Former Aberdeen striker Zerouali dies in car crash

HICHAM Zerouali, the former Aberdeen striker, died yesterday in a car accident in his native Morocco. He was 27.

He was killed in his home city of Rabat after losing control of his car which ploughed into a tree the day after he scored twice for his club, Royal Armed Forces, in a league match.

The accident happened at a time when his career seemed to be picking up again after injury blighted his spell in Scotland.

Last month Zerouali, below, was part of the Royal Armed Forces side which won the national Throne Cup and he was in Morocco’s team for the recent friendly against Burkino Faso after scoring three goals in a total of 17 appearances for the national side.

A lack of recent internationals denied the player a chance of joining English League 2 side Darlington earlier this year after a spell in the United Arab Emirates following his departure from Pittodrie in May 2002.

It was Ebbe Skovdahl who brought Zerouali to Pittodrie in a 300,000 transfer from Fus Rabat in January 2000 and although a bad injury picked up at Fir Park limited his impact, the Moroccan was a massive favourite with the Aberdeen supporters.

He scored 13 goals for the club and shifted a fair amount of merchandise as he was the first player to be given special dispensation to wear the number "zero" on his shirt in recognition of the nickname he was affectionately given by the Aberdeen supporters.

Zerouali also left behind a permanent legacy in Scotland as his former partner, Leone McKay, and his young daughter Anisa still live in the Aberdeen area and they were foremost in the thoughts of his friend, the Pittodrie captain Russell Anderson last night.

The news was broken to Anderson at the Scotland Future training camp where he was preparing for tomorrow’s match in Germany.

The Aberdeen captain said: "This is terrible news. Hicham was a lovely guy who was idolised by the Aberdeen supporters during his time here.

"He was at the club earlier this season to watch us play and he was in great spirits at the time and I can’t believe this has happened.

"Our thoughts and those I’m sure of everyone connected with Aberdeen are with Leone and the rest of his family at this tragic time for them."

During his time at Pittodrie, Zerouali played in two cup finals in one season but was to finish on the losing side on both occasions.

In March 2000 he was part of the starting line-up that lost 2-0 to Celtic in the League Cup final at Hampden. Two months later he was back at the national stadium for the Scottish Cup final against Rangers. This time he was used as a substitute in the 4-0 defeat by Rangers.

Zerouali is fondly remembered by Aberdeen fans as a highly-skilled performer and he scored some fine goals for the club, including a memorable free-kick in the Scottish Cup third-round tie against St Mirren at Love Street in 2000.

A Brazilian-born footballer who played for a club in India collapsed and died yesterday, moments after scoring his second goal in his team’s 2-0 victory.

Striker Cristiano Junior, 24, who played with the Dempo club, appeared to clash with Mohun Bagan’s goalkeeper while scoring and staggered away and collapsed during the final of the Federation Cup, a top inter-club event played in the southern city of Bangalore.

The unconscious player was taken to hospital but was declared dead by the doctors, Albert Colaco, secretary of the All India Football Federation said.

Junior was a prolific goal-scorer since arriving in India a few seasons ago. An autopsy report is expected today.