Spell at Lokomotiv Moscow turned sour, and was captured on film, but midfielder could be a uniting force at the World Cup

This article is part of the Guardian’s 2018 World Cup Experts’ Network, a cooperation between some of the best media organisations from the 32 countries who have qualified for Russia. theguardian.com is running previews from two countries each day in the run-up to the tournament kicking off on 14 June.

“I have spent four years in Russia. Four lonely years,” admitted Mbark Boussoufa in the documentary Football Millionaire from the East, which aired in the Netherlands in 2015.

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The film by the acclaimed Dutch director Carin Goeijers followed the Amsterdam-born midfielder’s life at Lokomotiv Moscow. “We talked for a while, then he agreed,” Goeijers said. “There were no restrictions but I soon had to conclude that I could not be everywhere. In the contract negotiations, for example, the door remained closed.”

Boussoufa, despite being one of the best-paid players in the country, found himself on the outside and was often banished to train with the reserves, describing his situation as like being in a “golden prison”.

It wasn’t the first time a big move overseas had turned sour. In 2004 he left Chelsea having failed to feature for the first team during three years in London. Boussoufa had been scouted playing for Ajax in a youth tournament and ended up captaining Chelsea’s reserve side. Yet the arrival of Roman Abramovich the previous summer changed everything for the midfielder, who stands only a shade over 5ft 5in.

“I learned a lot from their players, especially Gianfranco Zola,” ‘Bouss’ recalled. “But Abramovich signed seven star players and the youngsters were not given their chance.”

Back on the European mainland Boussoufa won the first of three Belgian player of the year titles in 2006 with Gent, prompting Anderlecht to spend €3.5m to secure the player nicknamed “king of the assists”. That also led to his first international call-up in an away victory over USA.

Yet the failure to qualify for the 2010 World Cup led Morocco fans to turn on their creative midfielder, accusing him of playing better with his club than for the national team. That accusation particularly hurt a player who is very proud of his family’s roots in Guelmim – the southern city known as “the gateway to the desert” that is a melting pot between berbers and the local Saharan population.

Over the years, Boussoufa has become an important conduit between the Morocco squad’s various backgrounds. “I have learned a lot from my father,” he said in an interview in 2014. “He always says to be a good person – it is enough to be honest and sincere. That is something that I impose on myself every day, but beware ... if someone wants to trick me or cheat me, then I will not let it happen. I have character.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Mbark Boussoufa, stationed here between two of Morocco’s goalkeepers, is a shade over 5ft 5in. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

That character would became particularly important after his move to Russia in 2011. Having seen a proposed transfer to Terek Grozny collapse amid accusations in the Belgian press that he was interested only in the money, Boussoufa eventually signed for Anzhi Makhachkala – then owned by the Dagestani billionaire Suleyman Kerimov. He and the team’s other star players, including Roberto Carlos, Samuel Eto’o and Willian, would live and train in Moscow during the week before being flown to the war-torn state in the north Caucasus the day before matches.

After two years at Anzhi, Boussoufa joined the exodus from the club but his astronomic salary proved a major stumbling block. Lokomotiv stepped in when a proposed move to the Saudi side Al-Ittihad fell through, yet his stay in the Russian capital was dogged by issues. The chance to rejoin Anderlecht in 2016 collapsed when the club’s then-president, Roger Vanden Stock, accused his former player of “only thinking about money”.

The reality is different. Boussoufa established his foundation to help young disadvantaged children in Brussels several years ago and remains dedicated to the cause. “A lot of people don’t have the chance to be football players like us and we have to help them,” said Boussoufa, who plays for the Abu Dhabi club Al-Jazira. “I grew up in a society that encourages people to help others.”

His enforced stay in Russia eventually brought Lokomotiv a first trophy in eight years and he scored in that Russian Cup final and provided an assist. It was at this time that Hervé Renard was appointed as Morocco’s coach, marking a new era in Boussoufa‘s career. Stepping back a couple of yards on the pitch to conduct the play, he has emerged as the complete leader of the group and is set to achieve one of his boyhood dreams: to play in a World Cup.

Amine El Amri writes for Le Matin.

Follow him here on Twitter.



Click here for our Morocco team guide.