our goals".
During December 2010 and January 2011, a number of clubs showed interest in signing Ziani, these were Newcastle United, Everton
, Birmingham City, AS Monaco
and VfB Stuttgart
. On the 14th of 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.
i club Al-Jaish
.
|2001-02||rowspan="4"|Troyes
||rowspan="2"|Ligue 1
||8||0||-||-||-||-||-||-||10||0
|-
|2002–03||24||0||-||-||-||-||-||-||26||0
|-
|2003–04||rowspan="2"|Ligue 2
||28||1||-||-||-||-||-||-||30||1
|-
|2004–05||4||0||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||-
|-
|2004–05||rowspan="2"|Lorient
||rowspan="2"|Ligue 2
||24||1||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||-
|-
|2005–06||37||7||-||-||2||1||-||-||-||-
|-
|2006–07||rowspan="1"|Sochaux
||rowspan="1"|Ligue 1
||36||8||5||0||3||1||-||-||44||9
|-
|2007–08||rowspan="2"|Olympique Marseille||rowspan="2"|Ligue 1
||21||1||2||0||2||1||4||0||-||-
|-
|2008–09||28||3||-||-||-||-||9||0||-||-
|-
|-
|2009–10
||rowspan="2"|Wolfsburg
||rowspan="2"|Bundesliga
||10||0||2||0||colspan="2"|-||4||0||16||0
|-
|2010–11
||5||0||2||0||colspan="2"|-||0||0||7||0
|-
|-
|2010–11
||rowspan="1"|Kayserispor
||rowspan="1"|Süper Lig
||2||0||0||0||colspan="2"|-||0||0||2||0
|-
210||21||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||-
15||0||4||0||colspan="2"|-||4||0||23||0
-||-||-||-||colspan="2"|-||-||-||-||-
223||21||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||-
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 was a member of the Algerian 2004 African Nations Cup team, who finished second in their group in the first round of competition before being defeated by Morocco in the quarter-finals. He was also named in the Team of the Tournament at the 2004 African Nations Cup. Karim Ziani scored his first goal for Algeria
against Gambia with a penalty in a 2008 African Nations Cup qualifier, Algeria
won 1-0. Ziani then added two more goals to his tally in a 2010 World Cup against Liberia
. Algeria
won the game 3-0. Ziani was also the artist of the recent Algerian team performances during the final phase of the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
together with 2010 African Cup of Nations
.
|2003||3||0
|-
|2004||11||0
|-
|2005||6||0
|-
|2006||3||1
|-
|2007||8||0
|-
|2008||8||2
|-
|2009||7||1
|-
|2010||14||1
|-
|2011||2||0
|-
!Total||62||5
|}
Sèvres
Sèvres is a commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris.The town is known for its porcelain manufacture, the Manufacture nationale de Sèvres, making the famous Sèvres porcelain, as well as being the location of the International Bureau of Weights...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
) is an Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
n professional footballer
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
. He currently plays as a creative midfielder for the Qatar
Qatar
Qatar , also known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qaṭar, is a sovereign Arab state, located in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its...
i club Al-Jaish
Al-Jaish (Qatar)
Al-Jaish is a Qatari association football club currently playing in the Qatar Stars League. The team represents the Qatar Armed Forces in football competition.-History:...
on loan from German Bundesliga
Fußball-Bundesliga
The Fußball-Bundesliga is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of Germany's football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. It is contested by 18 teams and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the 2. Bundesliga...
club VfL Wolfsburg
VfL Wolfsburg
VfL Wolfsburg is a professional German association football club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, who play in the Bundesliga football competition. Wolfsburg have won the Bundesliga once in their history, in the 2008–09 season, and were DFB-Pokal runners-up in 1995. The current head coach is Felix...
, and for the Algerian national team
Algeria national football team
The Algeria national football team , nicknamed الأفنــاك, Les Fennecs , represents Algeria in association football and is controlled by the Fédération Algérienne de Football. Algeria's home ground is the Stade 5 Juillet 1962 in Algiers and their head coach is Vahid Halilhodžić.Algeria has qualified...
. He has the talent to play in different positions, although he is best known for being a midfielder
Midfielder
A midfielder is an association football position. Some midfielders play a more defensive role, while others blur the boundaries between midfielders and forwards. The number of midfielders a team uses during a match may vary, depending on the team's formation and each individual player's role...
.
