Belgian Cup

Founded	1911
Region	Belgium
Number of teams	234
Current champions	Lokeren
Most successful club	Club Brugge (10 titles)
Website	Cofidis Cup
2011–12 Belgian Cup

The Belgian Cup (French: Coupe de Belgique; Dutch: Beker van België [Dutch pronunciation: [ˈbeː.kər vɑn ˈbɛl.ʝi.ˌjə]]; German: Belgischer Fußballpokal) is the main knockout football competition in Belgium, run by the Belgian Football Association. The first cup was held in 1911-12. The most successful cup club is Club Brugge KV with 10 titles followed by RSC Anderlecht (9) and R Standard de Liège (6). Since January 15, 2008, the Belgian Cup is sponsored by Cofidis and the cup is now called Cofidis Cup.

History[link]

The first cup competition ever in Belgium was held in 1907-08 but the teams were not actual teams but were provincial selections. The province of West-Vlaanderen won to that of Antwerp by 6-2. The next year, the province of Antwerp beat that of Brabant by 5-2. The cup was then suspended for two years.

The competition began with actual clubs in 1911 but was soon stopped due to the First World War. The interruption lasted until the season 1926-27 but again, the cup fell into disgrace among the leading clubs at the time. In 1953 the competition was finally back in the football calendar. Three years later, a poll was organized after which the Belgian cup was stopped once again. In 1964, with the birth of the European Cup Winners Cup, the competition was organized once again, in order for Belgian football to be represented at that level.

Another cup competition called Belgian League Cup was held between 1997 and 2000. The winning team was qualified for the UEFA Intertoto Cup but the biggest clubs were denying this competition and were playing it with B teams. This, and the poor attendance during the matches were among the major arguments to stop the competition after three seasons. The winners were successively Lommel, Sint-Truiden and RSC Anderlecht.

Format[link]

The first stage comprises 5 matchdays (in one leg each), played in the 5 last Sundays before September 1. Matches are played at 16.00 on the ground of the first drawn team. The first round is played between 176 clubs from Belgian Provincial leagues. The best 4 provinces select 13 teams and the other 5 provinces select 12 teams each to play in the first round. The second round is played between the 88 clubs who qualified from the first round.

The third division teams (32 clubs) enter the competition on the third round (76 teams). The 18 second division teams join the competition in the fourth round, together with 38 teams who qualified from the third round. The 28 winners all enter the last round.

The second stage reunites the 14 lower level teams qualified from the first stage with the 18 first division teams. The rounds of 32 and 16 are played in one game (as well as the final game) while the quarter finals and semi finals are played in two legs. The final game takes place at the Stade Roi Baudouin, Brussels.

Belgian Cup winners and finalists[link]

References[link]

• Belgian football history
• The Belgian Football Association Official Site
• A Belgian football site

Mbark Boussoufa

Personal information
Full name	Moubarak Boussoufa
Date of birth	(1984-08-15) 15 August 1984 (age 27)
Place of birth	Amsterdam, Netherlands
Height	1.67 m (5 ft 5 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Winger
Club information
Current club	Anzhi Makhachkala
Number	6
Youth career
1994–1995	Middenmeer
1995–1996	Fortius
1996–2001	Ajax
2001–2004	Chelsea
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2004–2006	Gent	57	(14)
2006–2011	Anderlecht	147	(48)
2011–	Anzhi Makhachkala	38	(7)
National team‡
2006–	Morocco	27	(5)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17:26, 13 May 2012 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 6 March 2012 (UTC)

Moubarak "Mbark" Boussoufa (Arabic: مُبارك بوصوفا‎, born 15 August 1984) is a Dutch-Moroccan footballer who currently plays as a midfielder for Anzhi Makhachkala and the Moroccan national team.

Early career[link]

Mbark started off at the youth academy of Ajax Amsterdam before joining Chelsea F.C. He spent the 2005/06 season with K.A.A. Gent, winning several prizes in 2006: Belgian Golden Shoe, Belgian Footballer of the Year, Belgian Young Footballer of the Year and Belgian Ebony Shoe. He is the second player from a North African country to win the Ebony Shoe, after Mido.

