Sofiene Zaaboub (born 23 January 1983) is a French-Algerian football player who currently plays for USM Annaba in the Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1. He has become renowned for wearing gloves regardless of the weather conditions.[1]

Sofiene Zaaboub
Personal information
Full name Sofiene Zaaboub
Date of birth (1983-01-23) 23 January 1983 (age 41)
Place of birth Montereau-Fault-Yonne, France
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Left midfielder
Team information
Current team
ES Sétif
Youth career
2000–2003 Saint-Étienne B
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2003–2004 Modena 10 (0)
2003–2004A.S. Sora (loan) 6 (0)
2004–2005 Jaén 0 (0)
2005–2006 FC Brussels 20 (1)
2006–2008 Swindon Town 56 (1)
2008–2009 Walsall 29 (0)
2010–2011 Southend United 3 (0)
2011–2012 ES Sétif 14 (0)
2012– Nags Head FC 27 (88)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 00:00, 27 December 2014 (UTC)

Club career

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Swindon Town

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Zaaboub was Paul Sturrock's first signing as Town manager and signed on a short-term deal in November 2006 after leaving FC Brussels, just a few days after Sturrock had arrived at the club. Prior to joining Swindon he had many trials at higher-level clubs – including Úbeda CF, Preston North End, Swansea City, Plymouth Argyle, Luton Town, Dundee and FC Metz, but his longest trial was at Sturrock's former club Sheffield Wednesday. He scored his first and what turned out to be only Swindon goal in a 2–1 win over Wrexham on 13 January 2007.[2]

End of reign at the County Ground

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Due to the reinforcement made to the Swindon Town side with the likes of Anthony McNamee running an un-touchable string of games on the left for the Robins, Zaaboub was deemed surplus to the requirements of the club. Unable to break into the first team, the 2006/07 fans' favourite was told in March 2008 his contract would not be renewed and at the end of the season would be forced to find a new club.[3]

Walsall

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Zaaboub completed a move to Walsall in July 2008 and became Walsall's fourth signing of the summer.[4] He suffered injuries to his back and groin in the pre-season and was unable to break into the first team on his return. However, he resolved to keep up his fitness and try his best in training to gain a first team place, he did gain his place back with a number of superb displays down the left wing, he quickly became a favourite with the fans[5]

ES Sétif

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On 6 January 2011, Zaaboub signed an 18-month contract with Algerian club ES Sétif.[6]

References

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  1. ^ "Quotes of the Week". BBC Sport. 4 October 2007.
  2. ^ "Swindon 2–1 Wrexham". BBC. 13 January 2007. Retrieved 5 February 2010.
  3. ^ Jon Ritson (12 January 2007). "Sofi's aiming to be razor-sharp". Swindon Advertiser. Retrieved 12 January 2007.
  4. ^ Nick, Pullen (4 June 2008). "Jimmy Mullen signs Sofiene Zaaboub". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 13 November 2008.
  5. ^ "Sofienne Zaaboub looks to make up for lost time". Birmingham Mail. 7 November 2008. Retrieved 13 November 2008.
  6. ^ "Un contrat de 18 mois pour Zaâboub". entente-setif.com. Archived from the original on 10 July 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
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