Ziani alongside Antar Yahia
Antar Yahia
Antar Yahia is an Algerian professional footballer who currently plays as a defender for Saudi side Al Nassr and the Algerian national team....
and Faouzi Chaouchi
Faouzi Chaouchi
Faouzi Chaouchi is an Algerian professional football player who currently plays as a goalkeeper for Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 club MC Alger and the Algerian national team....
is considered to be a national hero by many Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
ns as it was his cross that led to the goal that put them into their first World Cup
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...
competition since 1986 at the expense of bitter rivals Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
.
Personal life
Ziani was born in SèvresSèvres
Sèvres is a commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris.The town is known for its porcelain manufacture, the Manufacture nationale de Sèvres, making the famous Sèvres porcelain, as well as being the location of the International Bureau of Weights...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, to an Algerian father from Béjaïa
Béjaïa
Béjaïa, Vgaiet or Bejaya is a Mediterranean port city on the Gulf of Béjaïa in Algeria; it is the capital of Béjaïa Province, Kabylia. Under French rule, it was formerly known under various European names, such as Budschaja in German, Bugia in Italian, and Bougie...
and a French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
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
Algeria national football team
The Algeria national football team , nicknamed الأفنــاك, Les Fennecs , represents Algeria in association football and is controlled by the Fédération Algérienne de Football. Algeria's home ground is the Stade 5 Juillet 1962 in Algiers and their head coach is Vahid Halilhodžić.Algeria has qualified...
Antar Yahia
Antar Yahia
Antar Yahia is an Algerian professional footballer who currently plays as a defender for Saudi side Al Nassr and the Algerian national team....
.
Characteristics
Though diminutive in stature, Ziani more than makes up for his lack of physicality with his outstanding technique and never-say-die spirit.Club career
Ziani began his football career in 1995 with the junior side at Racing Club de Paris at the age of 13.Troyes
In 1998, he was spotted by scouts from TroyesTroyes
Troyes is a commune and the capital of the Aube department in north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about southeast of Paris. Many half-timbered houses survive in the old town...
, 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
RC Lens
Racing Club de Lens is a French association football club based in the northern city of Lens in the Pas-de-Calais department. Its nickname, sang et or , comes from its traditional colours of red and gold. Their primary rivals are their northern neighbors Lille OSC, whom they contest the Derby du...
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
Troyes
Troyes is a commune and the capital of the Aube department in north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about southeast of Paris. Many half-timbered houses survive in the old town...
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
SC Bastia
Sporting Club de Bastia is a French association football club based in Bastia on the island of Corsica. The club currently plays in the Championnat National, the third division of French football. Bastia previously had stints in both Ligue 1 and Ligue 2...
coming on as a substitute, replacing David Hamed
David Hamed
David Hamed is a French professional footballer. He currently plays in the Championnat National for Amiens SC. He also holds Algerian citizenship....
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
Troyes
Troyes is a commune and the capital of the Aube department in north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about southeast of Paris. Many half-timbered houses survive in the old town...
in Ligue 1, the club was relegated to Ligue 2
Ligue 2
Ligue 2 , formerly known as Division 2, 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 Professionnel , the other being Ligue 1, the country's top football division...
at the end of the 2002-03 season. Whilst in Ligue 2
Ligue 2
Ligue 2 , formerly known as Division 2, 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 Professionnel , the other being Ligue 1, the country's top football division...
, during the 2003-04 season, Ziani played 28 games in total and scored his first professional goal against FC Rouen
FC Rouen
Football Club de Rouen 1899 is a French association football club based in Rouen. The club was formed in 1899 and currently play in the Championnat National, the third level of French football. Rouen plays its home matches at the Stade Robert Diochon; named after Robert Diochon, a historic player...
, in the 9th minute with the score ending 3-0. He spent the following season mostly on the bench for Troyes
Troyes
Troyes is a commune and the capital of the Aube department in north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about southeast of Paris. Many half-timbered houses survive in the old town...
and with interest from other clubs being shown, Troyes
Troyes
Troyes is a commune and the capital of the Aube department in north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about southeast of Paris. Many half-timbered houses survive in the old town...
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
Madjid Bougherra
Madjid Bougherra is a professional footballer. He currently plays for Lekhwiya and the Algeria national team. He is a defender, who can also play as a midfielder....
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 LorientFC Lorient
Football Club Lorient-Bretagne Sud is a French association football club based in Lorient. The club was founded in 1926 and currently play in Ligue 1, the top level of French football. Lorient plays its home matches at the Stade du Moustoir located within the city. The team is managed by Christian...
