Abdelmalik Ziaya opens his heart to Echourok

In a wide –ranging interview with Echourok, the striker Abdelmalik Ziaya has expressed his wish to make a good showing with the Algeria squad during the African Cup of Nations, and revealed that he finally decided to sign a three year contract with the Saudi club “Etihad Djeddah” , after noticing that the French club “Socheaux” was hesitating to recruit him.

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• Q: At long last you have signed to the Saudi club Etihad Djeddah while everybody was expecting you to move to Socheaux , what really happened?
• A: Every ambitious player dreams of playing in Europe where all the means are made available for him, as I’m concerned I was about to sign to Socheaux but I did it for the Saudi club Etihad Djeddah at the last moment.
• Q: You mean that the Saudi’s offer was more interesting than the French one?
• A:  Socheaux were the first to show their interest in recruiting me but for a six month period before envisaging a long term contract, that’s why I hesitated to sign for this club because it’s very hard for any player to adapt to his new environment in a relatively short period. My signature for the Saudi club was not driven by money, Etihad Djeddah is a big club and will help me enhance my level.
• Q: But Socheaux have changed their mind and accepted to sign a contract with you for three years…
• A: That’s right they accepted a three year contract and made a good offer but they remained hesitating though I accepted to play for this club. I decided to sign a one and half year contract with the Saudi club because their president paid a visit to the Algeria squad training camp in France and showed his interest to recruit me.
• Q: Some experts consider the Saudi and Golf leagues in general as the football stars’ cemeteries, what do you think?
• A:  I don’t think so and I consider the Saudi league as one of the best and many European and Latin America players perform in this league.
• Q: How was your first experience with the Algeria squad?
• A: I was little bit afraid not to adapt to the group at the beginning since it’s the first time that I take part to a training camp with the national squad, but things got better in France and didn’t feel like I was a new element among the group because I worked hard. I wish I was up to the coach’s trust.
• Q: You are used to the African competitions do you feel ready to take your place at the frontlines in Luanda?
• A: I played a lot matches in Africa with my former club Es Setif as part of the African Champions League competition; I can say that the African pitches are not unknown to me and I’m ready  to take on the challenge.