Nabil Baha (Arabic: نبيل باها; born 12 August 1981) is a retired footballer who played as a striker.
He started playing for Montpellier in 2000 and spent much of his career in the top divisions of Portugal and Spain, with notable stints at Braga and Málaga.
Born in France, Baha won 20 caps for Morocco over the course of seven years. Since July 2017, he is the second trainer of FUS Rabat.
Club career
Born in Remiremont, Vosges, and with both of his parents hailing from Douar Guerzine near Fes, Baha made his professional debuts with France's Montpellier HSC, then went on to represent Associação Naval 1º de Maio (second division) and S.C. Braga in Portugal, moving to Spain in 2005 and appearing for Racing de Ferrol in the second level. There, in spite of his eight league goals, the Galician club would be relegated.
After a brief return spell to France with lowly US Créteil-Lusitanos, Baha returned to Spain and its second tier in January 2007, scoring nine league goals for SD Ponferradina which would also drop down a level at the season's closure. In the 2007–08 campaign he played for another side in the category, Málaga CF, and, benefitting from several injuries to usual first-choice Salva, finished with ten goals (second-best in the squad) as the Andalusians returned to La Liga after two years.
In the early months of 2008, Baha was subject of a €2 million transfer to FC Steaua București, however he rejected this as he wanted to play in Spain's top flight – he had a clause in his contract allowing him to talk to other clubs if the offer was at least €5 million. In 2008–09 he scored his first goal in the competition, in a 4–0 away routing of Recreativo de Huelva on 5 October 2008; the following month he also found the net, at the Santiago Bernabéu against Real Madrid, but in a 4–3 defeat, and finished the first half of the season as the club's top scorer at eight for a total of nine, tied for best with midfielder Apoño.
On 29 January 2011, free agent Baha joined AEK Athens F.C. of Greece, signing a six-month contract with an option for an extra year. On 30 April he scored his only official goal of the campaign, in a 3–0 win against Atromitos F.C. in the Greek Cup final.
On 18 August 2011, Baha returned to Spain and joined CE Sabadell FC, signing a two-year contract. He was released by the club late in January 2013 and, in July, moved to the Chinese Super League with Dalian Aerbin FC.
International career
A full Moroccan international since February 2003, Baha took part in the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations where the national side finished second to hosts Tunisia, scoring once in a 4–0 semifinal win over Mali.
Due to a dislocated shoulder suffered in the late months of October against Racing de Santander in a Spanish Cup match, Baha failed to win a place in Morocco's final squad for the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, which was held in Ghana.
Honors
Morocco
Africa Cup of Nations runner-up:2004
References
External links
1981 births
Living people
People from Remiremont
French sportspeople of Moroccan descent
Moroccan men's footballers
French men's footballers
Sportspeople from Vosges (department) Footballers from Grand Est Men's association football forwards Ligue 2 players Montpellier HSC players US Créteil-Lusitanos players Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Segunda Divisão players Associação Naval 1º de Maio players S.C. Braga B players S.C. Braga players La Liga players Segunda División players Racing de Ferrol footballers SD Ponferradina players Málaga CF players CE Sabadell FC footballers Super League Greece players AEK Athens F.C. players Chinese Super League players Dalian Professional F.C. players Botola players Fath Union Sport players Morocco men's international footballers 2004 African Cup of Nations players Moroccan expatriate men's footballers French expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in China Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in China Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in Spain French expatriate sportspeople in Greece Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in Greece French expatriate sportspeople in China French expatriate sportspeople in Portugal French expatriate sportspeople in Spain