Omar El Kaddouri

Omar El Kaddouri (Arabic: عمر القدوري‎; born 21 August 1990) is a Moroccan professional footballer who plays as a midfielder or a winger for Greek club PAOK and the Morocco national team.

Omar El Kaddouri

El Kaddouri playing for PAOK in 2018
Personal information
Date of birth	21 August 1990
Place of birth	Brussels, Belgium
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder / Winger
Club information
Current team	PAOK
Number	7
Youth career
2001–2006	Diegem
2006–2008	Anderlecht
2008–2010	Brescia
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2007–2008	Anderlecht	0	(0)
2008–2012	Brescia	39	(7)
2010–2011	→ Südtirol (loan)	31	(2)
2012–2017	Napoli	32	(1)
2013–2015	→ Torino (loan)	61	(8)
2017	Empoli	15	(3)
2017–	PAOK	74	(5)
National team^‡
2009–2010	Belgium U19	5	(0)
2011–2012	Belgium U21	2	(1)
2012	Morocco Olympic[1][2]	2	(0)
2013–	Morocco	28	(5)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 11 September 2020 ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 13 October 2020

Club career

Early career

Born in Belgium to Moroccan parents, he began his early career at K. Diegem Sport. He subsequently moved to Anderlecht after being scouted by their youth system. During the Torneo di Viareggio in 2007, he was scouted by Italian football club Brescia who signed him in 2008.

He played two seasons with the Brescia youth team, managing a first team appearance when he came on as a substitute against Livorno on 30 March 2009, aged just 18. Due to a lack of first team opportunities, he was sent out to Lega Pro side Südtirol, where he managed 32 appearances, scoring two goals and assisting a further 10.

Brescia

During 2011–12, he returned to Brescia, who decided to establish him in the centre midfield. On 3 October 2011, he scored the second goal in a defeat of Cittadella. On 5 March 2012 he scored his fifth goal of the season for le Rondinelle against Gubbio, on an assist of Jonathas. He concluded the season with 38 appearances and 7 goals.

Napoli

On 24 August 2012 he officially signed with Napoli under a co-ownership agreement for €2 million.[3]

He officially debuted with the Neapolitans on 20 September as a starter in a Europa League match against Swedish side AIK Fotboll; his Serie A debut was on 2 December, in a home game against Pescara. He collected 7 appearances in Serie A, with 14 in total throughout the season.

On 20 June 2013 Napoli acquired the second half of his contract from Brescia.[4]

Torino

El Kaddouri with Torino

On 11 July 2013 he was loaned to Torino with the right to redeem half of his contract in co-ownership.[5] He made his debut on 17 August in the third round of Coppa Italia, a 1–2 defeat against Pescara, substituting Alexander Farnerud at halftime. On 24 November he scored his first two goals for Torino during a 4–1 win against Catania.[6] On 17 February 2014 he scored the final goal in a 3–1 win away at Verona, after providing two assists on the earlier goals.

In the league he collected 29 appearances and 5 goals. At the end of the season Torino opted to acquire 50% of his contract, however, Napoli exercised the right redeem his contract in full as stipulated. On 1 July 2014 he was reloaned to Torino with a buyout clause.[7] On 7 February 2015 he scored his first goal of the season during an away fixture against Verona; the game ended 3–1 in favour of the Granata.

Return to Napoli

On 25 June 2015 his contract was not redeemed by Torino and he returned to Naples.

Empoli

On 31 January 2017, during the winter transfer window, Omar El Kaddouri has officially joined Empoli, moving from Napoli on a three-and-a-half-year contract, until 30 June 2021.

PAOK

On 24 August 2017, PAOK announced the signing of the Moroccan middlefielder who penned a four-year contract with the club.[8] On 14 April 2018, he scored his first goal with the club in Superleague in a 3–1 home win game against Panionios.[9]

International career

El Kaddouri was part of the Belgium U21 team. He scored his first goal for them on 14 November 2011 against England in a match part of the European Under-21 qualifiers in 2013. In July 2012, he participated in the Olympic Games in London with Morocco, making two appearances.

El Kaddouri then played for the Moroccan national team, making his debut 14 August 2013 in a friendly against Burkina Faso. He scored his first goal on 23 May 2014 in a 4–0 friendly win over Mozambique.[10]

Honours

PAOK

• Super League Greece (1): 2018–19
• Greek Cup (2): 2017–18 , 2018–19

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 6 October 2020.

