Fayçal Fajr

Fayçal Fajr
Fajr with Morocco at the 2018 FIFA World Cup
Personal information
Full name Fayçal Fajr
Date of birth (1988-08-01) 1 August 1988
Place of birth Rouen, France
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[1]
Playing position Attacking midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Caen
Number 10
Youth career
1994–2000 Sotteville-Lès-Rouen
2000–2003 Le Havre
2003–2005 Rouen
2005–2006 Oissel
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2008 Oissel 20 (4)
2008–2011 Fréjus Saint-Raphaël 91 (12)
2011–2014 Caen 78 (11)
2014–2016 Elche 34 (1)
2015–2016 → Deportivo La Coruña (loan) 38 (5)
2016–2017 Deportivo La Coruña 24 (0)
2017–2018 Getafe 31 (1)
2018– Caen 0 (0)
National team‡
2015– Morocco 26 (3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 24 May 2018
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 13 October 2018

Fayçal Fajr (Arabic: فيصل فجر‎; born 1 August 1988) is a French-born Moroccan professional footballer who plays for Stade Malherbe Caen as an attacking midfielder.[2]

Career

Early career

Fajr was born in the city of Rouen and began his career with local amateur club Sottevillais Cheminots.[2] In 2000, he joined the youth academy of professional club Le Havre.[2] After three years, Fajr was released after being told he lacked the physical requirements to remain.[3] He, subsequently, returned home to join hometown club Rouen.[2] Fajr spent two years at the club and, in 2005, signed a contract with CMS Oissel. With Oissel, he played in the Championnat de France amateur 2, the fifth division of French football.[2]

After two seasons playing on the senior team of Oissel, in 2008, Fajr moved up one division to sign with Étoile Fréjus Saint-Raphaël, then known as ES Fréjus. In his first season with the club, he appeared in 29 matches scoring four goals. Fréjus finished second in its group, however, due to the Direction Nationale du Contrôle de Gestion (National Directorate of Management Control) (DNCG) imposing sanctions on several clubs in the Championnat National, the club was given a spot in the third division. After playing mainly as a substitute in his inaugural season with the club, Fajr became a starter in the club's first season in National. He appeared in 29 league matches as Fréjus finished mid-table. In his final season with the club, Fajr became the club's primary play-maker. He posted career-highs in appearances (34) and goals (8). Fréjus finished the campaign in sixth place.

Caen

Fayçal Fajr playing for Deportivo de La Coruña.

After a successful campaign with Fréjus, Fajr was linked to several professional clubs, most notably Nice, Dijon, Lens, and Reims.[2][3] On 18 July 2011, it was confirmed that he would be joining Ligue 1 club Caen on a three-year contract.[4] The transfer was completed the following day.[5] Fajr was assigned the number 29 shirt and simultaneously made his professional and club debut on 28 August in a league match against Rennes.[6] Three days later, in a Coupe de la Ligue match against Brest, he scored his first goal for Caen in a 3–2 victory.[7] Caen were relegated to the Ligue 2 in his first season, but he helped them back up two seasons later. In the 2013–14 season, he scored 8 league goals in 35 games and Caen were promoted to the top-flight Ligue 1.

Spain

On 24 June 2014, Fajr passed his medical and completed the move to the La Liga side Elche.[8] He made his debut in the category on 24 August, coming on as a substitute for Ferrán Corominas in a 0–3 away loss against FC Barcelona.

On 6 August 2015 Fajr was loaned to fellow league team Deportivo de La Coruña, for one year.[9] Ahead of the 2016–17 campaign, he signed a permanent contract with the club.

On 20 July 2017, Fajr signed a two-year deal with Getafe CF, still in the first division.[10]

Return to Caen

On 3 August 2018, after spending four years in La Liga, Fajr returned to his former club Caen.[11]

International career

Despite being born and raised in France, Fajr joined the Royal Moroccan Football Federation. He made his senior debut for the Morocco national football team in a 2018 World Cup qualifying game against Equatorial Guinea in a 1–0 loss.[12]

In May 2018 he was named in Morocco’s 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.[13]

Career statistics

Club

As of 20 May 2017[14]
Club Season League Cup[nb 1] Europe Other[nb 2] Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Fréjus 2008–09 29410——304
2009–10 30110——311
2010–11 32721——348
Total 911241——9513
Caen 2011–12 13041——171
2012–13 30342——345
2013–14 35842——3910
Total 7811125——9016
Elche 2014–15 34140——381
Deportivo 2015–16 38530——415
2016–17 24010——250
Total 62540——665
Career total 26529246002028935

International

Statistics accurate as of match played 13 October 2018.[15]
Morocco
YearAppsGoals
201510
201660
2017122
201871
Total263

International goals

Scores and results list Morocco's goal tally first.[16]
NoDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.24 March 2017Stade de Marrakech, Marrakesh, Morocco Burkina Faso1–02–0Friendly
2.1 September 2017Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, Rabat, Morocco Mali5–06–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification
3.13 October 2018Stade Mohammed V, Casablanca, Morocco Comoros1–01–02019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification

Notes

References

  1. ↑ "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia – List of Players" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 4 June 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Fayçal Fajr: "L'EN du Maroc, j'y pense tous les jours"". Maroc Football (in French). 21 October 2011. Archived from the original on 1 December 2011. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
  3. 1 2 "Fayçal Fajr: "C'est comme dans un rêve"". Sportacaen (in French). 19 July 2011. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
  4. ↑ "Fayçal Fajr pour 3 ans à Caen?". Normandie (in French). 18 July 2011. Archived from the original on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
  5. ↑ "Fayçal Fajr est à Caen". Sportacaen (in French). 19 July 2011. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
  6. ↑ "Rennes v. Caen Match Report". Ligue de Football Professionnel (in French). 28 August 2011. Archived from the original on 15 July 2012. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
  7. ↑ "Caen v. Brest Match Report". Ligue de Football Professionnel (in French). 31 August 2011. Archived from the original on 16 September 2012. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
  8. ↑ "Fayçal Fajr, primer fichaje del Elche para la nueva temporada". Elche CF (in Spanish). 24 June 2014. Archived from the original on 27 June 2014. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
  9. ↑ "Fayçal Fajr, nuevo jugador del Deportivo. "Si alguien no conoce al Dépor, no conoce el fútbol"" [Fayçal Fajr, new player of Deportivo. "If anybody does not know Dépor, does not know football"] (in Spanish). Deportivo La Coruña. 6 August 2015. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
  10. ↑ "Fayçal Fajr llega al Getafe" [Fayçal Fajr arrives at Getafe] (in Spanish). Getafe CF. 20 July 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  11. ↑ "Fayçal Fajr revient à Caen" (in French). L'Équipe. 3 August 2018.
  12. ↑ FIFA.com. "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ - Matches - Equatorial Guinea-Morocco - FIFA.com". FIFA.com. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
  13. ↑ "Boufal left out of Morocco squad".
  14. ↑ "Fayçal Fajr". Soccerway. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  15. ↑ Fayçal Fajr at National-Football-Teams.com
  16. ↑ "Fajr, Fayçal". National Football Teams. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
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