From the Superettan to the national team • Moustafa Zeidan's successful year: "Burning within me"

Moustafa Zeidan has just turned 23.

But despite his young age, the Närlunda son has had time to harvest a professional adventure in the Premier League club Aston Villa and five Swedish clubs. It is only now that it has taken off in earnest.

How is it that?

– I would say that it has been an incredibly fun year, says Zeidan when he remembers the season that started with games in Jönköping Södra but ended with a move to Allsvenskan Sirius and finally a call to the January tour.

How were your thoughts before the club change?

– One must not forget that when I changed teams, J-Södra was at the top of the Superettan and if it had not been for Sirius, which suits my game, Daniel Bäckström’s think together with the sports director Ola Andersson, I would probably never have changed right then for it went so well for me. But when the opportunity arose and everything fit with the style of play, the coach and the confidence, it matters a lot. That was probably why I left in the end.

Zeidan was raised in Högaborgs BK, a well-known nursery for young football players. Högaborgs BK has succeeded with the feat of developing and producing several young players who have either established themselves in the Allsvenskan or become foreign professionals.

Cousins Imad and Abdul Khalili have both represented the club. The brothers Marcus and Martin Olsson are two others. Henrik Larsson and his son Jordan are a third example. The club is not afraid to give young players the chance and it was Högaborg who somewhere opened the door for Zeidan when Aston Villa knocked on the door after a successful Gothia Cup tournament.

Tributes to the coach

But it was not entirely easy as a 15-year-old to leave the family and the security at home in Helsingborg to establish oneself on the European stage.

– It was incredibly tough. I come from a large family in Helsingborg and from an area where everyone is very close to each other. I experienced a lot of love in that area, it was convenient. Leaving my family and cousins as a young player was tough. It was very difficult. But at the same time, it is a lesson for the rest of life, says Zeidan.

What did you learn?

– As a young person, it is about everyone fighting for their careers. It’s not just the team, but in some situations you have to think more selfishly, which is normal. Everyone is chasing their career and it becomes more collective in an A-team, but as a youngster it is about survival. Everyone is fighting to take the next step, you have to be more selfish. It’s tough so you have to be mentally strong.

***

For Moustafa Zeidan, foreign life did not turn out as he had imagined, at least not fully. He got enough and finally decided to move home to Sweden in an attempt to recharge.

But Zeidan managed to represent Helsingborgs IF, Syrianska, BP and IK Frej before the superettan club Jönköping Södra decided to recruit him.

And it was only where it took off even though Zeidan stood for fine performances in Syrianska that later resulted in BP recruiting him.

But in J-Södra he had finally found a club that believed in him fully. Above all, he got a coach who saw both the person Moustafa and the football player at the same time.

It was invaluable to him.

– That was where my career took off, especially when I had “Brännan” (Andreas Brännström) as coach. He was the one who saw me. I had just left the Superettan with Frej and he took me in. “Brännan” made his career take off again. Since then, it has only been good with both the club and the city, in my opinion the perfect choice, he says today about the time there.

Why did his career take off in J-Södra with “Brännan”?

“The burn” sees man. He is a humanist! I think everyone agrees on that. What I think is very interesting about “Brännan” is instead of looking for a lot of mistakes as a coach, he looks for the right players. All players make mistakes, all players have something wrong with how they play. Nobody is perfect. In Sweden in general, and with the coaches I have had before, you always check for mistakes, instead of looking at what you are doing right.

– When you see a player’s qualities as a coach, you can also get something out of the player on the pitch and in the business. “Brännan” was very good at seeing the good things I did. “Brännan” said a pretty cool thing to me in Jönköping.

Moustafa Zeidan and Andreas Brännström during the time in Jönköping Södra.

Photo: **SUVAD MRKONJIC / BILDBYRÅN**

–

Moustafa Zeidan meanwhile in Jönköping Södra.

Photo: **AXEL BOBERG / BILDBYRÅN**

—––

What?

– I asked him: “Which player do you want me to watch? Which ten should I imitate? ”. Then he replied: “Today’s” tens “have begun to die out. Either you end up on an edge or you become an “eight” such as Kevin De Bruyne. You become a two-way player rather than a pure ten. David Silva also ended up on an edge in the end. That was one of the most important things he taught me. Had I not learned with it, I would still have been stuck in the fact that there are tens. He developed me into an “eight” on the field for which I am grateful.

You said that many coaches look for mistakes. Is it something you experienced earlier in your career?

– There was no criticism of coaches in general. I just wanted to share my experience. My previous coaches have looked more at what mistakes I made than what ones right, it felt like they were never satisfied. It felt like I never got a real chance.

– At the same time, I could certainly have done better, but it felt like they (the coaches) did not see me as a player but only my faults, instead of helping and developing me. When you do the right thing, you also minimize the errors.

