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Rabat – After long-range efforts to regain his football skills, Moroccan international midfielder Adel Taarabt scored a fabulous goal on Wednesday for his Italian team, Genoa, in a Serie A game against Napoli.
Despite their loss, Genoa showed great skill in terms of defense, especially in the second half of the match. The 28-year-old Moroccan opened the game with the stunning strike in fourth minute of the match. Ten minutes later, the opponent’s forward and midfielder Dries Mertens scored an equalizer.
Napoli’s second goal came at the 30-minute mark, again by Mertens. Ervin Zukanovic, Genoa’s defender, scored a goal in his own net, giving the opponent a 3-1 lead. However, Armado Izzo trimmed the deficit to one point, when he scored a goal for his team in the 60 minute of the match.
In a post-match interview with beIN Sports, Taarabt expressed his happiness in Moroccan Arabic to score his goal against “one of the best teams in the world after Barcelona or Real Madrid.”
The footballer said that he played two games against Wednesday’s opponent. “I scored two goals against them so far. I am happy. […] We hoped for more in order to achieve more points. Unfortunately, we could not, but I am happy that I have scored against them.”
The footballer expressed hope over his future, explaining that he was working hard to get back in shape after gaining weight during a two-year absence. “I worked for more than three months to get back to my level. I am happy and Inshallah [God willing] I have to keep going like this.”
After being asked by the beIN Sports reporter about if he was expecting an invitation from Morocco’s football coach Herve Renard to participate in the upcoming World Cup Qualifier game against Ivory Coast, the footballer answered the question with sparkling eyes. “I did well with Genoa to be able to re-join the Moroccan team.”
“The Moroccan squad played good matches. There is still a solo match to be qualified for the World Cup and I hope to be invited by Herve.”
The midfielder added that he “needs to keep working on himself like now. I am now more grown up, and I hope we can make it to the World Cup.” Taarabt concluded his message by wishing to receive a call from Renard “in order to travel to Ivory Coast and achieve a good result.”