. In the next two seasons he would become Lorient
Lorient
Lorient, or L'Orient, is a commune and a seaport in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France.-History:At the beginning of the 17th century, merchants who were trading with India had established warehouses in Port-Louis...
's top player and would lead them to promotion to Ligue 1
Ligue 1
Ligue 1 , is the French professional league for association football clubs. It is the country's primary football competition and serves as the top division of the French football league system. Ligue 1 is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Professionnel, the other being Ligue 2....
. He was voted as the top player in Ligue 2
Ligue 2
Ligue 2 , formerly known as Division 2, 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 Professionnel , the other being Ligue 1, the country's top football division...
for the 2005–06 season.
Sochaux
In the summer of 2006, he signed a three-year deal with FC Sochaux and reunited with his first coach at Troyes Alain Perrin.Olympique de Marseille
The following summer, Ziani saw increasing attention from other French clubs, namely Olympique de MarseilleOlympique de Marseille
Olympique de Marseille is a French association football club based in Marseille. Founded in 1899, the club plays in Ligue 1 and have spent most of its history in the top tier of French football. Marseille have been French champions nine times and have won the Coupe de France a record ten times. In...
. 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 has since then become a familiar face in Eric Gerets' starting eleven.
Wolfsburg
It was announced on July the 7th 2009 that Karim Ziani had signed for €10 million signing a four-year contract with the Bundesliga champions VfL Wolfsburg. Armin Veh the Wolfsburg coach had been a keen admirer of the player and was delighted to have obtained the player's services, in a statement released by the club's website Armin VehArmin Veh
Armin Veh is a German former footballer and current manager who works for Eintracht Frankfurt. He won the German championship with Bundesliga team VfB Stuttgart on 19 May 2007. Veh and his team also had the chance to win "the double" by winning the DFB-Cup on 26 May 2007 in Berlin, but lost 2–3 in...
said "I'm delighted we were able to sign Ziani, He fits in well with our team and will help us achieve our goals".
During December 2010 and January 2011, a number of clubs showed interest in signing Ziani, these were Newcastle United, Everton
Everton F.C.
Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...
, Birmingham City, AS Monaco
AS Monaco FC
Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club are a French football club based in Fontvieille, Monaco. The club was founded in 1924 and currently play in Ligue 2, the second tier of French football. The team plays its home matches at the Stade Louis II located within Fontvieille...
and VfB Stuttgart
VfB Stuttgart
Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V., commonly known as VfB Stuttgart, is a German sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club is best known for its football team, which has participated in all but two Bundesliga seasons...
. On the 14th of 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.
Al-Jaish
On 20 July 2011, Ziani signed a three year contract with QatarQatar
Qatar , also known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qaṭar, is a sovereign Arab state, located in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its...
i club Al-Jaish
Al-Jaish (Qatar)
Al-Jaish is a Qatari association football club currently playing in the Qatar Stars League. The team represents the Qatar Armed Forces in football competition.-History:...
.
Statistics
|-|2001-02||rowspan="4"|Troyes
Troyes
Troyes is a commune and the capital of the Aube department in north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about southeast of Paris. Many half-timbered houses survive in the old town...
||rowspan="2"|Ligue 1
Ligue 1
Ligue 1 , is the French professional league for association football clubs. It is the country's primary football competition and serves as the top division of the French football league system. Ligue 1 is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Professionnel, the other being Ligue 2....
||8||0||-||-||-||-||-||-||10||0
|-
|2002–03||24||0||-||-||-||-||-||-||26||0
|-
|2003–04||rowspan="2"|Ligue 2
Ligue 2
Ligue 2 , formerly known as Division 2, 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 Professionnel , the other being Ligue 1, the country's top football division...
||28||1||-||-||-||-||-||-||30||1
|-
|2004–05||4||0||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||-
|-
|2004–05||rowspan="2"|Lorient
Lorient
Lorient, or L'Orient, is a commune and a seaport in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France.-History:At the beginning of the 17th century, merchants who were trading with India had established warehouses in Port-Louis...
||rowspan="2"|Ligue 2
Ligue 2
Ligue 2 , formerly known as Division 2, 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 Professionnel , the other being Ligue 1, the country's top football division...
