Houssin Bezzai
Dutch-Moroccan footballer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Houssin Bezzai (Arabic: حسين بزاي; born 4 November 1978) is a former professional footballer.[1] He played for Sparta Rotterdam, TOP Oss and Haarlem.
|
| ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 4 November 1978 | |||||||||||||
| Place of birth | El Aioun Sidi Mellouk, Morocco | |||||||||||||
| Position | Defender | |||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||
| 1999–2002 | Sparta Rotterdam | 49 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2002–2005 | TOP Oss | 83 | (4) | |||||||||||
| 2005-2006 | Haarlem | 33 | (2) | |||||||||||
| 2006–2011 | Ter Leede | |||||||||||||
| 2011–2012 | Quick Boys | |||||||||||||
| 2012–2013 | Ter Leede | |||||||||||||
| 2013-2016 | Leidsche Boys | |||||||||||||
| International career | ||||||||||||||
| 1997 | Morocco U20 | |||||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | ||||||||||||||
Playing career
Bezzai came to the Netherlands at a young age,[2] and made his debut in professional football on 7 November 1999 as part of Sparta Rotterdam in a 1–2 home loss to Ajax in the Eredivisie. He came on as a substitute for Steve Goossen in the 31st minute.[3] He played his last professional game on 14 April 2006 as part of HFC Haarlem, when he was replaced by Ray Fränkel after 86 minutes in the 1–3 loss to PEC Zwolle.[4] After his retirement from professional football in August 2006, Bezzai joined the amateur club Ter Leede.[5]
Bezzai was a Moroccan youth international and won the 1997 African Youth Championship.[6][7]
Retirement
After his football career, Bezzai founded Sport United together with a partner.[8] The company focuses, among other things, on the organisation of events and career counseling for athletes.[9] Within the company, vulnerable youths are also guided through work and education. At the end of 2010, this work culminated in Fruit & Go – a smoothie / sandwich bar in Leiden, which was founded together with fellow former professional footballer Tim de Cler.[2] That company merged into the Leids Inzet Collectief, a secondment company for youths with an occupational disability.[10][11] Since March 2020, Bezzai has also been program manager for racism and discrimination at the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB).[12][7]
Honours
International
Morocco U20[6]