Mohammed Fellah

Mohammed Fellah

Fellah with Vålerenga in 2010
Personal information
Full name Mohammed Fellah
Date of birth (1989-05-24) 24 May 1989
Place of birth Oslo, Norway
Height 1.67 m (5 ft 5 12 in)
Playing position Attacking midfielder
Club information
Current team
Esbjerg fB
Number 22
Youth career
1995–2004 Holmlia
2004–2006 Vålerenga
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2013 Vålerenga 121 (17)
2013– Esbjerg fB 50 (3)
National team
2004 Norway U15 4 (0)
2005 Norway U16 6 (1)
2006 Norway U17 4 (1)
2006–2007 Norway U18 12 (1)
2007 Norway U19 5 (2)
2010 Norway U21 3 (3)
2013– Norway 2 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 5 November 2015.
† Appearances (goals)

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 12 January 2013

Mohammed Fellah (Arabic: محمد فلاح; born 24 May 1989 in Oslo) is a Norwegian footballer who currently plays as a midfielder for Esbjerg fB.

Career

Club

Fellah's parents are from Al Hoceima in Morocco[1] but they moved to Norway before he was born. He was born and raised in Holmlia, a multicultural satellite town in southern part of Oslo. He started his football career with local side Holmlia SK and caught admirers already in his youth with his eminent technique. He started out as a striker and reminded many of Raúl due to similarities in height and technique. Being inspired by Zinedine Zidane's success with Real Madrid he eventually, while still at Holmlia SK, decided to start playing in a playmaker role in midfield.

Fellah is of Moroccan descent, but has represented Norway at youth international level. He played for the Norway U-17 national team in qualifiers for the 2006 UEFA European U-17 Championship, scoring the first goal for Norway in their 3–1 win over Liechtenstein.[2] The Norwegian U-17 coach, Øyvind Nilsen, said in March 2006 that Fellah was the fourth best player of his age group, behind Kim André Madsen, Per Egil Flo and Tommy Høiland.[3] Fellah scored in his debut for Vålerenga in Tippeligaen on 10 September 2006 in a match against Fredrikstad.

When the Norwegian U-18 team met Turkey twice in three days in August 2007, Fellah was badly injured in a challenge with Serdar Aziz in the second game and broke his calf bone.[4] Fellah required surgery, and lost the rest of the 2007 season. The injury would not heal properly, and during the fall of 2008 he had to operate again. Fellah came back fully in the 2009 season where he played in a total 23 games in Tippeligaen. He delivered at times very good performances, showing off his eminent shot technique on several occasions, as in the 4–1 victory against Lyn in September 2009.

Fellah started Vålerenga's first 14 matches in Tippeligaen in the 2010 season and was voted man of the match in three of the games by Norwegian newspaper Verdens Gang. During this period he has also established himself as an important player in the central midfield of the Norwegian U-21 team, and has even been tipped by the media to take the step up to the national team.

In August 2013 Fellah moved to Danish Superliga side Esbjerg fB on a three-year contract.[5]

International

When Fellah was left out of the Norwegian national team squad for the 2012 King's Cup, which only consisted of players playing in Scandinavia, Fellah stated that he wanted to play Morocco instead of Norway.[6] One year later he was called up for the Norwegian squad for the friendly matches against South Africa and Zambia in January 2013, and said that he now wanted to play for Norway.[7] He made his debut for Norway against South Africa on 8 January 2013, and started the match against Zambia four days later.[8]

Career statistics

As of 7 December 2013
Club Season Division League Cup Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
2006 Vålerenga Tippeligaen 210021
2007 702090
2008 200020
2009 23265297
2010 29410304
2011 24221263
2012 25630286
2013 9211103
Vålerenga Total1211715713624
2013–14 Esbjerg fB Superliga 12000120
2014–15 14100141
Esbjerg fB Total26100261
Career Total 1471815716225

References

  1. Stokstad, Morten (6 January 2013). "Tarik tror Fellah blir årets landslagshit: – Han skal være her" (in Norwegian). TV 2. Retrieved 12 January 2013.
  2. "Norway 3 Liechtenstein 1". UEFA. 25 September 2005. Retrieved 29 August 2006.
  3. "Her er landets beste 17-åringer" (in Norwegian). Dagbladet. 14 March 2006. Retrieved 30 August 2006.
  4. http://www.vpn.no/intervjuer/jeg_saa_at_den_brakk_med_en_gang_vpn_moeter_fellah
  5. "Esbjerg bring in Fellah from Vålarenga". http://www.uefa.com. UEFA. Retrieved 30 July 2014. External link in |website= (help)
  6. Bakkehaug, Wegard (12 January 2012). "Drillo: – Fellah har vært mer aktuell før" (in Norwegian). Verdens Gang. Retrieved 12 January 2013.
  7. Opsahl, Per; Christiansen, Anders K. (26 November 2012). "Fellah tatt ut på landslaget: – Det var på tide" (in Norwegian). Verdens Gang. Retrieved 12 January 2013.
  8. Kvam, Lars Hohjem (12 January 2013). "- Jeg har vært gjennom mye dritt" (in Norwegian). Dagbladet. Retrieved 12 January 2013.

External links

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