Dutch professional footballers can be found in all corners of the world, from the spotlights of the major European leagues to the more adventurous jobs on other continents. In the Over de Grens section, Voetbalzone speaks weekly with a player who is active outside the national borders. With this time attention to Mounir Mounji, who exchanged the third division of amateur football for an adventure at the Austrian SK Bischofshofen.
By Chris Meijer
Mounir Mounji is back in the Netherlands for a while at the beginning of November. Where football is played for more than a month and a half until the winter break almost everywhere in Western Europe, the Austrian Regionalliga has already been stopped until the beginning of March. “We’ve had eighteen games, sometimes three a week. The schedule was pretty full. Now I’ll be in the Netherlands for two weeks, then I’ll go back until December 17th. Then I have another two or three weeks of vacation and then the preparation for the second half of the season starts,” explains Mounji. “It’s nice to be with my family and friends again.”
In Austria, Mounji is mainly dependent on himself. “It’s really quiet there. There is no distraction at all. It’s actually perfect, I can fully focus on football,” says Mounji with a smile. Bischofshofen only comes alive in the winter months. The winter sports resort is world famous for the Paul Ausserleitnerschans, where the annual Four Hills Tournament ends. But the local football club SK Bischofshofen? This will not immediately ring a bell with most sports enthusiasts. “They are working on the facilities, there is a project to build a new stadium. The intention is that Bischofshofen will play at the second level in 2024, they want to take steps. I don’t really think about that. All that matters to me is that I play well here for a year and then I can make a step. That is certainly in it.”
No, Mounji himself would not have thought a few years ago that he would now find himself in Bischofshofen. The now 22-year-old attacking midfielder cum winger played for Ajax, Haarlem and AFC, before entering the youth academy of FC Utrecht at a young age. As a youth player of FC Utrecht, Mounji played in the selections of the the Dutch Under 14 and Under 15. “In the Under 15 I started to get a bit injured in my knee. I was probably going to go to a mini-tournament in Turkey, but then I got injured. After that I was a bit unlucky. Actually, I always played, until I got into the Under 19 and the sophomores got priority there. I trained well and my competitor underperformed in my eyes, but I didn’t really get the chance. I’ve expressed that irritation and it’s been a little silly at times. In the end I was told I had to leave.”
Mounji played in the youth academy of FC Utrecht between 2012 and 2017.
Without a supervisor and relatively late in the transfer period, Mounji failed to find a new professional club after his departure from FC Utrecht. He eventually made the switch to second divisionist Koninklijke HFC, where he had to start in the second team. “It really takes some getting used to when you come from FC Utrecht. Yes, that was tough,” he sighs. “I was a little impatient. Actually, I just wanted to play football, not too focused on a task.” After two years at Royal HFC and a year at RKVV DEM, Mounji moved to Olympia Haarlem, a third division team, a year ago. “I have decided to play with Barry (Tjeertes, trainer of Olympia Haarlem, ed.) for a year, to get everything in order. Mentally they started working with me. The disadvantage was the opposition in the third division, which was not really fun. The training sessions were all top notch.”
“I knew in myself that I had the qualities to be able to move up. If not, I wouldn’t take it so seriously anymore. But I wanted to give everything in every game, also in the third division. I’ve always had that mentality. But yes, after FC Utrecht there were a lot of moments when I had a hard time. That I saw that a lot of guys from my class did make it. And look where I was then. You know you can do it, but at some point you start to doubt. Can’t I? That starts playing in your head. I have good friends around me who always motivated me: Orkun Kökçü, Ozan Kökçü and Mo Taabouni.” Mounji grew up together with the brothers Kökçü (playing for Feyenoord and Telstar) and Taabouni (playing for AZ) in Schalkwijk in Haarlem. “When they started training for themselves, they also motivated me to come along. When I was done with it, they took me in tow. They are really my best friends and they have been very important to me, as have my parents and my brother.”
Last summer, his agent Shelton Spier ensured that Mounji had the opportunity to exchange the third division for a foreign adventure. He first completed an internship at ASF Nocerina 1910, which plays in the fourth tier of Italian football in the Serie D. “They were going to arrange everything while I went back to the Netherlands. It took a bit too long and then I got the opportunity to go on an internship to Austria. I thought that was worth a try. After two training sessions and a match they wanted to offer me a contract right away. That felt much better than in Italy, the owner and the trainer really wanted me. I do need it to feel confident. There is no promise anywhere that you will play, but it became clear that the chance was high and that was nice with a view to the next step. It was the right step at the right time.”
Mounji (left) in the shirt of Royal HFC.
It took some getting used to for Mounji in Austria, especially in terms of condition. His last game with Olympia Haarlem was almost a year ago when he arrived in Bischofshofen. “I had to play 90 minutes straight away, there were many matches in a row. The wingers also have to defend a lot, so a lot is asked of you from a conditional point of view. I had things in my head, but it didn’t come out. Because I was not in top condition. Now I’m at a point where I’m in great shape. We play a bit on the counter, with fast wingers. That can make me really dangerous. The last two games before the winter break went really well for me, because I’m in top shape.”
“You have a few teams that can certainly participate in the Kitchen Champion Division. But some clubs are more comparable to the Second Division in terms of level,” Mounji continues about the Regionalliga, Austria’s third tier. Austria Salzburg is without doubt the biggest club in the league in terms of name and following. Until 2005, Austria Salzburg was the name of the current Red Bull Salzburg. When the club colours, the name and the logo were changed, the supporters decided to set up their own club with Austria Salzburg. “I like it when a lot of people come to see it. The more supporters, the more fun it is. It is very lively at some clubs, such as Austria Salzburg or St. Johann. You have a few stadiums that really make you feel like professional football.”
With five goals, Mounji is currently the top scorer of SK Bischofhofen, a middle engine in the Regionalliga Salzburg. He has not yet given up hope of ever getting on the podium where his former FC Utrecht and the Dutch teammates may already be playing. “You never know how things will turn out, but I do know for myself that I had the talent to get to where those guys are playing now. But you can never see into the future, it depends on many factors. That’s life. If I stay fit, I know I will succeed with God’s will. My name is mentioned here and there in Austria. That is certainly a motivation. I have enough faith in my talent that I can go even higher than this.”