||24||1||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||-
|-
|2005–06||37||7||-||-||2||1||-||-||-||-
|-
|2006–07||rowspan="1"|Sochaux
Sochaux
Sochaux is a commune in the Doubs department in the Franche-Comté region in eastern France.-Population:Inhabitants are known as Sochaliens.-Economy:...
||rowspan="1"|Ligue 1
Ligue 1
Ligue 1 , is the French professional league for association football clubs. It is the country's primary football competition and serves as the top division of the French football league system. Ligue 1 is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Professionnel, the other being Ligue 2....
||36||8||5||0||3||1||-||-||44||9
|-
|2007–08||rowspan="2"|Olympique Marseille||rowspan="2"|Ligue 1
Ligue 1
Ligue 1 , is the French professional league for association football clubs. It is the country's primary football competition and serves as the top division of the French football league system. Ligue 1 is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Professionnel, the other being Ligue 2....
||21||1||2||0||2||1||4||0||-||-
|-
|2008–09||28||3||-||-||-||-||9||0||-||-
|-
|-
|2009–10
2009–10 Fußball-Bundesliga
The 2009–10 Fußball-Bundesliga was the 47th season of the Fußball-Bundesliga, Germany's premier football league. The season commenced on 7 August 2009 with the traditional season opening match involving the defending champions VfL Wolfsburg and VfB Stuttgart. The last games were played on 8 May 2010...
||rowspan="2"|Wolfsburg
VfL Wolfsburg
VfL Wolfsburg is a professional German association football club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, who play in the Bundesliga football competition. Wolfsburg have won the Bundesliga once in their history, in the 2008–09 season, and were DFB-Pokal runners-up in 1995. The current head coach is Felix...
||rowspan="2"|Bundesliga
Fußball-Bundesliga
The Fußball-Bundesliga is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of Germany's football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. It is contested by 18 teams and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the 2. Bundesliga...
||10||0||2||0||colspan="2"|-||4||0||16||0
|-
|2010–11
2010–11 Fußball-Bundesliga
The 2010–11 Fußball-Bundesliga was the 48th season of the Fußball-Bundesliga, Germany's premier football league. The season started on the weekend of 21 August 2010 with the traditional season opening match involving the defending champions and ended with the last games on 14 May 2011. The winter...
||5||0||2||0||colspan="2"|-||0||0||7||0
|-
|-
|2010–11
2010–11 Süper Lig
The 2010–11 Süper Lig is the 53rd season since its establishment. Bursaspor are defending champions having won their first Turkish championship last season. The season began on 14 August 2010 and concluded on 22 May 2011...
||rowspan="1"|Kayserispor
Kayserispor
Kayserispor is a professional Turkish football club located in the city of Kayseri. Formed in 1966, Kayserispor are nicknamed Anadolu Yıldızı . The club colours are red and yellow, and the club play their home matches at Kadir Has Stadium.The club have won one Türkiye Kupası, in 2008...
||rowspan="1"|Süper Lig
||2||0||0||0||colspan="2"|-||0||0||2||0
|-
210||21||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||-
15||0||4||0||colspan="2"|-||4||0||23||0
-||-||-||-||colspan="2"|-||-||-||-||-
223||21||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||-
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
Algeria national football team
The Algeria national football team , nicknamed الأفنــاك, Les Fennecs , represents Algeria in association football and is controlled by the Fédération Algérienne de Football. Algeria's home ground is the Stade 5 Juillet 1962 in Algiers and their head coach is Vahid Halilhodžić.Algeria has qualified...
in 2003 when he was called up by Belgian caretaker Georges Leekens for a friendly against Belgium. He was a member of the Algerian 2004 African Nations Cup team, who finished second in their group in the first round of competition before being defeated by Morocco in the quarter-finals. He was also named in the Team of the Tournament at the 2004 African Nations Cup. Karim Ziani scored his first goal for Algeria
Algeria national football team
The Algeria national football team , nicknamed الأفنــاك, Les Fennecs , represents Algeria in association football and is controlled by the Fédération Algérienne de Football. Algeria's home ground is the Stade 5 Juillet 1962 in Algiers and their head coach is Vahid Halilhodžić.Algeria has qualified...
against Gambia with a penalty in a 2008 African Nations Cup qualifier, Algeria
Algeria national football team
The Algeria national football team , nicknamed الأفنــاك, Les Fennecs , represents Algeria in association football and is controlled by the Fédération Algérienne de Football. Algeria's home ground is the Stade 5 Juillet 1962 in Algiers and their head coach is Vahid Halilhodžić.Algeria has qualified...
won 1-0. Ziani then added two more goals to his tally in a 2010 World Cup against Liberia
Liberia national football team
The Liberia national football team, nicknamed the Lone Stars, is the national team of Liberia and is controlled by the Liberia Football Association. Although the country produced the 1995 FIFA World Player of the Year, George Weah, they have never reached the World Cup finals...
