The Kitchen Champion Division has been used as a nursery for national and international talents for decades and this season too, many football players with potential are walking around on the second level. Voetbalzone, the official media partner of the Kitchen Champion Division, highlights one of these talents every week, this time focusing on Mohamed Mallahi, who beckons a breakthrough in FC Utrecht’s main squad after more than a hundred matches in the Kitchen Champion Division.
By Chris Meijer
Every day Mohamed Mallahi (21) gets a little reminder when he steps onto the training field. From Sportcomplex Zoudenbalch you can see the Galgenwaard stadium on the other side of the Kromme Rijn, between the trees. From the moment he played football on the squares of Kanaleneiland and Transwijk, the stadium formed in to be city a dot on the horizon. One day, the born and bred Utrechter would show his arts there. With that somewhat in mind, Mallahi chose a longer stay at FC Utrecht a few years ago over interested clubs such as Chelsea, Leeds United, PSV and Ajax. “I didn’t do that because I wanted to break through in the Netherlands and not go abroad too quickly. FC Utrecht seemed the perfect option to me, to eventually go abroad after all.”
“My connection with FC Utrecht and the city also played a role in not going to those clubs. There was confidence, they came up with a good plan and convinced me with it. It’s not easy to make such a decision, you definitely need advice from people around you,” Mallahi explains. He entered the youth academy of FC Utrecht at the age of eleven, after he was taken away from the amateurs of Elinkwijk. He turned out to be one of the greatest talents of FC Utrecht and played in the Under-16, Under-17, Under-18 and Under-19 of the Dutch. “The experiences at the Dutch have been something very beautiful in my career, which I probably won’t experience again anytime soon. The youth teams are something different from the big the Dutch. We certainly didn’t have a bad batch, most players now also play in the Eredivisie or at the highest level abroad.”
At the the Dutch squad, Mallahi played together with Orkun Kökçü, Ryan Gravenberch, Jurriën Timber, Lutsharel Geertruida, Mohamed Ihattaren, Myron Boadu and Sven Botman. Players who have already had their breakthrough in the Eredivisie in recent years. Mallahi needs to be more patient in that regard. He moved on to Jong FC Utrecht at the age of seventeen, but there was no real chance after that. “As a young boy you naturally look at your former teammates from the Dutch who are already breaking through. Then you might think: I’m just as good, or maybe better. That’s a bit frustrating at the time, you have to be patient. It feels too slow for you and that has not always been easy. But I picked myself up and continued the line, although it went with peaks and troughs. That made me the person and player I am today. That has also been a development.”
Mallahi in pursuit of Tyrell Malacia during the match between Feyenoord Under-19 and FC Utrecht Under-19 in 2017.
Now it seems the time has come for Mallahi to slowly open the door to the first team. Trainer René Hake – with whom he already worked at Jong FC Utrecht – already made the wing attacker a number of times in the match selection last season and let him make his debut in the main force a month ago during the home game against PEC Zwolle (5-1 victory), by to put him on the field as a substitute twelve minutes before the end. “Secretly I thought my debut was coming. Afterwards, the trainer also indicated that I had enforced it myself with my good game. It was a very beautiful moment,” Mallahi beams. “Especially as a boy from the club and the city, who has been around FC Utrecht for a long time. It’s a perk if you’re a boy from town. This is actually my second home: I know everyone and everyone knows me. I don’t really know anything other than FC Utrecht. As a young boy you always thought about your debut, what that would look like. In that respect, a dream has come true.”
“I feel like this is the year of my breakthrough. It has to be,” continues Mallahi. He already has 106 matches for Jong FC Utrecht in the Kitchen Champion Division to his name. “I’ve seen almost everything in the Kitchen Champion Division. I am ready for the next step, I really want to play in the Eredivisie. The Kitchen Champion Division is a very good platform to gain experience and develop yourself. That certainly gave me a lot of benefits, which I have in my backpack. I have been prepared to play Eredivisie, I have become more mature. It’s all about the details, more is asked of you physically and you have to be much more efficient with the moments you get. It’s really men’s football, you have to play very mature.”
Mallahi has provisionally played 106 games on behalf of Jong FC Utrecht in the Kitchen Champion Division, in which he was good for 11 goals and 10 assists.
As one of the oldest players in the selection of Jong FC Utrecht, Mallahi has a slightly different role this season. “I am more of a leader, I try to help the young boys and take them up to the level of the Kitchen Champion Division. The trainer (Darije Kalezic, ed.) also gives me the opportunity to take on that role. I’m expected to do that in principle, it’s also a challenge,” he explains. Mallahi has been one of the standout players at Jong FC Utrecht so far this season, although he does not express that in his number of goals (one) and assists (one). “During the preparation, I fully trained with the first. I feel like I left a good impression, my return was quite good. I continued that in the competition. I played great first games of the season and I have been remarkable. In terms of goals and assists, I want to contribute a little more, but that will come. Sometimes I have to keep the peace in front of the goal even better.”
“Now is the time to really take steps, I notice that in my game and the matches. The trainers give me a lot of confidence and appreciation. I don’t put any pressure on myself, but I would like to move up to the first team. I have faith in that and I am on the right track,” emphasizes Mallahi. It is the season of truth for him in several respects, as his contract expires at the end of the football season. He shrugs. “I don’t think much about my future. It’s a matter of continuing what I’m doing, drawing the line, being important and making as many minutes as possible at the first. That is my goal, the rest will come naturally.”
Name: Mohamed Mallahic
Date of birth: February 13, 2000
Club: (Young) FC Utrecht
Position: winger
Strengths: technique, speed, flair
Voetbalzone is the official media partner of the Kitchen Champion Division
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