Moussa Al-Tamari makes history in France: I don't like being called the 'Jordanian Messi'

Moussa Al-Tamari (Amman, 1997) can boast of being the first Jordanian player to play… and score in the history of Ligue 1.

The winger, who arrived for free from OH Leuven this summer, has scored three goals in his first four games for Montpellier.

The career of Tamari, voted MHSC ‘Player of the Month’ in August, is, to say the least, curious: Shabab Al-Ordon (2016-17), Al-Jazeera (2017-18), APOEL (2018-20), OH Leuven (2020-23)….

In Belgium, he already left signs of his ability to unbalance a game as he was, according to ‘Opta’, the player who attempted the most dribbles (384) and completed (174) in the Jupiler Pro League since his debut.

“Ever since I was a kid I wanted to play in one of the big five leagues, but my mother wanted me to concentrate on my studies,” he told Ligue 1.

“It’s not that she didn’t believe in me, but she told me it would be difficult to fulfill my dream in Jordan.”

His good performance in the 2018 AFC Cup – he scored six goals in 10 games in Asia’s second most important competition at club level – ‘opened the doors’ for him in Cyprus, where he became league champion and ‘MVP’ with APOEL.

In ‘Le Championnat’, beyond his three goals, they already know how Al-Tamari is: he is the second player who shoots the most (13) and the seventh player who has completed the most successful dribbles (10) in Ligue 1.

“I know that in my country they are proud of me, but to be the first Jordanian to play in France is not the goal…. I want more,” he explains.

“I must prove that I am capable of performing at this level and Montpellier is the perfect club.”

“If they saw more games in Europe… they would sign more Jordanian players”

“If European clubs watched more local league matches, they would sign more Jordanian players,” he insists.

“There are very good players and my mission is to show what we are capable of.”

The fact that he is left-footed, plays as a right winger and has a knack for dribbling led to him being dubbed the ‘Jordanian Messi’ in Cyprus, a nickname Al-Tamari rejects.

“I know some people call me that, but I don’t like that nickname,” recalls Tamari, 54 times capped for Jordan.

“In Cyprus the fans are a bit crazy and they came up with that nickname.

“They even made up a song in which they talked about me as the ‘Jordanian Messi’.”

Montpellier are already rubbing their hands together over him.