It was without doubt a very special debut for El Hamdaoui: “My teammates have all signed tonight’s ball for me!  It was an incredible match and a great way to make my debut at our stadium.  We achieved an amazing victory this evening, I’m absolutely thrilled.”
 
“Thank you to everyone for your good wishes.  There’s always so much to say after a match like this.  The entire team played well, the fans were amazing as usual and we’re all looking forward to our next game.  As a player, this really is the ideal start; we performed well both in defence and upfront,” explains the striker.
 
With regards to how he’s adapted to the team, El Hamdaoui adds: “I really like the Spanish style of play, the ‘tiki-taca’ and playing really good football.  I think I’ll fit into the team very well.”
 
El Hamdaoui isn’t focusing on a fixed number of goals: “I’m not the sort of player that likes to predict how many goals I’m going to score in a season.  My aim is to help the team as much as I can, work hard in every training session and every match, create goal opportunities and assists for my teammates,” he concludes.
 
Málaga CF’s El Hamdaoui scored a hat-trick in tonight’s First Division match; the last Blue and Whites’ player to do this was current Atlético Malagueño coach, Salva Ballesta, back in 2003 against FC Barcelona, in which the final result was also 5-0.