Karim Koceila Yanis Ziani

Karim Koceila Yanis Ziani was born on the 17 th August 1982. He is an Algerian international footballer who is currently playing the role...

Karim Koceila Yanis Ziani was born on the 17^th August 1982. He is an Algerian international footballer who is currently playing the role of a midfielder for the club, Al-Arabi SC. He has the ability to play in several positions of the midfield and he is known for being a natural play-maker.

source of picture: www.tff.org

Personal Life

Yanis Ziani was born in Sevre, France to Algerian father and a French Mother. He is happily married with two kids. He has a twin sister called Karima who is married to an Algerian football player, Anta Yahia.

Club Career

Yanis Ziani started his football profession in the year 1995 with the youth team of the club, Racing Club de Paris when he was 13 years of age.

In the year 1998, Yanis Ziani was spotted by the scouts of Troyes, he was purchased by the club into the youth academy of the club from RC Paris. He had many clubs admiring him. After he had spent three years with the youth team of the club, in the year 2001, Yanis Ziani was handed a 5-year deal by the club and that was his first professional contract a footballer. He was promoted to the first team of the club as he agreed with the terms of the club by Allain Perrin at the age of 17 and was given the number 17 shirt of the team. He made his debut for the club on the 8^th December 2001 in the match that was played against SC Bastia, he came into the match as a sub in the 72^nd minute of the game. He started his first match fir the club on the 3^rd March 2002 in a match that was lost 1-0 to Lille plying the full 90 minutes of the game. Yanis Ziani played a total of 8 matches for the club in the 2001/02 seasons. He was regular in the team in the following season as he played 24 matches for the club. After two more seasons with the club, his club was relegated to the Ligue 2 at the end of the 2002/03 season. In the Ligue 2 with the club, he played the total of 28 matches for the club and scored his first professional goal for the club in the match that was played against FC Rouen in the 9^th minute of the match as it finished 3-0. The next season with the club was mostly spent on the bench for the club, Troyes.

In the summer of the year 2004, Yanis Ziani was sent on a loan to FC Lorient. In the next two seasons, he became a crucial player for the club and led the club to promotion to the Ligue 1. He was voted to be the top player of Ligue 2 in the 2005/06 season.

In the summer of the year 2006, Yanis Ziani signed a contract with FC Sochaux and reunited with his first coach at Troyes, Alain Perrin.

The next season, Yanis Ziani noticed a maximized attention from some other French clubs like Merseille. The interest of the club on the player culminated on the 29^th June 2007, when the news was seen that the player has completed his move to Merseille for a fee that is believed to be $11 million. He scored his first goal for the club in the match that was played against Valenciennes. After his first goal for the club, he became e regular member of the starting eleven of the club.

It was announced that the player had signed for the Bundesliga Champions WfL Wolfsburg on the 7^th July 2009 for a fee said to be €10 million. The coach of the club, Armin Veh had been a close admirer of the player and was happy to have landed the player in his team.

During December 2010 and January 2011, many clubs showed interest in the player, some of the clubs are Everton, Newcastle United, AS Monaco and VfB Stuttgart. On the 14^th January 2011, it was reported that the player had joined Kayserispor on a six-month lean contract with an option of signing the payer permanently after the season.

Yanis Ziani and his club, Wolfsburg got to a mutual agreement to call off the contract.

On the 20^th July 2011, Yanis Ziani signed a three-year deal with the Qatari side El Jaish. On the 18^th September 2011, Yanis Ziani played his first game for the club as a starter in the match that was played against Al Khor.

International Career

Yanis Ziani had surprised several people in the year 2003 in his choice of playing for the Algerian national team rather than playing for the French national team.

Yanis Ziani played his first international match for the Algerian national team in the year 2003, as he was called up by the Belgian caretaker of the Algerian side for a friendly match that was played against Belgium. Yanis Ziani was a member of the Algerian national team that played in the 2004 African Cup of Nations. He was named in the team of the tournament at the 2004 African Cup of Nations.

Yanis Ziani was the man that scored the goal for the country against Gambia with a penalty in the 2008 African Cup of Nations qualifier as the game finished 1-0.

Since the year 2003, Yanis Ziani has played the total of 62 matches for the Algerian national team and scored the total of 5 goals for the country.