Karim Zaza (, ; born 9 January 1975) is a former professional footballer.
Born in Denmark, he established himself as one of the top goalkeepers of Danish football with three consecutive Danish Goalkeeper of the Year awards from 2001 to 2003. He won the Danish Cup twice with F.C. Copenhagen, once with Odense Boldklub (OB) and the Double with Brøndby IF, as well as another Danish championship with AaB in 2008. He played five games for the Morocco national football team.
Club career On 21 March 2010, Zaza played his 100th game for AaB in all competitions.
Zaza ended his career at the Danish 1st Division side Vendsyssel FF, retiring in the Summer of 2014, after a knee injury that prevented him from playing.Karim Zaza indstiller karrieren (Karim Zaza set career) bold.dk. 20 May 2014.
Coaching career After his retirement in 2014, Zaza was immediately hired as a goalkeeper coach under Michael Laudrup of Lekhwiya SC in Qatar.Zaza glad for at følge med Laudrup til Qatar, berlingske.dk, 1 July 2014 Laudrup and his staff, including Zaza, left the club in June 2015. In July 2016, Zaza returned to Vendsyssel FF as an assistant manager under Joakim Mattsson.Karim Zaza vender tilbage til Vendsyssel FF, tipsbladet.dk, 8 July 2016 In early January 2017, Zaza was offered to continue at the club as a goalkeeper coach instead of assistant manager, which he accepted.Vendsyssel vil løse kasketforvirring med tydelige roller, bt.dk, 11 January 2017 He left Vendsyssel in January 2020VENDSYSSEL FF SIGER FARVEL TIL KARIM ZAZA, vendsysselff.dk, 22 January 2020 and returned to Lekhwiya SC in Qatar, which since the last time had been renamed as Al-Duhail SC.Zaza stopper øjeblikkeligt: Lynskifte til arabisk eventyr, ekstrabladet.dk, 22 January 2020 He left Qatar in October 2020.
On 1 March 2021, Zaza was appointed goalkeeper coach of Vejle Boldklub on a deal for the rest of the season.Vejle ansætter Karim Zaza frem til sommer, bold.dk, 1 March 2021 On 20 July 2021, Zaza returned to Vendsyssel FF.KARIM ZAZA TILTRÆDER SOM MÅLMANDSTRÆNER I VENDSYSSEL FF, vendsysselff.dk, 20 July 2021 On December 6, 2024, Vendsyssel confirmed that Zaza would not continue at the club after the winter break.EN RIGTIG KLUBMAND TAKKER AF, vendsysselff.dk, 6 December 2024
Honours Copenhagen Danish Cup: 1994–95, 1996–97 Danish Super Cup: 1995
OB Danish Cup: 2001–02
Brøndby Danish Superliga(): 2004–05 Danish Cup: 2004–05
AaB Danish Superliga(): 2007–08
Individual Danish Goalkeeper of the Year: 2001, 2002, 2003
References
External links AaB profile Brøndby IF profile F.C. Copenhagen profile Danish Superliga player statistics at danskfodbold.com