Boita Chemma - Algerian Football

Daily Fix: Ghezzal Nets Brace Against Juve

2010-03-14T21:09:00.004-04:00

-Two days after Rafik Saïfi ended his 5 month goalscoring drought, another Algerian international managed to put an end to his as Abdelkader Ghezzal scored two goal's in Siena's 3-3 draw away to Juventus. With Juventus scoring 3 goals in the first 10 minutes of the game, few had expected the result from Siena but a goal Massimo Maccarone in the 16th, and a brace for Ghezzal completed the come back for the Tuscan side. Ghezzal netted his first in the 46th minute, pouncing on a rebound after a Maccarone shot (Video). His second came in the 74th minute off a well taken penalty spot, leaving the Juventus keeper Chimenti with little chance (Video). Despite extending their unbeaten run to 5 games, Siena still remain last in the Serie A but are now just 4 points away from the safety zone.

-In the Saudi League, forward Abdelmalek Ziaya made his league debut for Ittihad Jeddah in their Jeddah derby against rivals Al Ahli. While Ziaya did not have the best of games, receiving little service from his teammates, he did manage to pick up an assist on the lone goal of the game. Led down the left side of the box with a pass from Mohamed Noor, Ziaya got away from his defender and centered the ball back to the middle for Manaf Abushgeer, who made no mistake tapping it into the open net (Video). Ziaya was subbed off in the 62nd minute for Tunisian international Amine Chermiti but Ittihad managed to hold onto the win despite playing the last 25 minutes with just 10 men. Ittihad move up to 2nd in the league but with just 1 game left and a 14 gap with leaders Al Hilal, they have no chance at the title.

-In the Portuguese Liga, Nacional could not pull off the upset against visiting league leaders Benfica losing 1-0. Despite a good performance from Rafik Halliche, who played the full 90 for Nacional against his parent club, the central defender could have done better on the Benfica goal, losing track of Paraguayan striker Oscar Cardozo. The loss drops Nacional to 9th in the standings. In other Liga action, Vitória Setúbal took a huge step towards avoiding drop after winning 2-1 on the road to relegation threatened Leixões. Defender Kheireddine Zarabi played the whole game for Vitória in the right-back role.

-In the Spanish La Liga, Racing Santander drew 0-0 at home against Zaragoza. Midfielder Medhi Lacen, still recovering from his injury, started the game on the bench and played the last 4 minutes of the game. Santander has not won in 8 games and are just 4 points clear of the relegation zone.

-In France' s Ligue 1, Nassim Akrour started in Grenoble's 1-0 loss to Lille and was subbed off in the 86th minute.

-In the Belgian league, Mohamed Dahmane received a rare start for Club Brugge as they defeated Roeselare 1-0. Dahmane came off in the 90th minute with his side already up. The win cements their place in second place in the league. In other action, Westerlo won 2-1 at home against Cercle Brugge with youngster Lens Annab starting as usual for the home side. Finally, Charleroi lost 2-1 in their trip to Gent, with Mohamed Chakouri coming on as a second half substitute.

-In the first round of the 2010 season in Sweden's Allsvenkan, IF Brommapojkarna lost 1-0 on the road to Helsingborgs IF. Midfielder Dalil Benyahia started the game but was subbed off after just 28 minutes after the Bromma goalkeeper received a red card.

LIVE: Algeria A' 1-0 Libya A' (FT)

2010-03-13T10:55:00.027-05:00

90' The ref blows for the full time whistle. Algeria 1-0 Libya.

90' Final corner for Algeria, the keeper clears to Djabou at the top of the box but his shot goes just wide of the net.

90' Metref picks up his second yellow card and Algeria is reduced to 10 men.

90' The fourth official announces 3 minutes of injury time.

87' Khoualed remplaces the scorer Ghazali.

87' The Libyan team misses another chance to equalize with another shot from near blasted over the goal.

79' The Libyan keeper saves a header from Abdelkader Laifaoui to keep the score at 1-0.

77' Yahia-Cherif replaces Djallit in the attack.

77' Omar Daoud misses a chance to equalize as his header goes just wide.

69' Long ball forward from the Libyan team to the left wing, Meftah is beaten down the line .. but the Libyan striker puts his shot over the net.

67' Youcef Ghazali heads in a cross from the left wing .. but the goal is called for offside.

