Tahar El Khalej

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Personal information
Tahar El Khalej
Full name	Tahar El Khalej
Date of birth	June 16, 1968 (age 38)
Place of birth	Marrakech, Morocco
Height	6 ft 3 in
Playing position	Defender/Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Retired
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1994-1997 1997-2000 2000-2003 2003	UD Leiria SL Benfica Southampton Charlton Athletic	43 (8) 68 (10) 58 (3) 3 (0)
National team
	Morocco	69
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Tahar El Khalej (Arabic: طهر الخالج‎) (born 16 June 1968 in Marrakech) is a retired Moroccan football player.

He played for several clubs, including UD Leiria (Portugal), SL Benfica (Portugal), Southampton F.C. (England) and Charlton Athletic in England.

He joined Southampton for £350,000 in March 2000 as Glenn Hoddle's first signing for his new club, although the deal had already been arranged by Dave Jones. He scored on his debut in a 7-2 defeat against Tottenham Hotspur on 11 March 2000. He faced stiff competetion as a central defender from Claus Lundekvam and Dean Richards, and was later employed in a midfield role. For a big man he showed some neat touches and skill on the ball. In all he made 65 appearances for the Saints, scoring 4 goals.

In January 2003 he moved to Charlton Athletic, before returning to Morocco at the end of the 2002-03 season.

He played for the Morocco national football team and was a participant at the 1994 FIFA World Cup and at the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

[edit] External links

Tahar El Khalej career stats at Soccerbase

	Morocco squad - 1994 FIFA World Cup
1 Amzi \| 2 Abdellah \| 3 El Hadrioui \| 4 El Khalej \| 5 Triki \| 6 Naybet \| 7 Hadji \| 8 Azzouzi \| 9 Chaouch \| 10 El Haddaoui \| 11 Daoudi \| 12 Dghay \| 13 Bahja \| 14 Masbahi \| 15 Hababi \| 16 Nader \| 17 El Ghrissi \| 18 Neqrouz \| 19 Bouyboud \| 20 Kachloul \| 21 Samadi \| 22 Alaoui \| Coach: Blinda

	Morocco squad - 1998 FIFA World Cup
1 El Brazi \| 2 Saber \| 3 El Hadrioui \| 4 Rossi \| 5 Triki \| 6 Naybet \| 7 Hadji \| 8 Chiba \| 9 Hadda \| 10 Ouakili \| 11 El Khattabi \| 12 Benzekri \| 13 Neqrouz \| 14 Bassir \| 15 Abrami \| 16 Azzouzi \| 17 Amzine \| 18 Chippo \| 19 Sellami \| 20 El Khalej \| 21 Rokki \| 22 Chadili \| Coach: Michel