28 Facts About Marouane Fellaini

Marouane Fellaini-Bakkioui was born on 22 November 1987 and is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Chinese club Shandong Taishan.

Marouane Fellaini represented the team at the 2008 Olympics, the 2014 World Cup, Euro 2016, and the 2018 World Cup, helping Belgium to third place in the latter tournament.

Marouane Fellaini was born to Moroccan parents from Tangier and brought up in Brussels.

Marouane Fellaini's father, Abdellatif, was a former goalkeeper for Raja Casablanca and Hassania Agadir who signed for Racing Mechelen but was unable to play as his former Moroccan club refused to release his paperwork.

Marouane Fellaini competed in athletics, with the 10,000 metres being his preferred event.

However, Marouane Fellaini's father Abdellatif, who was a professional footballer himself, guided his son towards football.

Marouane Fellaini was at Anderlecht's academy until the age of 10 when he joined Mons, due to his father getting a new job in the city.

Marouane Fellaini is known for his heading ability and stamina, which made him one of the best box-to-box midfielders in the Belgian First Division and resulted in him winning the Ebony Shoe in 2008, an award given to the best player of the season of African descent.

Marouane Fellaini went on to score 9 goals in his first season.

Marouane Fellaini picked up three further bookings in 16 games following the meeting, his total the highest of all Premier League players that season.

Later Marouane Fellaini reverted to play in his least favourite defensive midfield area.

Marouane Fellaini finished the season having won the most tackles, aerial duels and made more passes than anyone else at the club.

Marouane Fellaini won the second highest number of tackles in the league and won possession of the ball 190 times, the most out of any player.

Marouane Fellaini continued the season in great form with goals against Arsenal, Manchester City, Sunderland and Fulham amongst others.

Marouane Fellaini was awarded Premier League Player of the Month for November 2012.

Marouane Fellaini was banned for three matches by the Football Association on 17 December 2012 after headbutting Ryan Shawcross during a game against Stoke City, an incident missed by the match officials at the time.

Marouane Fellaini made only fifteen league starts throughout the season, in contrast to thirty one starts he made in the previous season while at Everton.

Marouane Fellaini was given his first start of the season by Van Gaal in the following match against Chelsea, and helped United earn a point against the league leaders.

Marouane Fellaini covered 12.17 kilometres in the match, the most by any United player, and made 70 high-intensity runs, more than anyone else on the pitch.

Marouane Fellaini is a fighter, a guy with lots of pride and I am really pleased I helped him reach this level and change the perception the fans have now.

Marouane Fellaini signed a new two-year contract at the end of the campaign.

Marouane Fellaini was eligible to play for either Belgium or Morocco.

Marouane Fellaini chose to represent Belgium, from youth level upwards.

Marouane Fellaini represented the under-23 team at the 2008 Olympics, when they finished in fourth place, losing to Brazil in the bronze medal match.

Marouane Fellaini made seven appearances in Belgium's 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign, scoring once, as Belgium reached the finals for the first time since 2002.

On 4 June 2014, Marouane Fellaini was selected as part of Belgium's 23-man squad for the 2014 World Cup.

On 7 March 2019, Marouane Fellaini announced his retirement from international football.

Marouane Fellaini earned a total of 87 caps and scored 18 goals for Belgium between 2007 and 2018.