65' Djabou makes an immediate impact, collecting the ball on midfield and putting Hadj Aissa through on goal. However, Hadj Aissa can't keep his balance in the box and loses the ball.

64' Bencheikha makes his first change for Algeria: Djabou (USMH) replaces Messaoud (ASO).

61' Ghazali takes advantage of a mistimed Libyan back pass but shoots from far instead of going through on goal. His shot goes wide.

56' Bougueche barely misses the second goal for Algeria, with his header from 6 yards out flying over the bar.

53' Bougueche picks up a yellow card for a dive on an Algeria counter attack.

50' Hadj Aissa comes close to adding the second but his shot from 20 yards out goes just wide.

47' GOAL! Youcef Ghazali opens the scoring after being put through on goal by Bougueche and placing his goal into the bottom corner. 1-0. (VIDEO)

45' First half ends as it started, Algeria 0-0 Libya. While the Algerian team dominated possession, they could not break a down a very well organized Libyan team playing with 9 players behind the ball at all times. The most notable chance of the first half came on a Ghazali cross for Hadj Aissa but the latter could not catch up to the ball.

ALG : Zemmamouche - Meftah, Maiza, Laifaoui, Babouche - Metref, Hadj Aissa, Messaoud - Djallit, Bougueche, Ghazali

Daily Fix: Saïfi Ends Five Month Goal Drought

2010-03-12T23:41:00.004-05:00

-Forward Rafik Saïfi scored his first goal for his new club FC Istres in their 1-1 draw at home against Angers in their Ligue 2 Week 28 encounter. Saïfi, who joined the club on loan at the end of January, took advantage of a goalkeeping mistake to level things up in the 43rd minute after Angers took the lead in the 8th minute through a Modeste penalty. It was his first goal since scoring for Al-Khor on October 22nd in the Qatari League. Defender Amor Kehiha also featured in the game, playing the full 90 minutes for Istres. Despite the draw, Istres remain in the relegation zone with just 27 points from 28 games, 4 points behind Châteauroux who occupy the last non-relegation spot.

-Defender Chaher Zarour scored his second goal in as many as games as Dijon FCO won 1-0 at home against Guingamp. The only goal of came in the 80th minute off a miscleared corner, with Zarour there to take advantage and score his 3rd goal of the season. The win moves Dijon upto the 12th spot with 34 points from 28 games. On the opposite side of the field, midfielder Jugurtha Hamroun played the whole game for Guingamp, who still sit in the relegation zone.

-In other Ligue 2 action:

Bastia 3-0 Arles : Fethi Harek played the whole game for Bastia
Tours 1-3 Sedan : Eyemen Henaini came on as a sub for Sedan in the 65th minute
Vannes 1-1 Strasbourg : Seid Khiter came on as a sub for Strasbourg in the 64th minute
Nîmes 1-4 Châteauroux : Abderaouf Zarabi and Mehdi Mostefa played the whole game for Nîmes
Caen 2-1 Clermont : Mickael Fabre, Ahmed Reda Madouni and Yacine Brahimi all started for Clermont, Brahimi was subbed off in the 81st minute
Laval 4-0 Le Havre: Walid Mesloub started for Le Havre and was subbed off in the 57th minute
Brest 0-1 Ajaccio : Carl Medjani played the whole game for Ajaccio

-In the Hungarian league, Nyíregyháza Spartacus managed a goalless draw on the road against 10th placed Ferencváros to extend their unbeaten run to 3 games. Midfielder Nacim Abdelali played the whole game for Nyíregyháza while his teammate Fouad Bouguerra remained on the bench. Nyíregyháza remain in the relegation zone but are now only 2 points away from safety.

-Finally, in the German Second Division, Union Berlin drew 0-0 in their vist to Fürth to face Greuther Fürth. Forward Karim Benyamina started the game, his first start in 7 games, but could not manage to break the deadlock. Union Berlin have not won in 4 games and remain in the 10th placed in the league.

Algeria Chosen as 2009 African Team of the Year

2010-03-11T20:01:00.003-05:00

The Algerian National Team was chosen as the 2009 Team of the Year by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) in their annual awards show in the Banquet Hall State House in Accra, Ghana. Algeria beat out the Ivory Coast and Ghana, who were also shortlisted for the award, to win the award, in a year where the team also qualified for its first World Cup in 24 years.

In 2009, the Algerian team played 9 games, winning 7 of them, drawing 1 and losing just once. The record includes two wins against rivals Egypt, two wins against Zambia and wins against Uruguay, Rwanda and Benin.

