Moroccan striker was world’s top scorer in 2019
Abderrazak Hamdallah
PEOPLE AND PLACES IN THE NEWS
W
ho was
the world’s
leading
scorer
in club
football
in 2019?
Not Lionel Messi (54 for Barcelona), or
Robert Lewandowski (50 for Bayern
Munich), or Kylian Mbappe of Paris
Saint-Germain. Instead, it was Morocco’s
Abderrazak Hamdallah, who recorded 57
goals for Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr.
Aside from a season at Norway’s
Aalesund, who signed him in 2013 from
his hometown club Olympic Safi, the
29-year-old Moroccan has pursued
a nomadic career outside of Europe.
His 19 goals in 30 games for
Aalesund earned a move to China,
where he started well enough for
Guangzhou R&F before injuries and a
falling-out with coach Cosmin Contra
led to his departure after 18 months,to Qatari side El Jaish.
In five years in the Middle East – first
at El Jaish, then another Qatari club Al
Rayyan, and now Al Nassr – Hamdallah
has maintained a spectacular goal-a-
game scoring rate.
At Al Nassr he finished the 2018-19
season as the Saudi league’s top scorer
with 34, helping the club to their first
league title since 2015 and claiming
the award as the league’s best player.
After making his senior debut for
Morocco in 2013 he drifted out of
international contention before his
scoring feats for Al Nassr earned a recall
by then national coach Herve Renard
ahead of last summer’s Africa Cup of
Nations – only for the player to walk
out of a pre-tournament training camp.
Officially, his departure was put down
to an injury but it later emerged he had
clashed with team-mate Faycal Fajr
during a friendly against Gambia. Fajr
had grabbed the ball from Hamdallah’s
arms in order to take a
penalty and, privately,
Hamdallah complained
of Europe-based cliques
within the squad.
Hamdallah has
done little to change
perceptions of him as
an outsider. He had
rejected Renard’s initial
invitation to play with
Morocco in March last
year, citing personal
family reasons, then
in November he
announced his
international retirement
after turning down an
invitation from Renard’s
successor, Vahid
Halilhodzic, who says:
“He is a player with a lot
of great potential, but
he also has many flaws.”
Whether those flaws
will prevent a European
club from taking a
chance on him remains
to be seen. Sources at
Al Nassr insisted he has
a €20million release
clause in his contract. At
the age of 29, it may be
too late to compete in
Europe with the likes
of Messi, Lewandowski
and Mbappe.
John Holmesdaleanother debt crisis, all the country’s clubs
are trying to navigate the country’s frail
economy. And with strict limits on the
purchase of foreign currency, few are
buying. Of the recent deals, River
Plate sold Exequiel Palacios to Bayer
Leverkusen for €22m in the biggest sale
of the summer, while Velez Sarsfield
brought in winger Ricardo Centurion but
implemented a “domestic violence” clause
in his contract after his former partner
accused him of beating her in 2017.
Over in La Plata, the Diego Maradona
saga continues, with daily updates on
whether he will stay at Gimnasia as they
battle relegation. What he will welcome is
the news that Independiente may rename
their stadium after Ricardo Bochini, who
Maradona idolised as a youngster.
Although Argentina produces few
players in the mould of the classic
playmaker these days, the fascination
with the likes of Bochini and Riquelme
remains intact.
Joel Richards
PEOPLE AND PLACES IN THE NEWS
Prolific...yet another
goal for Al Nassr