Season	Team	League			Domestic Cup			European Competition			Other Tournaments			Total
		Comp	Apps	Goals	Comp	Apps	Goals	Comp	Apps	Goals	Comp	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
2008–09	Brescia	B	1	0	CI	0	0	–	–	–	–	–	–	1	0
2009–10		B	0	0	CI	2	0	–	–	–	–	–	–	2	0
2010–11	Südtirol	PD	31	2	CI-C	–	-	–	–	–	–	–	–	31	2
2011–12	Brescia	B	38	7	CI	2	0	–	–	–	–	–	–	40	7
Total Brescia			39	7		4	0		0	0		0	0	43	7
2012–13	Napoli	A	7	0	CI	1	0	UEL	4	0	SI[11]	–	–	12	0
2013–14	Torino	A	29	5	CI	1	0	–	–	–	–	–	–	30	5
2014–15		A	32	3	CI	1	0	UEL	13	1	–	–	–	44	4
Total Torino			61	8		2	0		13	1		0	0	76	9
2015–16	Napoli	A	20	1	CI	1	1	UEL	5	1	–	–	–	26	3
2016–17		A	5	0	CI	0	0	UCL	0	0	–	–	–	5	0
Total Napoli			32	1		2	1		9	1		0	0	43	3
2016–17	Empoli	A	15	3	CI	1	0	–	–	–	–	–	–	16	3
Total Empoli			15	3		1	0		0	0		0	0	15	3
2017–18	PAOK	GSL	18	1	GC	3	1	–	0	0	–	–	–	21	2
2018–19		GSL	17	1	GC	6	0	UCL	9	1	–	–	–	32	2
2019–20		GSL	23	0	GC	2	0	UCL & UEL	4	0	–	–	–	29	1
2020–21		GSL	6	2	GC	0	0	UCL	4	0				7	1
Total PAOK			64	4		11	1		17	1		0	0	90	6
Total career			239	25		20	2		39	3		0	0	297	30

International goals

Scores and results list Morocco's goal tally first.

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition	Ref
1.	23 May 2014	Estádio de São Luís, Faro	Mozambique	1–0	4–0	Friendly	[10]
2.	9 October 2014	Stade de Marrakech, Marrakech	Central African Republic	3–0	4–0		[12]
3.	13 November 2014	Stade Adrar, Agadir	Benin	3–0	6–1		[13]
4.	12 June 2015	Stade Adrar, Agadir	Libya	1–0	1–0	2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
5.	12 October 2015	Stade Adrar, Agadir	Guinea	1–1	1–1	Friendly

References

1. "London 2012 football men – Olympic Football". 3 June 2017.
2. "London 2012 football men – Olympic Football". 3 June 2017.
3. "Ufficiale: Omar El Kaddouri al Napoli". Article on sscnapoli.it. 24 August 2012. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
4. "Risolte anche le partecipazioni di Mannini e Santacroce in favore di Siena e Parma". sscnapoli.it (in Italian). Retrieved 19 June 2014.
5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 14 July 2013. Retrieved 12 July 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
6. "Torino vs. Catania – 24 November 2013". Soccerway. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
7. "UFFICIALE – El Kaddouri ritorna al Torino". torinogranata.it (in Italian). Retrieved 1 July 2014.
8. "Στον ΠΑΟΚ ο Ομάρ Ελ Καντουρί – PAOKFC". PAOKFC (in Greek). 24 August 2017. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
9. "Πρώτα συλλαλητήριο, μετά... μπαλάρα! (vid)" (in Greek). Retrieved 14 May 2018.
10. "Morocco mauls Mozambique". The World Game. 24 May 2014. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
11. Acquired after the participation in the competition
12. "Morocco 4 Central African Republic 0: Hamdallah hat-trick eases hosts to victory". FourFourTwo. 9 October 2014. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
13. "Morocco 6 Benin 1: Ruthless hosts lift the gloom". Sportal. 13 November 2014. Retrieved 17 November 2014.

External links

• Career profile (from aic.it)
• Omar El Kaddouri at Soccerway
• Belgium Stats at Belgian FA