Summary of the victory of Maccabi Tel Aviv 1:3 over Maccabi Jaffa in the round of 16 of the State Cup/Sport1
1.
30-year-old Ayub El Kaabi grew up in a family of low means and at the age of 15 he left school to learn a trade - carpentry - and help with the household economy.
He became a carpenter during the day, and in the afternoon he played football with friends.
At the age of 18, he joined Racing Casablanca on a semi-professional contract that was not enough for him to make a living.
2.
When he was 21 years old, Al Kaabi made the decision that changed the course of his life and abandoned carpentry in favor of football.
At an age where many footballers around the world today note "seniority" of 3-4 years in seniors, he signed his first professional contract with Racing Casablanca from the second division in Morocco.
3.
When Al Keabi arrived at Racing Casablanca at the age of 18, he was generally assigned as a left defender.
Only after a few years did they start moving him to more forward positions in training and discovered a gifted scorer.
This was also the stage when he was offered a professional contract.
4.
His decision to accept the contract offer that required him to leave the hammer and nails and focus on football, turned out to be justified.
In his first season as a professional footballer, El Keabi scored 25 goals in 33 matches in the second division in Morocco.
5.
In 2018, after a successful season with the Barkan team that included winning the cup, the Chinese Hebei purchased Al Kaabi for 6.5 million dollars.
A little over two years before that he was still making a living from carpentry and playing football just for fun.
Met Eran Zahavi three times already, and never won.
Al Keabi/Reuters
6.
European football arrived only in 2021.
After a mediocre period in China, he returned to Morocco and signed with Vidad Casablanca, and in 2021 he joined the Turkish Hatayspor.
6.
In his first season in Europe, 2021/22, El Keabi scored no less than 18 goals in the Turkish league.
What prevented a quick transition to one of the biggest from Istanbul?
Maybe the fact that he scored most of the goals against mid-table and bottom teams, but against Fenerbahçe, Galatasaray and Besiktas he failed to stand out too much.
8.
The earthquake in Turkey in 2023 caused a temporary suspension of the activities of Taysspor and the last months of the last season, Al Keabi moved to Al Sadd.
In the summer he joined Olympiakos, which accepted him for free.
9.
El Keabi currently has 20 goals in 32 appearances in all competitions at Olympiakos this season.
He has completed 90 minutes in just 7 of those 32 games and his average is a goal every 102 minutes.
10.
El Keabi is in great shape and has scored 8 goals in the last 6 games in all competitions, including two braces in the games he came on as a substitute.
In the previous round in the Conference League, Olympiakos beat Franzvarous twice 0:1 and in both games the Moroccan scored the winning goals.
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Played in the 2018 World Cup, but was not invited to the 2022 World Cup. El Keabi, left, in a Moroccan national team uniform/GettyImages, Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA
11.
El Keabi started his career in the Moroccan national team at the African Nations Championship in 2018.
This is a team tournament where the teams are only allowed to include players from the local leagues.
El Keabi scored 9 goals in 6 games and Morocco won the cup.
His ability in the tournament got him that huge contract in China.
12.
El Keabi played in the 2018 World Cup, but the current coach of the Moroccan national team, Walid Ragheraghi, doesn't really like him.
He did not summon him for the 2022 World Cup, gave him a few minutes in friendly matches and in the last African Championship used him mainly as a substitute.
13.
El Keabi can be deployed on the wing, but excels mainly on the wing.
"He is one of the Moroccan strikers with the best position," they wrote about him in his homeland, "he has other qualities, but his position, the ability to be in the right place at the right time - this is his main virtue."
14.
Maccabi Tel Aviv will have to give El Keabi extra attention when the ball is in the feet of right back Rodini and winger Kostas Fortunis.
The Greek has already scored 4 goals for him this season and the Brazilian 3.
15.
Al Kaabi has already met Eran Zahavi three times, when he played in Haibei and the Israeli in Guangzhou RF.
Two games ended 2:2 and one ended 1:2 for Guangzhou.
Zahavi scored two goals in these meetings, El Kaabi did not find the back of the net.
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Ayoub El Keabi
Olympiakos
Maccabi Tel Aviv in football