Moroccan footballer
Mohamed Timoumi (Arabic: محمد التيمومي) (born 15 January 1960) is a Moroccan former footballer. He was named African Footballer of the Year in 1985, and was the last player to win this award while playing club football in an African country. In 2006, he was selected by CAF as one of the best 200 African football players of the last 50 years.[2]
Career
The player took part in the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico.[3] At club level, Mohammed Timoumi won the CAF Champions League with FAR Rabat, the biggest Moroccan football club of his era. He also competed for Morocco at the 1984 Summer Olympics.[4]
Mohamed Timoumi played at a young age for the team of the Union of Touarga, where he was the youngest player. It was there where he was first noticed by the observers and experts of Moroccan football.
His burgeoning talent led him to join one of the biggest Moroccan clubs: FAR Rabat, with whom he won the CAF Champions League in 1985.
In 1985, his talent exploded despite a fracture during the FAR Rabat match against the Egyptian team Zamalek in the semifinals. During this year, Timoumi was, in the unanimous opinion of the international sports press, the star of Africa. He also received the Ballon d'Or Africain.
A year later, he participated in the final phase of the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. In Mexico City he was considered one of the most important elements of the Moroccan selection. Morocco ranked first in its group with 0 defeats and a resounding victory against Portugal 3–1. This result allowed him to be the first Arab and African country to reach the second round of the World Cup.
Timoumi's entry into the world of professionalism (Spain and Belgium) had a negative effect on his psychology, as according to several observers, Timoumi's professional career was poorly managed, which led to a more or less premature retirement.
