Ibba Laajab

Ibba Laajab
Personal information
Full name Abdurahim Laajab
Date of birth (1985-05-21) 21 May 1985
Place of birth Oslo, Norway
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position Winger, Striker
Club information
Current team
 Yokohama FC
Number 14
Youth career
Vålerenga
0000–2002 Moss
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2003–2005 Skeid 18 (2)
2005 → Drøbak/Frogn (loan)
2006 Sørumsand 0 (0)
2006–2007 Borussia Mönchengladbach II 1 (0)
2007 Skeid 16 (1)
2008–2009 Notodden 43 (10)
2010 Mjøndalen 27 (9)
2011 Strømmen 24 (7)
2012 Vålerenga 6 (0)
2012 → Stabæk (loan) 5 (0)
2013–2015 Bodø/Glimt 56 (30)
2015 Hebei China Fortune 30 (8)
2016– Yokohama FC 51 (26)
National team
2011– Norway (futsal) 20 (19)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 4 May 2017.

Abdurahim Laajab (born 21 May 1985), commonly known as Ibba Laajab (イバ), is a Norwegian footballer who plays for Japanese club Yokohama F.C. as a winger. Ibba also plays futsal and is one of the key players in the Norwegian futsal team.

Ibba was born in Morocco, but grew up in Norway and played eight season in the Norwegian First Division with Skeid, Notodden, Mjøndalen and Strømmen before he signed with Tippeligaen-side Vålerenga in 2012. After spending the second half of the 2012 season on loan with Stabæk, Ibba joined Bodø/Glimt ahead of the 2013 season.

Football career

Ibba was born to Moroccan parents and moved to Norway when he was one month old.[1] He played at Vålerenga and Moss during his youth,[2][3] and later joined Skeid because his friends were playing there.[2] At Skeid he was teammate with Moa, Mos, Birger Madsen and Dawda Leigh.[1]

Ibba didn't get too much playing time with Skeid, but during the second half of the 2004-season he played 248 minutes in nine matches in the First Division and scored two goals. Ahead of the 2005-season, Ibba and his teammate Moa joined Rosenborg BK on their pre-season tour to La Manga Club.[4] Ibba was sent on a short loan-spell to Drøbak-Frogn in 2005,[3] and left Skeid after the season and signed a one-year contract with Sørumsand which had been relegated from the Third Division.[5]

Before he played a match for Sørumsand, Ibba moved to Borussia Mönchengladbach[5] where Jørn Andersen was the assistant coach. Ibba and Andersen communicated with each other in Norwegian. A year later Andersen was fired together with the head coach, and the new coach only talked to Ibba in German, a language Ibba did not try to learn, and eventually Ibba requested to terminate his contract and moved home to Norway.[1] He only played one match for Borussia Mönchengladbach II.

In 2007 Ibba was back in Skeid, before he signed a contract with Notodden ahead of the 2008-season.[6] Ibba played regularly in the first-team until head coach Jan Halvor Halvorsen was fired halfway through the 2009-season. The new coach, Arne Sandstø placed him on the bench and Ibba left the club after the season. Ahead of the 2010-season, Ibba was on a trial with the Spanish second-tier club Elche and was offered a contract there, but Ibba rejected the offer and decided to move to Mjøndalen instead.[1] Mjøndalen's coach Vegard Hansen stated that Ibba was a risky signing due to his poor reputation, but that the 24-year had such an unredeemed potential that he couldn't ignore him.[7]

Ibba played for Strømmen in 2011, where he scored seven goals in 24 matches in Adeccoligaen,[8] and ahead of the 2012-season he signed for Vålerenga.[2][9] After Ibba's transfer to Vålerenga, his former teammate from Skeid and former Vålerenga-player, Moa, said in an interview with Norwegian TV2 that the supporters of Vålerenga should be excited about their new signing and dubbed Ibba as one of the best newcomers of the 2012 Tippeligaen.[10] Ibba made his first-team debut for Vålerenga in the friendly match against the Second Division-side Nesodden on 11 January 2012.[11] After playing six matches for Vålerenga in Tippeligaen, Ibba was loaned out to Stabæk in August 2012 for the rest of the season.[12]

Ibba joined Bodø/Glimt ahead of the 2013 season, where he was reunited with his coach from Notodden, Jan Halvor Halvorsen.[13] Ibba signed a three-year contract with Bodø/Glimt.[14]

On 25 February 2015, Ibba transferred to China League One side Hebei China Fortune.[15]

Futsal career

Ibba is known as one of the biggest futsal-star in Norway.[2][8][9] In his debut for the Norwegian futsal team, he scored three goals when Norway won 7–2 against Malta on 13 January 2011.[16] The next day he again scored three goals against Malta, before he scored another hat-trick when Norway won against Israel in the qualifying match for the 2012 UEFA Futsal Championship on 20 January, which made a total of nine goals in his first three matches for Norway.[17]

