Wahbi Khazri

Wahbi Khazri
Khazri lining up with Tunisia at the 2018 FIFA World Cup
Personal information
Full name Wahbi Khazri[1]
Date of birth (1991-02-08) 8 February 1991
Place of birth Ajaccio, France
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)[2]
Playing position Attacking midfielder / Winger
Club information
Current team
 Saint-Étienne
Number 10
Youth career
1995–2003 JS Ajaccio
2003–2009 Bastia
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009–2014 Bastia 171 (31)
2014–2016 Bordeaux 52 (14)
2016–2018 Sunderland 38 (3)
2017–2018 → Rennes (loan) 24 (9)
2018– Saint-Étienne 3 (1)
National team‡
2009 Tunisia U20 1 (1)
2012 France U21 1 (0)
2013– Tunisia 38 (14)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 08:53, 26 August 2018 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 28 June 2018

Wahbi Khazri (Arabic: وهبي خزري‎; born 8 February 1991) is a Tunisian professional footballer who plays for French Ligue 1 side Saint-Étienne and the Tunisia national team.

He began his career at Bastia, scoring 34 goals in 183 competitive games, winning the Championnat National and Ligue 2 in consecutive seasons. After 18 months at Bordeaux of Ligue 1, he transferred to Sunderland in January 2016, who loaned him to Rennes in 2017–18.

Khazri represented Tunisia at under-20 level and France at under-21. He made his senior debut for the former in 2013 and represented the country at three Africa Cup of Nations tournaments and the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

Bastia

A native of Ajaccio, Khazri started his career with local side Jeunesse Sportive Ajaccio before moving to SC Bastia. He received his first call up to the senior squad for their match against Amiens SC on 20 February 2009.[3] He made his debut in that match coming on as a substitute in the 85th minute for Ludovic Genest. Bastia scored the winning goal a minute later to win the match 1–0.[4] He scored his first career goal on 13 March 2009, in a 1–0 victory over Montpellier.[5] Wahbi quickly established himself as a goalscorer, scoring again a couple of weeks later in a 3–1 win over Vannes.[6] He scored again, this time on the final match day of the season against Troyes, scoring the first goal in a 2–1 victory.[7] The loss meant Troyes would be relegated to the Championnat National.

Bordeaux

After five years in Bastia, Khazri signed a four-year contract with FC Girondins de Bordeaux in July 2014.[8]

Sunderland

Khazri (right) playing for Sunderland against Chelsea in May 2016

On 30 January 2016, Khazri joined Sunderland on a four and a half-year contract for an undisclosed fee.[9] Khazri scored his first goal for Sunderland against Manchester United on 13 February 2016, opening the scoring with a direct free kick that beat David de Gea at his far post. Khazri later set up Lamine Koné's 82nd-minute goal from a corner, as Sunderland won 2–1.[10]

On 7 May 2016, Khazri scored a volley in a 3–2 win over Chelsea as manager Sam Allardyce's team neared survival in the Premier League. Richard Mennear of the Sunderland Echo wrote that "His work rate was immense, pressing and probing the Chelsea defence and causing problems from set pieces. He has regained his form just at the right time".[11]

On 31 August 2017, Khazri returned to Ligue 1, signing a season-long loan at Rennes.[12] He was sent off on 14 October in a 2–0 Derby Breton loss at Guingamp, earning two yellow cards for dissent within ten seconds.[13]

Saint-Étienne

Following Sunderland's downfall to League One, Khazri made a full return to France and joined Saint-Étienne for an undisclosed fee.[14]

International career

Youth teams

In 2009, Khazri made his debut for the Tunisia national under-20 football team.[15] However, in November 2011, he was called up by Erick Mombaerts to the France national under-21 football team for a pair of 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualifiers against Romania and Slovakia.[16] In February 2012, he played his first and only game for the French side, against Italy, before being substituted by Frédéric Bulot.[17]

Senior team

In late 2012, Khazri switched his international allegiance once again, when he accepted a call-up from Sami Trabelsi, the Tunisian national team's coach, including him in the squad for the 2013 African Cup of Nations.[18]

Manager Nabil Maâloul called up Khazri for Tunisia's squad at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.[19] In the second group match, he assisted Dylan Bronn and scored himself in added time in a 5–2 loss to Belgium in Moscow.[20] With both teams already eliminated, he then played his part in a 2–1 comeback win over Panama that was Tunisia's first at the World Cup since 1978; he set up Fakhreddine Ben Youssef and then scored the winning goal, the 2,500th in the competition's history.[21]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 20 May 2018[22]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Team Season League Domestic Cup League Cup Europe Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Bastia 2008–09 Ligue 2 1230000—123
2009–10 Ligue 2 3120010—322
2010–11 Championnat National 3440041—385
2011–12 Ligue 2 3392100—3510
2012–13 Ligue 1 2970030—327
2013–14 Ligue 1 3261110—347
Total 1713132910018334
Bordeaux 2014–15 Ligue 1 3291010—349
2015–16 Ligue 1 20510108[lower-alpha 1]1306
Total 52142020816415
Sunderland 2015–16 Premier League 1420000—142
2016–17 Premier League 2110020—231
2017–18 Championship 300020—50
Total 383004000423
Rennes (loan) 2017–18 Ligue 1 2491042—2911
Career total 28557621938131863
  1. ↑ Appearances in the Europa League

