Mounir El Hamdaoui (; born 14 July 1984) is a former professional footballer who played as a forward. Born in the Netherlands, he represented Morocco internationally. He played for clubs such as Tottenham Hotspur, Ajax and Málaga CF, as well as Excelsior, Derby County, Willem II, AZ Alkmaar and Fiorentina. In the 2008–09 Eredivisie, El Hamdaoui was named Dutch Footballer of the Year and became the Eredivisie top scorer as AZ Alkmaar won their second league title in their history. Born in the Netherlands, El Hamdaoui played for their under-21 side. He decided to represent Morocco, for whom he made his debut in February 2009 in a match against the Czech Republic, and played at the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations. Club career Excelsior Born in Rotterdam, Netherlands, El Hamdaoui went through the youth academy of S.B.V. Excelsior, where he played together with his youth friends Robin van Persie and Saïd Boutahar. In the 2001–02 season the player made his debut for the Rotterdam side under manager Adrie Koster, scoring two goals in six appearances. El Hamdaoui played a total of 74 league matches for Excelsior, scoring 32 goals. Excelsior big brother Feyenoord was also interested in signing the player, and El Hamdaoui trained a number of times with Feyenoord's first squad, but a transfer was never realised. Tottenham Hotspur In January 2005 English club Tottenham Hotspur, managed by fellow Dutchman Martin Jol, signed El Hamdaoui from Excelsior on a three-and-a-half-year contract. He never made an appearance in the Premier League. Derby County In September 2005 El Hamdaoui joined Derby County on loan. He made six appearances, scoring two goals before a dislocated shoulder forced the loan to be cut short. Derby continued to monitor his progress and in January 2006 he returned to Pride Park for another loan spell. This too was to be disrupted due to injury, a groin problem forcing him to return to Tottenham in early March. This second loan deal was not cancelled, but after returning to duty with Derby in April, a further injury problem prematurely ended his season. Willem II In June 2006, El Hamdaoui moved back to his native Netherlands to play for Willem II, due to a lack of opportunities at Spurs. On 19 August 2006, he marked his league debut for Willem II by scoring in their 2–1 victory against FC Utrecht. After an impressive start scoring three goals in