Viewers on DStv and GOtv saw Moroccan midfielder Sofyan Amrabat put in another excellent midfield display in Serie A this past weekend.
The 23-year-old, who was born in the Netherlands, but has represented Morocco at international level since 2017, helped Hellas Verona claim a 1-0 win over Fiorentina on Sunday – courtesy of a goal midway through the second half from Samuel Di Carmine – which lifted them to an impressive ninth place on the log.
Amrabat, who joined the Gialloblu on loan from Belgium’s Club Brugge earlier this season, has become an important part of the set-up under manager Ivan Juric, featuring in all 13 of their Serie A matches thus far in 2019/20.
The midfielder’s defensive nous helps screen his centre-backs, while his composure on the ball is key to Verona building attacks from deep positions. SuperSport viewers can look forward to seeing him in action this coming Sunday night when Roma visit the Stadio Marc’Antonio Bentegodi.
Aside from his time in Italy, Amrabat has also featured in the Eredivisie with FC Utrecht and Feyenoord, while in 2018 he made the move to Brugge in Belgium’s top flight. His career honours include one Dutch Cup and two Dutch Super Cups – all won while on the books of Feyenoord.
In international football, Amrabat represent the Netherlands at U-15 level, but soon switched over to Morocco (due to his familial ancestry, as he is the younger brother of Atlas Lions star Nordin Amrabat) and featured for the North African country’s junior teams until March 2017, when he made his senior debut in a 1-0 friendly win over Tunisia.
He went on to feature in Morocco’s 2018 World Cup team (as the Atlas Lions made their return to the global tournament finals for the first time in 20 years) though he was not a part of their squad at the Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt earlier this year.
You can catch him live this weekend when Hellas Verona take Roma at 21:45, LIVE on SuperSport 9 and SuperSport Select Go 5.
Don’t miss the 2019/2020 football season on DStv and GOtv. Visit www.dstv.com and www.gotvafrica.com to subscribe or upgrade, and join in on the excitement. And while you’re on the move, you can stream matches on DStv Now.
Sofyan Amrabat: Profile
Born: 21 August 1996 in Huizen, Netherlands
Position:Defensive/central midfielder
Club career
2014-2017 – FC Utrecht (Netherlands) – 54 appearances / 1 goal
2017-2018 – Feyenoord (Netherlands) – 33/2
2018-present – Club Brugge (Belgium) – 30/1
2019-present – Hellas Verona (Italy, loan) – 13/0
International career
Morocco caps/goals: 8/0
Debut: Morocco 1-0 Tunisia, 28 March 2017, International Friendly
Honours: Part of Morocco’s 2018 World Cup squad
2019-20 Serie A statistics
Appearances: 12 starts, 1 sub
Minutes played: 1107
Goals: 0
Assists: 0
Yellow cards: 3
Red cards: 0
Shot per game average: 0.8
Passing completion percentage: 86
Tackles per game average: 2.4
Interceptions per game average: 0.8
Fouls committed per game average: 1.9
Clearances per game average: 0.5
Blocks per game average: 0.3