Zeidan emphasizes that he does not want to direct any sharp criticism at former coaches or in general at Swedish football. He rather wants to convey his own experience.

What is it like to hear that as a young player?

– The worst thing for a football player is certainly to sit on the bench and not be involved. It sometimes feels like a coach has already decided in advance that: “No, he is not my player and does not play my way” and then you get pretty frozen in that way. Football is a sport of opinion, usually a matter of taste.

– Everyone is different. Some people think that you fit into the game, others do not. It is from coach to coach quite simply, but at the same time it is hard to hear it as a young person and feel that you are not involved, especially when you, like me, came from abroad and were a great talent. Somewhere it burns in you when it becomes as it becomes.

Do you have any examples of when you felt frozen out as a young person?

– Yes, I’m sure. I do not want to go into certain things. It is no secret that my time in Helsingborgs IF was not successful. My time in BP was not successful either.

– There was a bit of such stuff that I did not get the chance and the coach may not have thought that I fit into their way of playing.

Did you have Per-Ola Ljung in Helsingborg?

– You can do your research on that. You’ve probably heard a lot of things but you have to look at what coaches I had.

Do not want to talk in detail about the time in Helsingborg?

– No, it is something that has already happened and I have become stronger from it. I’ve moved on. I have nothing to say about it. With the result in hand, you can say that time did not turn out the way you wanted it to, there are no strange things, it’s just a shame that you never got a chance over there.

The journey has made him stronger as a person and he has also gained a greater belief in his own ability as a player.

– I feel more determined every year. I have incredibly high demands on myself. During these two years I have become stronger mentally, it has made me grow as a player. Now I am very hard on myself when it comes to how I perform.

Moustafa Zeidan in a training match between Helsingborg and Trelleborg in the 2016 season.

Photo: **AVDO BILKANOVIC / BILDBYRÅN**

Zeidan adds:

– I have started to analyze my matches much more as well.

What people do you have outside of football who help you?

– The three I usually call the most are my cousins Abdul and Imad Khalili and my agent Miro Jaganjac. I talk mostly with the three about my matches and my coach Daniel Bäckström. Then I still have very good contact with Andreas Brännström, we have a great relationship. He saw me for who I am and still follows me today. I have good people around me.

***

Since moving to Sirius this summer, Zeidan has become an important player for the team. When we sum up his first half year at the club, he comes up with 20 matches, three goals and two assists.

It’s easy to fall for the little ball wizard’s style of play. He has bombed in dream goals against Djurgården and IFK Norrköping at Nya Studenternas. He usually floats past the opponents with his low center of gravity and fine ball handling.

One of his sharpest weapons is his left shot in a stationary position.

– I have always had a good shot and scored some nice goals in Jönköping, he says.

“Bäckström will stay”

But it took a while before Zeidan dared to fire the left cannon in the blue-black match shirt. In training it was easier, but in a match all the more difficult.

– After a while I started firing on the training sessions and the shots usually went in. Then everyone said to me: “What the hell are you doing? You have to shoot more ”. After the Djurgården match, I felt: “Okay, I have to shoot more”, because the goal I scored against Djurgården I have done many times in training. It was no shock to my teammates that the shot went in, but it was perhaps surprising to the audience.

What has Daniel Bäckström meant to you?

– He’s one of the reasons why I came to Sirius. Daniel gave me a lot of confidence even before I came, he was clear about how he wanted to use me and it felt very attractive. I believed in it from second one and we look at football in the same way, then you click well with your coach.

Bäckström has been rumored to take over the U21 national team. Have you persuaded him to stay?

– Everyone wants him to stay. It’s no shock that there are rumors, just as there is speculation about players, the same principle applies to coaches, but I think it’s great fun to work with him. Everyone makes their choices, but as it looks right now, Daniel will stay, I’ve been told. We can build on what we have done.

What do you say about Sirius season in general?

– It is very fun that we play the football we do and that people appreciate it. There are very few teams that play like us and it is unique. I can imagine that it is very fun to watch Sirius. But it’s a lot about routine and we are the youngest team in the series.

– We know about that, and sometimes it affects us. At the same time, I feel that everyone has taken steps this season, but most of the time we should have gotten more points. We will learn from it and develop it. We have something very good going on.

For Moustafa Zeidan, the autumn season was crowned with a selection for the national team’s January tour in Portugal, which, however, does not go as planned. The Swedish Football Association decided this week to cancel the tour due to the prevailing increased spread of infection in Sweden and Europe. Despite that, Zeidan can look back on a successful football year.

– I have had a special trip the last six months. I came from a superettan club, took a starting place in Sirius and then I joined the national team.

Moustafa exhales for a few seconds, then bursts into a big smile.

– It feels pretty cool in a way.