The Sport and Football Report: Agustus 2011

Ibrahim Afellay Biography

Ibrahim Afellay (born 2 April 1986 in Utrecht) is a Moroccan-Dutch professional footballer of Rif amazigh descent, playing for FC Barcelona as an attacking midfielder or winger.

He has played for the Dutch national youth team and is now part of the senior Dutch national team, which he represented at UEFA Euro 2008 and the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the latter of which saw them reach the final.

Previously he played for and captained PSV Eindhoven with whom he won four national titles and during which time he was named Best Young Player in The Netherlands (2007).

In 1996 Afellay switched to the youth academy of PSV Eindhoven. Afellay's official debut for PSV Eindhoven was on 4 February 2004 during a cup match against NAC Breda at the age of 17. His debut in the competition was on 14 February, against Twente. In the 2003–04 season he played three official games, and seven more in the 2004–05 season.

On 15 May 2005, PSV Eindhoven played a game against Feyenoord. Afellay was a part of the starting lineup, and made a great impression with two goals.

In the 2005–06 season Afellay played games in the Johan Cruijff-schaal and the first three competition games. Because of the absence of DaMarcus Beasley and Mika Väyrynen he always started in the line-up.
Afellay playing for PSV

On 13 September, Afellay made his Champions League debut against Schalke 04. PSV won the game 1–0. On 8 October, Dutch coach Marco van Basten took Afellay into the full national team during the games against the Czech Republic and Macedonia, though he did not play.

In the 2005–06 season, following the departure of important players including midfielders Johann Vogel and Mark van Bommel, Afellay grew to be a first-team regular, and was even pre-selected for the Dutch national team. He played a total of 23 league matches during the season, scoring twice. This number could have been higher were it not for the minor injuries he suffered throughout the season.

On 16 November 2010, FC Barcelona and PSV Eindhoven came to terms regarding the transfer of Afellay to the Catalan side in January 2011. Afellay travelled to Barcelona on 23 December 2010 for a medical to finalize the deal. The fee was reported to be around €3 m.

Afellay recently signed a contract that will tie him until 2015 with the club and wears the squad number 20. He is the 19th Dutch player to represent Barcelona. Afellay made his Blaugrana debut on 5 January 2011 in the Copa del Rey against Athletic Bilbao. He was brought in for David Villa in injury time. Afellay was given his first start for the Barcelona on 19 January 2011 against Real Betis during the second leg of the Copa del Rey in which they lost 3–1 but qualified for the semis on a 6–3 aggregate. He scored his first goal for Barcelona against UD Almería in the Copa del Rey.

Afellay made his debut for Barça in the Champions League in the second match against Arsenal, and came close to scoring on two occasions. Barcelona went on to win the match. Later in the tournament, Afellay came on as a substitute in the 71st minute during the first Leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid. In the 76th minute, Afellay assisted Lionel Messi to score the opening goal of Barcelona's 2–0 victory over Madrid. He scored his first goal in the Spanish league in a 3–1 away win for Barcelona against Málaga CF on the last day of the 2010–11 season. He came on as a sub in the final of the UEFA Champions League against Manchester United.

International career

After both the Moroccan and the Dutch national teams managers selected him for their squads, he was caught in the dilemma to either play for the Moroccan national team, because of his Moroccan descent, or to play for the Dutch team, the Netherlands being his place of residence. He ultimately decided to play for the Dutch national team despite the heavy competition for places in midfield. He made his international debut in a Euro 2008 qualifier against Slovenia on 28 March 2007. On 12 October 2010 Ibrahim Afellay scored his first international goals in a Euro 2012 qualifier against Sweden.

Euro 2008
Afellay was included in Marco van Basten's squad for Euro 2008 and was mostly used as a substitute. Just seconds after replacing Dirk Kuyt in the group match against Italy he nearly scored a goal but his volley went off the crossbar. In their last group game against Romania, he was given a place in the starting 11 alongside Arjen Robben in midfield.

2010 World Cup
Afellay was part of the Dutch team for the 2010 World Cup managed by Bert van Marwijk. The player came on as a substitute for their first and second matches in the competition, a 2–0 victory over Denmark and 1–0 victory over Japan respectively, as well as the round of 16 match against Slovakia.