Rafik Zoheir Djebbour

Rafik Zoheir Djebbour was born on the 8 th March 1984. He is an Algerian international footballer. He is currently playing the role of a ...

Rafik Zoheir Djebbour was born on the 8^th March 1984. He is an Algerian international footballer. He is currently playing the role of a striker for the club Nottingham Forest. He is a member of the Algerian national team. He is known with his nickname, ‘The Terrorist’ because of his ability to terrorize the defenses of an opponent and for his machine gun celebration when he score goal. He played his first match for the senior team of the country in the year 2006 and played at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

source of picture: mnafrica.net

Club Career

Djebbour was signed to the youth academy of Auxerre when he was 15 in the year 1998. He was moved to the senior team of the club in the year 2003 after he had spent the total of 5 year with the academy team of the club. He played his first professional match for the club when he was 19.

His impressive debut season with the club gained the attention of R.A.A. Louvieroise, in the second professional season with the club, he made less impact in the team, though he played 21 matches for the club, he scored just 6 goals for the club. In July 2005, he signed with the Greek club, Ethnikos Asteras. In the first season with the greek club, he scored 11 goals after playing 21 matches for the club from September to January and that earned him a transfer move to Atromitos where he managed to bag 6 goals until the end of the season. Rafik Zoheir Djebbour suffered a serious injury in the first season with the club and that limited his playing times to just two matches for the season with no goal to his name.

He signed with Panionios, where he scored the total of 15 goals for the club after playing the total of 27 matches. In the summer of the year 2008, AEK Athens expressed interest in the player. He finished his move to the club, Dikefalos-Aetos on 1^st July 2008.

In the year 2009, he made a move to AEK Athens for a fee of €3.2 million. He scored his first goal for the club in the match that was played against Asteras Tripolis in the 93^rd minute of the game that finished 2-1 in favor of his club. He was caught in the act of fighting with his team mate, Nacho Scocco in the training camp. Na dhe was reported to have crashed with the manager of the team on the 30^th September 2009 and was not permitted to train with the rest of the team for 4 months. During his absence from AEK Athens’ training camp, he was busy training with Celtic and Blackburn Rovers. He signed a three-year deal with AEK Athens on the 7^th September 2010, worth €3.3 million that will keep him in the club until the year 2013.

After his contract extension with the club, he started the season with great form as he scored 3 goals for the club in 3 matches. He had another crash with the current coach of the club, Manolo Jimenez. After the incident with the manager of the club, he was released on a free transfer by the management of the club.

Djebbour joined Olympiacos on the 21^st January 2011 on a six month contract with the club with the option of renewing the contract for two years. He scored his first goal for the club in the match that was played against Ariel Ibagaza. This was followed by the two goals that he scored in the match that finished 6-0 against AEK Athens. He also scored a goal against PAOK and the winning goal in the match that was played against Panathiniakos. He also scored a goal.

In the second season he played with the club, he scored his first goal for the club with the last minute winner in the match that was played against Skoda Xanthi. His goal of the season for the club was in the match that was played against PAOK. His first European goal for the club was in the match that was played against Borussia Dortmund in the champion’s league.

In the third season with the club, 2012/13, he started the season with a goal that was scored against Veria in an away game that finished 2-1 in favor of his club.

In total he scored the total of 39 goals for the club after playing the total of 56 matches with the club and he was sent on a loan deal to Sivasspor on the 6^th September 2013, where he played the total of ten matches scoring two goals for the club.

On the 29^th January 2014, Rafik Zoheir Djebbour signed with Nottingham Forest on a 2 ½ year deal. He scored his first goal in the first match he played for the club against Yeovil Town.

International Career

He played his first match for the Desert Foxes in an unofficial friendly match that was played against Istres in August 2006 and he played his first official match for the nation in the match that was played against Gabon in that match that was played in the following day, which finished 0-2 in favor of Gabon. He scored his first international goal for the country in the match that was played against Liberia on the 6^th June 2008. He played a key role in the winning campaign of his country for the 2010 FIFA World Cup and he scored an important goal in the match that was played against Egypt in the June 2009, which finished 3-1.