When Youssef Ezzejjari (Barcelona, 1993) learned of Indonesia’s interest, curiosity led him to Instagram: “I was crazy. There are clubs that have more followers than other leading players in Spain or Italy.” Later he investigated on YouTube: “I was impressed to see stadiums with 50 or 60 thousand people. It is something that is not seen in all countries.” And all this, together with a succulent economic proposal since Islam is practiced in Indonesia, a religion instilled in him by his Moroccan parents, was what led him to accept the offer of the Peach Kediri, with whose shirt he has already scored 14 goals this season. The last one, to achieve a meritorious victory against Bhayangkara Solo, who were leading until they ran into ‘el matador’: “That nickname was given to me by Paco Montesinos, who was my coach at the Carroi de Andorra. He put videos of Cavani on me and these types of lethal strikers in the area and he said I had to be like them. We spent many hours watching videos and I am very grateful to him and all my coaches because they have helped me to be the footballer that I am now.” .
Youssef Ezzejjari is nicknamed ‘the Messi of Indonesia’ by the local press. Even if he prefers to be compared with Benzema, whom he defines as “one of the best strikers in the world”. “As a child, when I went to the Camp Nou with my father, I looked at Eto’o and Ronaldinho, but now I’m more into Benzema. He scores, he assists… He has everything”, adds the Barcelona striker, an institution in a country that has more than 270 million inhabitants: “It shows. When my signing was announced I received a barrage of followers on social networks and every time we play the requests for messages on Instagram multiply. There is a lot of news in the newspapers and people know me. They stop me to ask for photos, wish me luck, talk to me… I’m delighted because they are very respectful and have welcomed me very well”. For Youssef, the fact that Islam is practiced in Indonesia was fundamental: “I feel at home. At first they were surprised. They said: ‘How can a Spaniard be a Muslim?’ But I explained my story to them and they understood.”
Indonesia is a very religious country. According to Expansion, 99% of the population is a believer and 84% professes Islam. “We all pray together before and after training and before and after eating. If we’re traveling by bus and it’s prayer time, we stop to pray and before games, if it’s time, we do that too. I remember once we stopped the warm-up because we heard the prayer of a nearby mosque”, details an Ezzejjari who prioritized studies over his career as a footballer. At a young age he went through the Nike Academy, but he was injured and had to return to Spain. It was then that he allowed himself to be persuaded by his parents: “They told me to study because football could end at any moment.” He graduated in Sociology and, at the same time, he continued a career that passed through Terrassa, Vilassar de Mar and EE Guineueta before making the leap to the First Division of Andorra. With the Carroi he was ‘Pichichi’, which caused him to be called from countries like Iceland, the Philippines or Slovenia. Youssef, however, chose Persik Kediri from Indonesia, where they received him like a real star: “It is true that the Andorran league is modest, but if you are the top scorer it is because you have something. The club blindly trusted me from the beginning and that is helping me to perform regularly”. With 26 goals,
“It is true that the Andorran league is modest, but if you are the top scorer it is because you have something”
Youseff Ezzejjari
Youssef is “very happy” in Indonesia, a country where it is mandatory to be vaccinated against Covid to play as a footballer. “If you don’t get vaccinated, you can’t play,” he points out the Spaniard who scored the most goals abroad in 2021 (26). His 14 goals in 21 games this season make him the top scorer in League 1, a championship in which “physique and back-and-forth matches” reign: “It’s crazy because physique is the first thing They fix. They are very aggressive, there is a lot of clash… You work on tactics, but not as much as in Europe”. Ezzejjari, however, spends his efforts not on scoring goals, but on ensuring that Persik Kediri continue to compete in the elite next season. “They ask me a lot if it’s important for me to be the top scorer, but I say no. I’m not focused on that. My first goal is to save the team. And if, in addition, I’m the top scorer, better. It will be a prize. A prize for me and for the team because without them it would not have been possible”, discovers a battering ram to whom life has given a 180º turn: “The change was ‘heavy’. It’s another country, another continent, another culture, another football… But I’m super happy. I want to make a career in Asia“.