Naïs Djouahra, from Xabi Alonso tutelage to Bernabéu heartbreak and resurgence in Portugal | OneFootball

Naïs Djouahra’s career has swung from rejection to revival, shaped by dazzling promise, damaging setbacks and renewed form in Portugal. The former Real Sociedad winger, polished by Xabi Alonso and stalled by a Bernabéu hamstring tear, has rebuilt his momentum.

"Xabi would join training and ping 30 metre passes that skimmed the grass," Djouahra said in an interview with Au Cœur Du Jeu.

Under Alonso he matured, earned a first team debut in La Liga and, in his second outing, set up Mikel Oyarzabal. He had been rejected as a youngster at Saint-Étienne before finding a home in San Sebastián.

"Hearing 'you are going on' made me sweat, I started sprinting everywhere," he recalled of the Bernabéu. In the 80th minute, after a duel with Eduardo Camavinga, his hamstring went and he left with Karim Benzema’s shirt, determined the night should still end well.

"The strange thing is I got injured when I was at my healthiest, when I was going at 2,000 an hour," he said. He believes an obsession with the gym, sometimes three sessions a day and extra upper body weight, combined with his explosive style, overloaded his hamstrings.

"Imanol told me, 'If you do not get injured, the end of the season is not the same for you'."

He left Real Sociedad after four years for HNK Rijeka, where a chaotic start gave way to a resurgence. He led a historic win against Dinamo Zagreb, won a league and cup double, and scored the decisive goal in the final. Now one of Arouca’s most used players, he is posting personal bests and has Algeria in his sights.

Source: Diario Vasco