. Algeria
Algeria national football team
The Algeria national football team , nicknamed الأفنــاك, Les Fennecs , represents Algeria in association football and is controlled by the Fédération Algérienne de Football. Algeria's home ground is the Stade 5 Juillet 1962 in Algiers and their head coach is Vahid Halilhodžić.Algeria has qualified...
won the game 3-0. Ziani was also the artist of the recent Algerian team performances during the final phase of the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
The qualification competition for the 2010 FIFA World Cup was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation — the AFC , CAF , CONCACAF , CONMEBOL , OFC , and UEFA — was allocated a certain number of the 32 places at the tournament...
together with 2010 African Cup of Nations
2010 African 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...
.
National team statistics
|-|2003||3||0
|-
|2004||11||0
|-
|2005||6||0
|-
|2006||3||1
|-
|2007||8||0
|-
|2008||8||2
|-
|2009||7||1
|-
|2010||14||1
|-
|2011||2||0
|-
!Total||62||5
|}
International goals
- Scores and results list Algeria's goal tally first.
Goal Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition 1 7 October 2006 Stade 5 Juillet 1962 Stade 5 Juillet 1962Stade 5 Juillet 1962 or 5 July 1962 Stadium , also known as El Djezair Stadium , is a football and athletics stadium located in Algiers, Algeria. The stadium was inaugurated in 1972 with a capacity of 105,000...
, AlgiersAlgiers' is the capital and largest city of Algeria. According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630. In 2009, the population was about 3,500,000...
1–0 1–0 2008 Africa Cup of Nations qualification 2 6 June 2008 Stade Mustapha Tchaker Stade Mustapha TchakerStade Mustapha Tchaker is a multi-purpose stadium in Blida, Algeria. It is currently used mostly for football matches. The stadium has a capacity of 35,000 people.* Not to be confused with the old soocer stadium Stade Freres Brakni.- External links :*...
, BlidaBlidaBlida is a city in Algeria. It is the capital of Blida Province, and it is located about 45 km south-west of Algiers, the national capital. The name Blida, i.e...
2–0 3–0 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF) 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)The Confederation of African Football section of the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification saw teams compete for five berths in the final tournament in South Africa...3 3–0 4 11 October 2009 Stade Mustapha Tchaker Stade Mustapha TchakerStade Mustapha Tchaker is a multi-purpose stadium in Blida, Algeria. It is currently used mostly for football matches. The stadium has a capacity of 35,000 people.* Not to be confused with the old soocer stadium Stade Freres Brakni.- External links :*...
, BlidaBlidaBlida is a city in Algeria. It is the capital of Blida Province, and it is located about 45 km south-west of Algiers, the national capital. The name Blida, i.e...
3–1 3–1 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF) 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)The Confederation of African Football section of the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification saw teams compete for five berths in the final tournament in South Africa...5 5 June 2010 Playmobil-Stadion Playmobil-StadionThe Trolli Arena is a football stadium in the district of Ronhof in Fürth, Bavaria, and the home ground of 2. Bundesliga team SpVgg Greuther Fürth....
, GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
1–0 1–0 Friendly Exhibition gameAn exhibition game is a sporting event in which there is no competitive value of any significant kind to any competitor regardless of the outcome of the competition...
Honours
- Member of 2004 African Nations Cup Top 11 team
- DZFoot d'OrDZFoot d'OrThe "" is a football award, created in 2000 by the Algerian football website DZFoot.com, the leading source of Algerian football news. The award is given annually to the Algerian player considered to have performed the best over the previous year....
: 2004, 2005, 2006 - Top player in Ligue 2Ligue 2Ligue 2 , formerly known as Division 2, 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 Professionnel , the other being Ligue 1, the country's top football division...
: 2005/2006 (FC Lorient) - Algerian Ballon d’Or (Ballon d’Or El Haddaf): 2006, 2007
- Coupe de FranceCoupe de FranceThe Coupe Charles Simon, commonly known as the Coupe de France , is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation...
: 2007 (FC Sochaux-Montbéliard)