El Fardou Ben Nabouhane


El Fardou Mohamed Ben Nabouhane, also simply known as Ben, is a French-Comorian footballer who plays as a forward for Red Star Belgrade.

Club career

Early career

Born in Passamainty, Mayotte, France, Ben began his career on the french overseas collectivity of Mayotte. He moved to the island of Réunion to play for the Réunion Premier League giants JS Saint-Pierroise. In 2006, he joined Le Havre.
After spending one year in the reserves, El Fardou was promoted to the senior squad. He made his professional debut and start for Le Havre on 3 March 2008 in a Ligue 2 match against Troyes AC, playing 72 minutes before being subbed out. He made one more appearance that season and though he did not contribute that much, he still received a winner's medal as Le Havre were crowned Ligue 2 champions and were promoted to Ligue 1 for the 2008–09 season.
Ben did not see much time in Ligue 1 play early on, instead playing in the reserves. He received his first call up to the squad for their Coupe de la Ligue match against Rennes, held on 12 November 2008. In the match, which he started, he scored his first professional goal in the 15th minute, contributing to Le Havre's 2–1 win over Rennes. He made his Ligue 1 debut just three days later in a match against Paris Saint-Germain.

Veria

After three years playing for Ligue 2 side Vannes OC, he signed a two-year contract with Greek Super League side Veria. He made his debut with the club in an away draw against Platanias in August 2013. He was named Superleague's second top scorer during the 2013–14 Superleague Greece season as he scored 15 goals with Veria. During his second season at Veria he scored his first season goal in a home victory against Xanthi, also grabbing an assist during that match as well as during the second matchday against OFI. He got injured for two weeks and he returned to the pitch as a substitute against PAS Giannina. Ben scored against Xanthi in a 2–2 away draw, while he also assisted the second goal with which Nikos Kaltsas equalized the score. On 17 January 2015, Ben scored twice against OFI in a 4–1 home victory and he was eventually named as the MVP of the 19th matchday. He was also offered a three-year contract extension after the OFI away victory, with triple wages, but it was rejected as the player demanded higher wages. His contract was set to expire on 30 June 2014. On 20 April 2015 Ben also scored twice against Asteras Tripoli in a 4–0 home victory, also assisting one. In the second season, 2014–15 Superleague Greece with the club, he went on to score 10 goals and assist 8.

Olympiacos

In July 2015, Ben signed a contract with Greek giants Olympiacos on a free transfer from Veria. According to newspapers rumours Levadiakos was not the only Greek club interested in signing Ben, with Platanias also considering signing him in the January transfer window. The Comoros international suffered a serious cruciate ligament injury in May and was surplus to requirements for Olympiacos manager Marco Silva. On 29 December 2015, since he did not manage to earn a single appearance with the club, he signed a six-month contract with Levadiakos until the end of 2015–16 season. On 10 January 2016, in his first appearance with his new club, he scored in a 3–1 away loss against Olympiacos.
On 8 July 2016, he signed a 2-year contract with Panionios for the 2016–17 season, on loan from Olympiacos. On 3 December 2016, in his 9th appearance with the club he scored the only goal for his team in a 1–1 away draw against Platanias. He finished the 2016–17 season as the top scorer and MVP of the club.
On 26 July 2017, after his loan at Panionios expired, Ben scored a brace for Olympiacos in a 3–1 victory against Partizan in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round. With only 10 appearances with the club in all competitions in the first half of the 2017–18 season, Ben attracted the interest of Serbian club Red Star Belgrade, which offered him a three-year contract. On 19 December 2017, the Comorian international striker was dropped from the Olympiacos first-team squad after deciding not to extend his contract.

Red Star Belgrade

On 12 January 2018, Ben signed a -year contract with Red Star Belgrade. The transfer fee was estimated to be €500,000. His contract, which runs until 2020, is worth €1 million plus bonuses.
On 29 August 2018, Ben scored twice, each time from an assist by Miloš Degenek's, in 2–2 draw with Red Bull Salzburg; as a result Red Star Belgrade qualified to the group stage of the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League.

International career

On 5 March 2014, he made his international début with Comoros, in a friendly against Burkina Faso. Subsequently sidelined with a serious injury with his club, he returned to action to help his national team reach the qualifying competition of a major international tournament for the first time in their history, a goal they have been pursuing since 2007. On 24 March 2016, it was Ben who scored the only goal of the Africa Cup of Nations preliminary qualifying round match against Botswana, his country's first-ever win in a competitive international.

Career statistics

Club

International goals

NoDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.24 March 2016Stade Said Mohamed Cheikh, Mitsamiouli, Comoros1–01–02017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
2.11 November 2016Stade El Menzah, Tunis, Tunisia1–12–2Friendly
3.11 November 2016Stade El Menzah, Tunis, Tunisia2–12–2Friendly
4.26 March 2017Stade Anjalay, Belle Vue Maurel, Mauritius1–01–12019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
5.8 September 2018Stade Said Mohamed Cheikh, Mitsamiouli, Comoros1–01–12019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
6.16 October 2018Stade Said Mohamed Cheikh, Mitsamiouli, Comoros1–02–22019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
7.16 October 2018Stade Said Mohamed Cheikh, Mitsamiouli, Comoros2–22–22019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
8.17 November 2018Stade de Moroni, Moroni, Comoros1–02–12019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
9.12 October 2019Stade de Montbauron, Versailles, France1–01–0Friendly

Honours

Club

;Red Star Belgrade