In the final round of Premier League matches, Sunderland beat Chelsea 2-1, to secure a seventh-place finish and with it qualification for European football for the first time in 50 years.
It was a remarkable end of a campaign for a club only promoted via the Championship play-offs a year ago, but it was no fluke.
Sunderland had defeated world champions Chelsea 2-1 away early in the season, with a 93rd-minute winner from new signing Chemsdine Talbi.
The winger, 21, signed from Club Bruges for a reported fee of £16.5 million and enjoyed a fine first season, scoring not only at Chelsea but also away at Liverpool and rivals Newcastle United. He’s been called up to Morocco’s squad for the World Cup finals and The National caught up with him for a progress report.
Q: How was your first season in England?
A good season. I was a little bit nervous to come to such a big competition like the Premier League. But I think I adapted myself and I did well. I really enjoyed every big game we played. Really enjoyed it. Football in England is not just football; it's like life turns around football and you feel it every game you play.
What were your best moments?
The best was at Chelsea, when I scored the last-minute winning goal. But I had a lot of good memories this year. Then, after, the fans started singing my name, a song about me (to the tune of Zombie by The Cranberries). In the beginning it was a bit strange because it's the first time anyone has sung about me, but I understood it straight away because my mother's favourite song is Zombie. And then they were singing for me, 3,000 happy fans behind the goal. Even my mother heard it on the TV. She called me after the game and she was laughing. It was wonderful.
You also scored a fine goal at Anfield
Yeah, it was also a great one. One of my dreams was to score against Liverpool. I just enjoyed playing against this type of clubs and players. It shows that dreams come true.
How would you describe Premier League football to fans in Belgium?
Great players, some of the best in the world play in the Premier League. So you feel it with the intensity in games. Every game. But it’s not just intensity. It’s about tactics and choosing the right time to attack.
And I would tell them about Sunderland, a big club, historic club. I felt that support right from the start. People stopping you outside, they're wishing you luck for the game at the weekend. You feel it everywhere. More than anything, they tell me that we must win when we play Newcastle.
I think the most important thing is to win these games. When I came to the club and everybody told me that this derby is a special game. So we did as they asked and we beat Newcastle. Twice. The week before those games is crazy. Everyone talks about it, inside and outside the club. You feel that a big game is coming. And when the game started, it was just crazy. I was honoured to be part of it.
So you're at St James' Park. You're 1-0 down. There's 51,000 people there. Then you scored an equaliser …
Honestly, when I scored, I didn't realise it. It felt like a normal goal, but it wasn’t. Then we scored again, so important. I was told that if I scored against Newcastle I would be a hero and I scored against Newcastle. Even better, we won. Twice.
What did you think when you were in Belgium and you heard that Sunderland were interested in you?
I’d been at Brugee, the best club of Belgium, a good club to develop and to get the right step to go forward in your career. At Brugge, I grew up there as a football player but also as a man. I developed myself from 10 years old until 20, so it's 10 years. They helped me a lot. They helped me to chase my dream to be a football player, so I always thank them a lot.
When I got the call from Sunderland, I was happy, of course. It's always a pleasure to have clubs like this to be interested in you. Honestly, I'm a little bit young, so I didn't know a lot about the club. My father said it was a big club before, but after I got the interest from the club, I watched the Netflix series about it. I just felt it directly that it's a big, historic club that had suffered some bad moments in recent years. I was questioning myself about if it was a good step to make, but I’m glad I did. It's a good club to develop myself. So I came here.
That Netflix series Sunderland ‘til I die was wild in parts …
The first word that came to my mind was ‘passion’. You directly felt the passion of the fans, everything around it. It helped me to come to this club because I like clubs who have passion. And yeah, I just came.
Describe your background and growing up in Belgium
I grew up near Brussels, but most of the time I was in Brussels because all my family was there. I did one small club, Royale Union Tubize-Braine. It's like a good club where the Belgium national team train.
I got the offer from Brugge and, yeah, a little bit difficult to accept because it was a little bit far away from my home. I was still 10 years old, so it was difficult to go out of the family home and everything, but I just believe in me and just go for my dream to be a football player and I went to Brugge for 10 years, so a long time. And, yeah, at the start, Flemish was not my language, so I learned it in school.
Changing schools at that age was difficult to manage, but I managed it well with my mum, who helped me a lot with the homework. We spent all the nights on Google Translate in my years there. Everything went fine and I just got to finish school there in Flemish. I got a good result in my exams; I never skipped one year. My education was important for my mum, not just football.
My mum is from Belgium, my dad Morocco. He came to Belgium at the age of nine, with all his brothers and sisters. His job was to fix things in schools or factories. Mum was a cleaner. I had good young years.
So you moved to a new city aged 10, you learned a new language and you speak English, French, Flemish, any Arabic?
Yeah, a little bit of Arabic. I have one little brother but he stayed in Brussels. It was difficult because I wasn’t with my brother. We couldn't get more moments together because football was a little bit difficult, but we still have a good connection together. Now he's coming to Sunderland to see me.
Did you ever go to Morocco?
Yeah, I've always been to Morocco every year, two or three times a year. Agadir. In the south. Beautiful. I always try to go there to connect with my family.
You played for Belgium up to U17 level and then you chose to play for Morocco. What was your thinking with this decision?
I started in Belgium in the national team. And then I changed because at one moment I had to choose between Belgium or Morocco for the first team. Both were asking me which one I would choose. I had to reflect a long time to think about it. I decided to go to Morocco because of my family. I just chose Morocco because of my heart.
What was your Morocco debut like?
A national team is different than a club. You play for your country and it's always difficult when you have two nations you can choose. But you need to have a choice and you will make some people happy, some people not. But it's your choice, it's your career, so I just made my choice.
How was your Afcon experience?
You're new to the national team and played just 16 minutes. It was a great experience to me to play this Afcon [Africa Cup of Nations], even if I didn't play a lot. But just to be there with the team, to live this moment, this experience, to play Afcon in our home, Morocco. Unfortunately, it didn't go like we thought, but it's just experience as a player and as a human, so I just have good memories about it.
How are you feeling about the World Cup finals?
It’s a dream to play the World Cup, to be part of this team. It should be an honour to be capable of playing in the World Cup at my young age for my team, for my country. I’m with great players, great guys.
Morocco is like a family. They have built something different over the years. I’ve played against some: [Noussair] Mazraoui was so tough to play against this season, the best I came up against. Virgil van Dijk was second. They have a body position where you just feel that they are there. With Mazraoui we had some jokes, we talked a little bit, but we always stay focused on the games and afterwards we switched shirts and we talked a little bit about the World Cup.
Who did you look up to when you were younger or even now?
Neymar, Messi, this type of player. But for me, I really looked up to Eden Hazard. Great player. I think we have a little bit the same characteristics, like the same gameplay. I think I can reach his step and try to do like him.
And finally, a message for Sunderland fans. Your team were favourites to be relegated but qualified for Europe and surprised a lot of people.
Of course, it was a good season. In life you have people who didn't believe in you and you just must show it on the pitch. This season we showed it and we need to continue like this.
What are your ambitions for the future?
I am happy at Sunderland but my ambition is to develop myself, to be better every day, and of course to be playing in the biggest club in the world. I have the capacity for it, so I will just work hard and just try to make my way to my dream.