Ahead of the qualifying match against Spain on 15 December 2011, Norway's national team coach Espen O. Sæther called Ibba a "top international futsal player", and that if their chances against Spain was depending on Ibba's performance and that he had to play at his very best.[18] Three days later, Ibba scored the goal that secured a 3–3 draw against Belgium and sent Norway to the playoff round of the 2012 FIFA Futsal World Cup qualifier.[9]

Style of play

Laajab has a good physique, a good temperament and good one-on-one skills and has a great breakthrough force.[19]

Career statistics

As of 4 May 2017[20][3]
Season Club Division League Cup Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
2003 Skeid Adeccoligaen 10——10
2004 92——92
2005 80——80
2005 Drøbak-Frogn 2. Divisjon ——————
2006 Sørumsand 4. Divisjon 000000
2005–06 Borussia
Mönchengladbach II		 Oberliga Nordrhein 10——10
2006–07 Fußball-Regionalliga 00——00
2007 Skeid Adeccoligaen 16110171
2008 Notodden 248——248
2009 19210202
2010 Mjøndalen 279313010
2011 Strømmen 24721268
2012 Vålerenga Tippeligaen 602181
2012 Stabæk 500050
2013 Bodø/Glimt Adeccoligaen 2617322919
2014 Tippeligaen 3013303313
2015 Hebei China Fortune China League One 30810318
2016 Yokohama FC J2 League 4018114119
2017 11800118
Career Total 2629317627999

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Sikter mot Tippeligaen" [Aims for the Tippeliga] (in Norwegian). Drammens Tidende. 3 April 2010. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Futsal-stjernen "Ibba" har signert for Vålerenga" [Futsal star signs with Vålerenga] (in Norwegian). TV2. 6 January 2012. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 "Abdurahim Laajab". altomfotball.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 9 July 2012.
  4. ↑ ""Ibba" erstattet Madsen" (in Norwegian). RBKweb.no. 29 January 2005. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
  5. 1 2 "Fra Sørumsand til tysk storklubb" [From Sørumsand to big German club] (in Norwegian). Romerikes Blad. 3 February 2006. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
  6. ↑ "Ibba signerte – Notodden tapte". ta.no (in Norwegian). Telemarksavisa. 1 February 2008. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
  7. ↑ "Abdurahim Laajaab signerte med MIF" (in Norwegian). Drammens Tidende. 25 January 2010. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
  8. 1 2 "Vålerenga signerte "futsalstjerne"" [Futsal star signed with Vålerenga] (in Norwegian). Nettavisen. 6 January 2012. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
  9. 1 2 3 "VIF-Andresen signerte futsal-stjerne" [Andresen signed futsal star]. NTB (in Norwegian). Bergens Tidende. 6 January 2012. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
  10. ↑ "Moa: – Ingen andre kan det Ibba kan!" [Moa: – No one else can do what Ibba does!] (in Norwegian). TV2. 8 March 2012. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
  11. ↑ "Ibba får sin VIF-debut". tv2.no (in Norwegian). TV2. 11 January 2012. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
  12. ↑ Snare, Kaja Marie (31 August 2012). "VIF signerte kanadisk landslagsspiller" (in Norwegian). Nettavisen. Retrieved 27 September 2012.
  13. ↑ Slettemo, Knut Henning (11 February 2013). "Halvorsen henter Ibba til Glimt" (in Norwegian). Telen. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  14. ↑ Berge, Andreas Kristoffer (11 February 2013). ""Ibba" forlater Vålerenga" (in Norwegian). Nettavisen. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  15. ↑ 河北华夏幸福签约挪威中锋 at sports.sohu.com 2015-02-25 Retrieved 2014-02-25
  16. ↑ ""Ibba" lekte inn tre mål i debuten for Norge" [Ibba easily scored three goals in his national team debut] (in Norwegian). Dagbladet. 14 January 2011. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
  17. ↑ ""Ibba" har gjort tre hattrick på sine tre landskamper" (in Norwegian). Dagbladet. 21 January 2011. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
  18. ↑ "Landslagssjefen om "Ibba": – Han er på et internasjonalt toppnivå" [National team manager about "Ibba": "He is at a top international level"] (in Norwegian). TV2. 15 December 2011. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
  19. ↑ "Style of playing" (in Norwegian). vif-fotball.no. 6 April 2012. Archived from the original on 10 May 2012. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
  20. ↑ Nippon Sports Kikaku Publishing inc./日本スポーツ企画出版社, "2017 J1&J2&J3選手名鑑 (NSK MOOK)", 8 February 2017, Japan, ISBN 978-4905411420 (p. 183 out of 289)
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