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Youssef Zaitra was born in 1975 in the Yaqoub Al Mansour neighborhood in Rabat. Although he was obsessed with football, he joined the under-17 FAR handball team.
«I used to play handball, but in fact I was in love with football. I grew up in the neighborhood alongside great players such as Abdellah Andaloussi, Abderezzak Khairi and Mohcine Bouhlal», he told Yabiladi.
Youssef however was forced to leave football aside. «I started playing football with the Hilal Ribati team, but training was taking place between the hours of noon and two o'clock in the afternoon, so I could not study and play football at the same time and I decided to leave the club and go for handball instead», he said.
He recalls that in 1999 he decided to settle down in Finland. «My dream was always to live in Scandinavia, I have never dreamed of France or Spain. I immigrated like any other young Moroccan dreaming of a better future», he said.
Football in Finland
However, the path to success was not easy and was full of obstacles. Once in Finland, he realized that he was fluent neither in Finnish nor in English. With time, he started to overcome the language barrier, and found a job at a restaurant.
The father-of-two (17 and 13 years old) kept his love for football, and in 2012, he started realizing the dream that he had been chasing for years. The Rabat-native joined the Helsinki football academy as a trainer after obtaining the UEFA C certificate for training, UEFA C + certification for training young children from U8 to U12.
«I came to Finland and my passion for football did not leave me. My son Adam, who also loves football, had the opportunity to play his favorite sport in 2012, and then I went on the training path as well. I work with children on both the psychological and the physical side of things, the training includes pedagogy».
The Moroccan coach, who is still pursuing his studies to obtain another certificate (Master) in the field of training, explained that the team that he supervises «does not include any Moroccan player. I previously worked with a Moroccan child who moved to another club, but inside the club there are many children of African origin».
He explained that the academy in which he works, the best of its kind in the country, has great potential as its team previously participated to European competitions and trained world-class players who currently bear the jerseys of FC Barcelona, Liverpool and Chelsea.
Youssef remembers bitterly a racist attitude that he faced in one of his team's games. «We were winning the match, and I was directing instructions to my team. The coach of the other team approached me and said to me ‘you should not talk to the players’, and I answered him with one sentence: ‘focus on your own team and leave me alone’».
«He then went on to assault me verbally by saying ‘go back to where you came from’. I would not answer and many people who were present intervened and called him off over his behavior», the coach recalled.
Regarding the eventuality of returning to Morocco, he said that he did not receive training offers explaining that he has «academic training, and I want to work on smaller groups, because after examining the way coaching is done in Morocco, it became clear to me that we still have a long way to go. Finland is a role model in education and training and one of the most successful countries in the world at it».
During his last visit to Morocco in 2019, his son Adam «went to the Mohammed VI Football Academy, and spent ten days there. He was impressed by it, and officials were impressed with his skills. I think he will have a promising future in football».
Youssef misses his country’s traditions, especially during the month of Ramadan, which is approaching, and he explains the difficulty of fasting in Finland. «In the summer, the sun almost never sets, but we do what we can. In Ramadan this year the situation will be better because it no longer coincides with the summer season», he said.