Defender Nadir Belhadj was also honored after being selected in the African Team of the Year. The 27-year old Portsmouth left-back played a key role in helping Algeria qualify to the World Cup playing in all 7 qualifying matches.

Algeria A': Saïbi, Gasmi Out for Libya Clash Due to Injury

2010-03-11T16:43:00.003-05:00

The Algerian A' National Team will be without the services of forwards Youcef Saïbi (CR Belouizdad) and Ahmed Gasmi (USM Annaba) in their CHAN qualifier against Libya on Saturday after both players picked up injuries. Both players were starters in last week's friendly against Liechtenstein and the injuries will force Bencheikha will have to make some changes to the squad. While its more than likely that WA Tlemcen forward Youcef Ghazali will step in to replace Saïbi up-front, there is no clear cut choice for who will replace Gasmi, who played in the midfield last game. Nacerdine Khoualed, Si Abdenour Cherif El Ouazzani and Abdelmoumene Djabou are all candidates to start in Gasmi's position. Head coach Bencheikha has also called up Islam Slimani, Saïbi's strike-partner at CRB, to fill in for the injured players.

The game is scheduled to kick-off at 4PM local time (10AM Eastern) and will be shown live on Canal Algerie. The game will be officiated by the Moroccan trio of Bouchaib Lahrech, Bouchaib Karkouri and Mimoune Bikali.

Daily Fix: Ziaya Scores First Ittihad Goal

2010-03-09T21:34:00.004-05:00

-Algerian international Abdelmalek Ziaya scored his first goal for Ittihad Jeddah in official competition in their 2-2 draw against Iranian side Zob Ahan in the Asian Champions League. Ziaya scored his goal in the 13th minute after receiving a through ball from Mohamed Noor and setting up Sultan Al-Nemri with a magnificent touch with Al-Nemri's shot being deflected by the keeper off Ziaya and into the back of the net (VIDEO). Apart from his goal, Ziaya also had two goals called off for offside. With the draw, Ittihad Jeddah sit in 3rd in Group B with just 1 point from 2 games.

-In the domestic league, ES Sétif defeated AS Khroub 4-1 to move up to 4th place in the table thanks to a brace from Nabil Hemani (34th and 70th minute) and goals from Smaïn Diss (48th minute) and Rafik Bouderbal (82nd minute). AS Khroub's only goal came through Karim Naït Yahia in the 40th minute. The loss keeps them in the 15th placed, just 5 points out of the relegation zone.

-In the English Premier League, Portsmouth lost 2-1 at home to visiting Birmingham. Despite the loss, defender Nadir Belhadj had an excellent game, receiving the highest rating (7/10) for Portsmouth from SkySports. Midfielder Hassan Yebda did not play due to his knee injury.

-In the Scottish Premier League, defender Madjid Bougherra did not play in Rangers 2-0 win over Kilmarnock as he continues to recover from his hamstring injury. The win increases Rangers lead at the top of the SPL table to 13 points over rivals Celtic with just 10 games to go.

Saadane Drops Players Ahead of World Cup

2010-03-06T23:22:00.004-05:00

Head coach Rabah Saadane dropped a number of players from the Algerian National Team as he continues his preparation for the upcoming World Cup. In an interview with state radio, Saadane announced the exclusion of goalkeeper Nassim Ousserir (CR Belouizdad), central defender Samir Zaoui (ASO Chlef) and full-backs Slimane Raho (ES Sétif) and Réda Babouche (MC Alger). He also ruled out a return for Yacine Bezzaz (RC Strasbourg) who is still weeks away from fully recovering from an injury he suffered at the African Cup of Nations, and addded that he is also considering dropping Blackpool winger Hameur Bouazza along with 3 other unnamed European-based players. Saadane explained that the dropped players were not good enough to play at the World Cup and that they will be replaced by more capable players.

Although he did not give a complete list of players that are in the running to be included for the World Cup, he did mention the likes of Lazhar Hadj Aïssa (ES Sétif) and Rabie Meftah (JS Kabylie) and said that both will be considered if they continue their good form. Various sources in the media have also added the names of goalkeepers Mickaël Fabre (Clermont Foot) and Raïs M'Bolhi (Slavia Sofia), full-backs Mohamed Chakouri (Charleroi SC) and Walid Cherfa (Gimnàstic de Tarragona), and midfielder Ryad Boudebouz (FC Sochaux).