International

As of 28 June 2018[23]
Tunisia
YearAppsGoals
201362
201463
201593
201652
201771
201853
Total3814

International goals

Scores and results list Tunisia's goal tally first.[23]
GoalDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.23 March 2013Stade Olympique de Radès, Radès, Tunisia Sierra Leone2–02–12014 FIFA World Cup qualification
2.14 August 2013 Congo1–03–0Friendly
3.5 March 2014RCDE Stadium, Barcelona, Spain Colombia1–11–1
4.6 September 2014Stade Mustapha Ben Jannet, Monastir, Tunisia Botswana1–12–12015 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
5.19 November 2014 Egypt2–12–1
6.11 January 2015Stade Olympique de Radès, Radès, Tunisia Algeria1–11–1Friendly
7.9 October 2015 Gabon3–13–3
8.13 November 2015Stade Olympique, Nouakchott, Mauritania Mauritania1–13–12018 FIFA World Cup qualification
9.4 September 2016Stade Mustapha Ben Jannet, Monastir, Tunisia Liberia1–04–12017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
10.11 November 2016Omar Hamadi Stadium, Algiers, Algeria Libya1–01–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification
11.23 January 2017Stade d'Angondjé, Libreville, Gabon Zimbabwe4–14–22017 Africa Cup of Nations
12.27 March 2018Allianz Riviera, Nice, France Costa Rica1–01–0Friendly
13.23 June 2018Otkritie Arena, Moscow, Russia Belgium2–52–52018 FIFA World Cup
14.28 June 2018Mordovia Arena, Saransk, Russia Panama2–12–1

References

  1. ↑ "Squads for 2016/17 Premier League confirmed". Premier League. 1 September 2016. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  2. ↑ "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia – List of Players" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 4 June 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  3. ↑ "Sporting Club di Bastia".
  4. ↑ "Amiens v. Bastia Match Report". Archived from the original on 24 February 2009.
  5. ↑ "Bastia v. Montpellier Match Report". Archived from the original on 12 March 2009.
  6. ↑ "Bastia v. Vannes Match Report". Archived from the original on 5 May 2009.
  7. ↑ "Bastia v. Troyes Match Report". Archived from the original on 2 June 2009.
  8. ↑ "Wahbi Khazri signs for Bordeaux!". girondins.com. 2 July 2014. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 4 July 2014.
  9. ↑ "Black Cats sign Wahbi Khazri". Archived from the original on 2 February 2016.
  10. ↑ "Khazri shows he can give Sunderland a new start after troubled week".
  11. ↑ Mennear, Richard (8 May 2016). "Sunderland 3 Chelsea 2: Wahbi Khazri back to his best plus five other things learned from huge win". Sunderland Echo.
  12. ↑ Mannear, Richard (31 August 2017). "Revealed: Details of Sunderland winger Wahbi Khazri's Rennes loan deal". The Shields Gazette. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  13. ↑ McCormick, Sean (16 October 2017). "Sunderland AFC loan watch: Khazri sees red; Borini suffers derby heartache but stars in new role". Chronicle. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  14. ↑ "Wahbi Khazri: Sunderland's Tunisia winger joins St Etienne for undisclosed fee". BBC Sport. 17 July 2018. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  15. ↑ "Montpellier : vers l'association Saihi-Khazri". Topnet.tn. 15 February 2012. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
  16. ↑ Jérôme Negroni (28 February 2010). "Khazri : " Un beau match à jouer "". SC-Bastia.net. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
  17. ↑ "Match : France – Italie". fff.fr. 28 February 2012. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
  18. ↑ "Khazri switches allegiance to Tunisia". Al Jazeera. 21 December 2012. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
  19. ↑ Adewoye, Gbenga (2 June 2018). "Tunisia unveil 23-man squad for the World Cup". Goal.com. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  20. ↑ Bevan, Chris (23 June 2018). "Belgium 5–2 Tunisia". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  21. ↑ Chowdhury, Saj (28 June 2018). "Panama 1–2 Tunisia". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  22. ↑ Wahbi Khazri at Soccerway. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
  23. 1 2 "Wahbi Khazri". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.