Who is Ayoub El Kaabi - Olympiakos' Moroccan Europa Conference League final hero?

Olympiakos became the first Greek club to win a European title after a 1-0 extra-time victory over Fiorentina in the Europa Conference League final on Wednesday.

Moroccan striker Ayoub El Kaabi scored the winning goal in the 116th minute that allowed Jose Luis Mendilibar's side to make history in the home of local rivals AEK Athens.

Prior to Olympiakos' success, Panathinaikos were the only club from Greece to make a European final when they lost to a Johan Cruyff-inspired Ajax in the 1971 European Cup decider.

The much-travelled 30-year-old centre-forward has enjoyed a breakout season in Greece, scoring the goal that took Olympiakos to a first European trophy.

Born in Zagora in southern Morocco, El Kaabi moved to Casablanca with his family as a child. The family hit hard times and El Kaabi was forced to leave school at age 15, becoming an apprentice carpenter to help support his parents.

He signed his first professional football contract at age 21 with Racing de Casablanca. After helping RAC gain promotion to the top tier of Moroccan football, he switched to RS Berkane, helping the club win the 2018 Moroccan Throne Cup.

In 2018 he switched to China, joining Herbei, for a fee of €6.5 million. He was loaned to Wydad on an initial six-month loan before joining the Moroccan club as a free agent in 2020. A return of 18 goals in 29 matches prompted a move to Turkey with Hatayspor in 2021, where El Kaabi netted 26 times across two seasons.

The striker moved to Qatari side Al Sadd on loan during the 2022/23 campaign before moving to current club Olympiakos ahead of the 2023/24 season.

Pretty well. Seventeen-goals in 30 league appearances is a more-than-healthy return, although Olympiakos finished only third in the Greek Super