Mehdi Ballouchy

Mehdi Ballouchy (مهدي بلوشي; born April 6, 1983 in Casablanca) is a Moroccan professional football (soccer) midfielder, who currently plays for the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer.

Ballouchy moved to the United States in 2000 and played a year of college soccer at Creighton and two at Santa Clara, where he was named first team All-American in 2005. He then signed a Generation adidas contract with MLS. Ballouchy was taken second overall by Real Salt Lake at the 2006 MLS SuperDraft. He was traded to the Colorado Rapids for Kyle Beckerman in July 2007.

Ballouchy played in the youth system of Raja Casablanca. He has played for various youth Moroccan national teams. He also played for Gunn High School in Palo Alto, California, and with Boulder Rapids Reserve in the USL Premier Development League.

He is currently in the process of becoming a US citizen.

Controversy

On July 30, 2007 the Major League Soccer Disciplinary Committee fined Ballouchy $1,000 and suspended him two games for violent conduct. Ballouchy collided with Kansas City Wizards midfielder Sasha Victorine in first-half stoppage time of a 2-2 tie on July 22 at Arrowhead Stadium. Ballouchy was given a yellow card for a blow to Victorine, but the disciplinary committee decided the incident needed further review. Having reviewed the video evidence, in the judgment of the committee, the elbow by Ballouchy to Victorine was a deliberate and dangerous act committed away from any play on the ball. The incident resulted in an injury to Victorine and his immediate withdrawal from the game. Victorine's injury resulted in his suspension of full training activity for a period of time.

References

See also

• List of current MLS players