Youssef El Akchaoui is a Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

-born Moroccan

Morocco

Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...

 footballer, who plays for SC Heerenveen in the Dutch Eredivisie

Eredivisie

The Eredivisie is the highest football league in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956 two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is currently ranked the ninth best league in Europe by UEFA....

.

Career

Having grown as a player at Excelsior, he joined ADO Den Haag

ADO Den Haag

Alles Door Oefening Den Haag , commonly known by the abbreviated name ADO Den Haag , is a Dutch football club from the city of The Hague. The club was for a time known as FC Den Haag , with ADO representing the amateur branch of the club...

 in 2003 on a free transfer, and in the summer 2006, he signed a three-year deal with Eredivisie

Eredivisie

The Eredivisie is the highest football league in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956 two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is currently ranked the ninth best league in Europe by UEFA....

 side NEC Nijmegen. On 20 January 2010, he was loaned to FC Augsburg

FC Augsburg

FC Augsburg is a German football club based in Augsburg, Bavaria. The team was founded as Fußball-Klub Alemania Augsburg in 1907 and played as BC Augsburg from 1921 to 1969....

 for the remainder of the season.

International career

He made his first cap for Morocco

Morocco national football team

The Morocco national football team , nicknamed أسود الأطلس , is the national team of Morocco and is managed by Eric Gerets. Winners of the African Nations Cup in 1976, they were the first African team to win a group at the World Cup, which they did in 1986, finishing ahead of Portugal, Poland, and...

 in the friendly match against Benin

Benin national football team

The Benin national football team, nicknamed Les Écureuils , is the national football team of Benin and is controlled by the Fédération Béninoise de Football. They were known as the Dahomey national football team until 1975, when Dahomey became Benin. They have never made the World Cup but have...

on 20 August 2008.