Meet the Morocco striker who made La Liga history over the weekend

Image result for Youssef En-Nesyri

Morocco striker Youssef En-Nesyri became the first Leganes player to hit a Laliga hattrick as his goals earned his side a 3-0 win over Real Betis on Sunday.

En-Nesyri smashed home the opener in the 22nd minute, adding another from close range before half-time and sealed his hat-trick after the hour mark and the player was quick to thank his teammates after the heroics.

“It wasn’t a personal success, rather a collective team effort and scoring a hat-trick will always be one to remember. I feel happy to be the first player to score a hat-trick but it took the collective efforts of those with me on the pitch, others on the bench and our fans inside the Butarque [Leganes stadium] to make it happen,” the striker said after the match.

Image result for Youssef En-Nesyri

21-year-old En-Nesyri, who only joined Leganes from Malaga last August, has now scored seven goals in his last five league matches for the club.

Born in the Moroccan city of Fès, he began his youth career at Académie Mohammed VI before moving to Spanish club Malaga’s youth side in the summer of 2015.

He represented Morocco at U-20 and U-23 level before making his senior debut in a 0-0 friendly draw against Albania in August 2016. Drafted in as a late replacement for defender Badr Benoun, he scored with a superb header on his only appearance at the 2018 World Cup in the thrilling 2-2 draw against Spain.

He has six goals in 21 appearances for the Atlas Lions and played all Group B matches as the North Africans secured a spot at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *