Youssef Safri

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Youssef Safri
Personal information
Full name	Youssef Safri
Date of birth	January 3, 1977 (age 30)
Place of birth	Casablanca, Morroco
Nickname	Safs
Club information
Current club	Norwich City
* Appearances (Goals)

Youssef Safri (Arabic: يوسف سفري‎) (born January 3, 1977) is a Moroccan international football player who, as of 2006 is playing for Norwich City.

Safri had played for Coventry City from 2001 to 2004 where he made his name in the English game after a transfer from Raja Casablanca of Morocco. This time was not without controversy however. Just days after Sunderland finalised a settlement of a transfer dispute with Glasgow Celtic, Irish international and current Cork City player Colin Healy's leg was broken in a match against his former loan club, Coventry City. A brutal (but apparently accidental) challenge by Safri in December 2003 began an unfortunate number of years for the player, spending more time in the stands than on the field. His bad luck continued when he broke his leg again whilst working towards a comeback. Some sections of the media berated Safri for a reckless dangerous challenge that threatened to end a young player's career; Healy is now however making a comeback to football with his hometown club.

Safri joined Norwich for an initial fee of £500,000 in the summer of 2004, after the Canaries had been promoted to the Premiership.

He is a midfielder and best known for his passing and tackling ability. He was a key player with the Moroccan national team during the 2004 African Nations Cup, and was a member of the national squad competing at 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship, the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.

Safri became popular among the Norwich fans towards the end of the 2004-05 campaign and during the 2005-06 season following a series of impressive performances. He scored a 35-yard strike against Newcastle United in April 2005 during the team's fight against relegation from the Premiership. Safri was linked with a move to Feyenoord in the summer of 2005, but stayed at Carrow Road.

As a tribute to the player, Norwich City supporters devised a song which was sung regularly at home games, to the tune of Status Quo's 'Rocking all over the world' -

"Here we go, here we go, here we go, Youssef's better than Juninho, Here we go - Moroccan all over the world!"

Following the 3-1 defeat at Plymouth Argyle in September 2006, Safri and team-mate Dickson Etuhu were reported to have traded punches on the team bus during their return journey to East Anglia, although these reports are now thought to have been discredited.^[1] Since Peter Grant was appointed Norwich manager in October 2006, Safri has not been a regular selection. There was speculation that he would leave the club in January 2007, fuelled by his comments in the Eastern Daily Press on 29 December 2006 in which Safri indicated that he would seek a transfer if Grant continued to use him as a substitute. Safri began to play more regularly during January and talk of a move died down and as a result, Safri stayed with the club.

[edit] References

Youssef Safri Rachen Rachen

[edit] External links

• Youssef Safri career stats at Soccerbase

Norwich City F.C. - Current Squad
1 Marshall | 2 Louis-Jean | 3 Drury | 4 Shackell | 6 Huckerby | 7 Croft | 8 Thorne | 9 Dublin | 10 Earnshaw | 11 Chadwick | 12 Warner | 14 Brown | 15 Safri | 16 Fotheringham | 17 Hughes | 18 McVeigh | 19 Lappin | 20 Etuhu | 21 Gallacher | 24 Colin | 25 Rossi Jarvis | 26 Eagle | 27 Doherty | 28 Spillane | 29 Halliday | 31 Cave-Brown | 33 Renton | 34 Arnold | 35 Martin | Manager: Grant