Dutch association football player
Khalid Boulahrouz
(born 28 December 1981) is a Dutch former professional
footballer
who played as a
defender
. Nicknamed "The
Cannibal
" for his ability to "eat up" the opposition,
[4]
Boulahrouz was noted for his technical ability, tackling and versatility in defence.
[5]
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
[
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]
Boulahrouz was born in
Maassluis
, Netherlands to a family of Moroccan descent. He has eight siblings. As a youngster he went to the youth academies of
Ajax
and
Haarlem
. When he was sixteen his father died and he had to take responsibility for his family.
[6]
In December 2006, he married Sabia Thele. While Boulahrouz was in Switzerland preparing for the
Euro 2008
quarter finals against Russia, his then wife Sabia gave birth to a
prematurely born
daughter Anissa who died in a
Lausanne
hospital.
[7]
He opted to play against Russia a few days later, during which the Dutch team wore black armbands in his daughter's memory.
[8]
The couple has a second daughter, Amaya (born March 2010)
[9]
and a son, Daamin (born 30 January 2011). In January 2013 the couple announced their separation.
[
citation needed
]
Club career
[
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]
In his youth Boulahrouz played consecutively for Excelsior Maassluis,
[10]
DSOV,
[11]
Ajax
,
Haarlem
and
AZ
.
[
citation needed
]
RKC Waalwijk
[
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]
After a difficult period playing for different clubs, he finally found some stability at
Waalwijk
, where coach
Martin Jol
gave him the confidence he had been looking for.
[6]
He began his professional career in the Dutch
Eredivisie
for RKC on 9 March 2002, against
Heerenveen
.
Hamburger SV
[
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]
After playing two seasons for RKC he moved to
Hamburg
to play in the German
Bundesliga
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.
[4]
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.
[12]
Chelsea
[
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]
Boulahrouz with 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).
[13]
After Chelsea's opening game of the
2006?07
season, manager
Jose Mourinho
confirmed that the club had signed Boulahrouz but were waiting for his international clearance to be finalised,
[14]
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."
[14]
On 21 August 2006, Chelsea completed the signing of Boulahrouz. Six days later, he made his Premiership debut against
Blackburn Rovers
. He wore the number 9 shirt, previously occupied by
Hernan Crespo
? 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
and
Barcelona
. However, Boulahrouz gradually dropped out of favour. Boulahrouz was out for a lengthy period of time after a knee injury, followed by a
shoulder
injury while playing in an
FA Cup
tie against
Norwich City
. Boulahrouz eventually dropped out of contention as the season wound down, with
John Terry
and
Ricardo Carvalho
as the first-choice defensive pairing. When Carvalho was injured, manager Mourinho paired Terry with
Ghanaian
midfielder
Michael Essien
.
Sevilla (loan)
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]
Boulahrouz joined Spanish club
Sevilla
on a year-long loan for the 2007?08 season.
[15]
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
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]
On 21 July 2008, Boulahrouz moved to
VfB Stuttgart
for a fee of around €5 million.
[16]
[17]
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
. Two weeks later, Boulahrouz scored his first goal (only his second in the Bundesliga) for Stuttgart on 30 September 2011.
[18]
His goal came in the 69th minute of a 2?0 win over
1. FC Kaiserslautern
.
In May 2012 VfB Stuttgart announced that his expiring contract would not be extended.
[19]
Sporting CP
[
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]
On 18 July 2012, Boulahrouz signed a two-year contract with
Sporting Clube de Portugal
.
[20]
He made 11 league appearances for the club, and on 3 September 2013 his contract was terminated.
[21]
Brøndby IF
[
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]
On 7 October 2013, Boulahrouz signed a contract which is due until the summer 2014.
[22]
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.
[23]
Feyenoord
[
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]
On 14 July 2014, it was officially announced that Boulahrouz had signed a one-year contract with
Feyenoord
on a free transfer.
[24]
He was one of the replacements for outgoing defenders
Stefan de Vrij
,
Daryl Janmaat
and
Bruno Martins Indi
after their performances for the Netherlands at the
2014 FIFA World Cup
. On 11 February 2016, more than half a year after his contract with Feyenoord had expired, Boulahrouz announced his retirement from professional football.
[25]
International career
[
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]
Boulahrouz with former Netherlands manager
Marco van Basten
.
Boulahrouz' displays for RKC caused
Marco van Basten
to pick him for the
Netherlands national football team
. He made his international debut on 3 September 2004 in a 3?0 win for the
Netherlands
against Liechtenstein, and was named in the squad for the
2006 World Cup
. He managed 34 caps for the national team, as of November 2011.
Boulahrouz was sent off from the Netherlands match against
Portugal
in the
2006 FIFA World Cup
Round of Sixteen after a second bookable offence. He was judged to have used an elbow on Portugal's
Luis Figo
. Before that, he was first booked in the seventh minute after a violent tackle that injured
Cristiano Ronaldo
, eventually forcing the substitution of the Portuguese player.
Referee
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
Euro 2008
squad, following an injury to
Liverpool
's
Ryan Babel
, he was reinstated to the 23-man squad. He was chosen to start in the group games.
2010 FIFA World Cup
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Boulahrouz was included in the preliminary squad for the
2010 FIFA World Cup
in South Africa.
[26]
On 27 May 2010, coach
Bert van Marwijk
announced that Boulahrouz would be part of the final 23-man squad.
[27]
Boulahrouz started in the Netherlands' last group match on 24 June, a 2?1 win over
Cameroon
, in place of
Gregory van der Wiel
.
[28]
He also played in the semi-final match against
Uruguay
.
Style of play
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]
Goalkeeper and international teammate
Edwin van der Sar
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."
[4]
Former Dutch centre-back
Jaap Stam
said that Boulahrouz could become his successor.
[6]
Coaching career
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]
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,
[29]
a role he left by the end of the 2021?22 season.
Career statistics
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]
Club
[
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]
International
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]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
[30]
National team
|
Year
|
Apps
|
Goals
|
Netherlands
|
2004
|
3
|
0
|
2005
|
7
|
0
|
2006
|
9
|
0
|
2007
|
2
|
0
|
2008
|
6
|
0
|
2009
|
1
|
0
|
2010
|
3
|
0
|
2011
|
3
|
0
|
2012
|
1
|
0
|
Total
|
35
|
0
|
Honours
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]
Hamburger SV
Netherlands
References
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]
External links
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]