Anderlecht[link]

Boussoufa with Anzhi Makhachkala

In June 2006, Boussoufa signed a 4-year contract with R.S.C. Anderlecht after a €3.5 million transfer.^[1] In his first season he was a regular in the title-clinching squad. He became a key player for the team that finished second in both the 2007-2008 and the 2008-2009 seasons. Boussoufa was named Belgian Footballer of the Year for a second time after the 2008-2009 season in which Anderlecht barely missed out on the title, losing the Championship play-off against Standard de Liège. The next year, he managed 14 goals and 20 assists which made him the most valuable player in Anderlecht's championship-winning squad. He was named Belgian Footballer of the Year for a second consecutive time and the third time overall. After the season he renewed his contract with a significant raise, making him the best paid footballer in Belgium.^[2] He won the Belgian Golden Shoe for the second time in 2010.^[3]

On March 7, 2011, Russian side FC Terek Grozny announced his signing,^[4] but his transfer fell through three days later. According to Terek's VP Khaidar Alkhanov, Boussoufa requested unacceptable conditions in his personal contract, even though Anderlecht had agreed to sell him.^[5] In the late evening of March 10, it was announced that the transfer to Terek Grozny had collapsed and that Boussoufa had signed for another Russian team, Anzhi Makhachkala.^[6]

International career[link]

Boussoufa has a Dutch passport and, as such would have been eligible to play for the Dutch national team if selected, but chose Morocco and played his first match for the Moroccan national team against the USA on 23 May 2006.

Career statistics[link]

Club stats[link]

As of 17 November

International goals[link]

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	2 September 2006	Stade Moulay Abdellah, Rabat, Morocco	22x20px Malawi	2 – 0	2 – 0	2008 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
2	9 February 2011	Stade de Marrakech, Marrakech, Morocco	Niger	1 – 0	3 – 0	Friendly
3	9 February 2011	Stade de Marrakech, Marrakech, Morocco	Niger	2 – 0	3 – 0	Friendly
4	9 October 2011	Stade de Marrakech, Marrakech, Morocco	Tanzania	3 – 1	3 – 1	2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
5	29 February 2012	Stade de Marrakech, Marrakech, Morocco	Burkina Faso	1 – 0	2 – 0	Friendly

Honours[link]

R.S.C. Anderlecht

Belgian First Division

• Champion: 2006–07, 2009–10
• Runner-up: 2007–08, 2008–09

Belgian Cup

• Winner: 2007-08

Belgian Supercup

• Winner: 2007, 2010
• Runner-up: 2008

Individual[link]

• Belgian Golden Shoe: 2

2006, 2010

• Belgian Footballer of the Year: 3

2005-2006, 2008-2009, 2009-2010

• Belgian Ebony Shoe: 3

2005-2006, 2008-2009, 2009-2010

• Belgian Young Footballer of the Year: 1

2005-2006

• R.S.C. Anderlecht topscorer: 1

2008-2009: 11 goals

• Belgian First Division: leader in assists: 1

2009-2010: 19 assists

References[link]

External links[link]

• Profile on Anzhi Makhachkala official website (English)
• Career history at National Football Teams
• Boussoufa named as Belgium's finest By Berend Scholten @ UEFA.com Boussoufa named as Belgium's finest By Berend Scholten @ UEFA.com

v t e Morocco squad – 2012 Africa Cup of Nations 1 Lamyaghri 2 Chrétien 3 El Kaddouri 4 Kantari 5 Benatia 6 Hermach 7 Taarabt 8 El Ahmadi 9 El-Arabi 10 Belhanda 11 Assaidi 12 Amsif 13 Kharja 14 Boussoufa 15 El Kaoutari 16 Alioui 17 Chamakh 18 Boukhriss 19 Carcela-Gonzalez 20 Hadji 21 Amrabat 22 Badda 23 Mrani Coach: Gerets

Jérémy Taravel (born 17 April 1987 in Vincennes^[1]) is a French footballer currently playing for Belgian club K.S.C. Lokeren Oost-Vlaanderen.^[2]

Career[link]

He previously played for Lille after working his way up from the youth academy and joined on 2 January 2009 on loan to S.V. Zulte Waregem.^[3] On 16 July 2010 Zulte Waregem pulled the sold option on him from Lille OSC.^[4] On 24 June 2010 K.S.C. Lokeren Oost-Vlaanderen signed the French central defender from S.V. Zulte Waregem on a three-years contract.^[5]

Notes[link]

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