Mehdi Carcela

Mehdi Francois Carcela-Gonzalez (Arabic: المهدي كارسيلا‎; born 1 July 1989) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Belgian First Division A club Standard Liege and the Morocco national team.

He began his career in his hometown club Standard Liege, playing 157 games and scoring 25 goals in two spells from 2008 to 2015. He won the league in 2009 and the cup two years later. In between his two stints, he played for Anzhi Makhachkala in Russia, joining for a fee of €5.7 million. In 2015, he signed with Benfica in Portugal, and a year later with Granada in Spain.

Carcela represented Belgium at all youth levels and played twice for its senior team before changing his allegiance to his ancestral Morocco in 2010. He represented the latter country at the 2012 and 2017 Africa Cup of Nations.

Club Career

Standard Liege

Carcela is a product of the Standard Liege academy, having joined the club at age five. He made his professional debut at nineteen, when he came on as a substitute for Igor de Camargo in the 81st minute. Standard won 2–0 against Kortrijk on 13 September 2008. He later made his European debut in the last game of the group stage of the UEFA Cup against Stuttgart on 18 December 2008, coming on as a substitute for Wilfried Dalmat in the 65th minute of a 3–0 away defeat. In his first season, the club won the league and Belgian Super Cup, with him making only twelve appearances.

Carcela began the 2009–10 season as a substitute, as Standard won the Belgian Super Cup for the second time running. He then scored his first goal for the club and made an assist, in a 5–1 win over Roeselare on 15 August. Four weeks later, on 13 September, he scored twice, as the team beat Mechelen 3–0. He then scored in the next match six days later, in a 3–1 win over Lokeren. On 24 November he was sent off in the Champions League group match at Arsenal after he head-butted Cesc Fabregas in the waning moments of the 2–0 defeat at Emirates Stadium. A

This page also has a version in other languages :  Мехди Карсела-Гонсалес (russian)