EI Kaabi acknowledges his fans during a match against Beijing Renhe (XINHUA)

With two defeats and one victory in its first three games played in March 2019, Hebei China Fortune FC started the 2019 season of the Chinese Super League in a bittersweet manner. But the enthusiastic supporters in the Langfang Stadium in north China's Hebei Province, where the Hebei China Fortune is based, are full of hope for the future. Indeed, the local Chinese fans of the club are placing their hope on their new forward: Ayoub El Kaabi from Morocco, who has been given the nickname "Atlas Lion".

The Moroccan player did not disappoint the fans as he scored at least one goal in each of the games he played. He scored Hebei China Fortune's first goal against Shenzhen FC, in the 38th minute of the first game of this year's season. Unfortunately, the defense of Hebei China Fortune subsequently took a dive, allowing Ole Selnæs and Ge Zhen to score, handing victory to Shenzhen (3-1).

Again, it was El Kaabi - the former star goal scorer of Renaissance Sportive in Berkane, Morocco - who scored his team's first goal in the second game of the league. He put Hebei China Fortune ahead with his goal against Shanghai Greenland Shenhua, and though Nigeria's Odion Ighalo later equalized, Dong Xuesheng soon followed in the footsteps of El Kaabi to score the winner for Hebei China Fortune, making the final score 2-1.

On March 30, El Kaabi managed to score his third goal of the season against the formidable defense of Shanghai SIPG, though he could not prevent his team from losing the game (1-2). With his efforts, the Moroccan player has won the hearts and minds of the Hebei public, and established himself as a rising star alongside his teammates Argentinians Ezéquiel Lavezzi and Javier Mascherano.

Chris Coleman, Coach of Hebei China Fortune, said, "Ayoub is a real fox, who knows how to position himself, how to create trouble for the opponent's defense and how to take advantage of it to exploit the slightest opportunity available. He is an ever ready and generous player and the team can rely on him at all times."

The coach's testimony echoes what French coach Hervé Renard, Coach of the Atlas Lions, Morocco's national team, said about El Kaabi. According to Renard, El Kaabi knows how to keep pace with the Moroccan team, and will definitely find his very own role as part of the team. As a member of the Atlas Lions, he will play shoulder to shoulder with the more experienced Khalid Boutaïb (Zamalek FC in Cairo, Egypt), and the promising Oussama Idrissi (AZ Alkmaar FC in Holland) as part of the Moroccan attack, which also includes Abderrazak Hamdallah (Al-Nasr FC in Saudi Arabia) and Youssef En-Nesyri (Leganés in Spain).

Seemingly unfazed by the pressure of high expectations, the new Hebei China Fortune forward intends to take the fullest advantage of each opportunity he gets on the field to demonstrate the extent of his skills, and be fully ready to join Morocco in the Africa Cup of Nations, to be held in Cairo, Egypt, in June and July.

A shooting star

His impressive debut in the Chinese Super League sends a message to those who had described El Kaabi as a "shooting star" - someone who rose rapidly but who may not be able to sustain the momentum in the long term. Having joined the Chinese club as a rising football star, the Moroccan forward first looked a bit sluggish, and had to overcome a number of injuries. But he was quick to prove his doubters wrong with his impressive performance and goal on August 2, 2018 as part of a Chinese team. Only great players can achieve such an acrobatic turnaround.

This sumptuous goal, in the 62nd minute, left Guo Quanbo, the goalkeeper of the Beijing Sinobo Guoan, stunned. And just to make it clear that this was not a lucky shot, El Kaabi scored another impressive goal on September 16, 2018, securing Hebei China Fortune's victory over Beijing Renhe. As he ended his first season with five goals in 11 games, it was clear that the Atlas Lion had found his feet.

For the current season of the Chinese Super League, the former forward of Berkane's Renaissance Sportive FC said he was fully ready to "play professionally, follow the coach's instructions and work hard to enable his club to finish the season among the leading teams." But this will be a challenge for Hebei China Fortune, which finished last season in the sixth place with only 39 points, 46 goals scored and 50 goals conceded.

Fortunately for them, El Kaabi has already shown that he knows how to use his skills to motivate and stimulate his team to achieve victory. The world football community discovered him at the last African Nations Championship (CHAN), which was held in Morocco in 2018. El Kaabi surpassed expectations by scoring nine goals in six games, helping Morocco beat Nigeria in the final. The CHAN was a real fairy tale for El Kaabi, who is a native of the Leqriâa District in Casablanca. But nothing predestined him to become the rising player that he is now: Football was initially just a hobby outside of carpentry, his main job.

"I was born into a modest family. To support myself, I had to learn a trade. That's when I started working in carpentry," El Kaabi told the Moroccan daily Al-Massae.

Jamal Sellami, head of the Moroccan national selection committee, saw his talent and selected him for the country's national team. El Kaabi's selection came as a surprise to Moroccan football fans, who did not understand why a player from the second division was to be integrated into the national team. Within two years of playing at the local club in his native neighborhood, El Kaabi joined Racing FC in Casablanca, in the second division, from where he moved before the end of the season to Renaissance Sportive FC in Berkane, in the first division.

He did not even have enough time to finish unpacking his suitcases when Hebei China Fortune contacted him with a lucrative offer. He was soon on his way to China. After a short but necessary period of acclimatization, El Kaabi started the new season in high spirits in front of his new fans. While the Chinese fans expect him to keep up the pace, his next challenge will be his role in the Africa Cup of Nations as part of the Moroccan team.

(Reporting from Cameroon)

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