While its hard to argue with the decision to drop Ousserir, Zaoui and Raho, it remains to be seen how players that have played the bulk of their careers in leagues such as the Belgian league, Bulgarian League, France's Ligue 2 and the Spanish Segunda División are any more qualified to play at a World Cup. At least a player like Slimane Raho can boast about his rich experience, having participated in the African Cup of Nations 3 times, winning the CAF Cup 3 times with JS Kabylie, winning the Arab Champions League twice with ES Sétif, winning the domestic league 4 times, etc.. Walid Cherfa, on the other hand, has a played a grand total of 32 professional games, 28 of them coming in the Spanish second division, and only 25 of those as a starter. Raïs M'Bolhi, who is starting for Slavia Sofia in the first division this season, never played any meaningful minutes for a top flight team and was playing in the Japanese 3rd division with FC Ryūkyū just last season. Finally, Mohamed Chakouri rejected call-ups for Algeria's youth teams and said he was hoping to catch the eye of France's head coach Raymond Domenech when he joined Charleroi, I wonder if he feels disappointed that he only caught Saadane's eye ..

What is also troubling is the timing of Saadane's decision. Did the friendly against Serbia, where Ousserir and Babouche did not participate and Zaoui only played 8 minutes, convince him that the players were not good enough or did he reach that conclusion prior to it? Given that 3 of the 4 drooped players did not play any real role in the Serbia game, it is safe to assume that Saadane had his mind made up prior to the game. This begs the question, why did he not drop them prior to the game and try out some new faces? In fact, Saadane chose to call up only 20 players for that game as opposed to the usual 23, meaning he could have played it safe by keeping them on the team and handing out call-ups to some new players.

Long story short, while many agree that some of the dropped players are not good enough to play at a World Cup, question's still have to be asked about Saadane's handling of the situation. The mistimed announcement and mediocre replacements bring back memories of Algeria's failed 1986 World Cup campaign .. let us just hope that the 2010 edition will bring about a different ending to the story.

Chemma League: Status Quo at the Top

2010-03-06T22:20:00.002-05:00

JS Kabylie failed to move into the second spot in the league after managing just a 1-1 draw at home against 2nd placed JSM Béjaïa in a day filled with draws. It was the visitors that opened the scoring after just 15 minutes, when midfielder Zahir Zerdab beat goalkeeper Samir Hadjaoui with a perfectly executed lob to take a 1-0 lead (VIDEO). JSK came close to equalizing just 10 minutes later through Saad Tedjar's free kick from 25 yards but Cédric Si Mohamed pulled off a spectacular save to put it out for a corner (VIDEO). However, JSK managed the equalizer in the 37th minute when Mohamed Rabie Meftah's cross found an unmarked Sid Ali Yahia-Chérif who headed it off the upright and into the back of the net for his 6th goal of the season (VIDEO). Both teams had their chances in the second half but the referee wrongly called off 2 goals for offsides, and the game eventually ended 1-1.

ES Sétif continued their climb to the top of the table as they won 1-0 on the road against MSP Batna with the only goal of the game coming in the 53rd minute through Hocine Metref. The win moved them up to 6th place with 34 points, 10 points behind leaders MC Alger but with 4 games in hand. ASO Chlef and NA Hussein Dey were also winners as they overcame MC Oran (3-1) and CA Batna (2-1) respectively.

Elsewhere, CA Bordj Bou Arreridj drew 1-1 at home to MC El Eulma, as did USM Blida against WA Tlemcen, while USM Annaba could only manage a goalless draw in front of their home crowd against AS Khroub.

Table (after 24 games)

1. MC Alger 44 points (23 games played)
2. JSM Béjaïa 41 points
3. JS Kabylie 39 points (23 games played)
4. USM El Harrach 36 points (23 games played)
5. USM Annaba 36 points
6. ES Sétif 34 ponts (19 games played)
7. WA Tlemcen 34 points (23 games played)
8. CA Bordj Bou Arreridj 33 points
9. CR Belouizdad 33 points (23 games played)
10. MC Oran 33 points
11. ASO Chlef 32 points
12. USM Alger 30 points
13. MC El Eulma 28 points (23 games played)
14. CA Batna 27 points
15. AS Khroub 26 points (23 games played)
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16. USM Blida 21 points (23 games plaed)
17. NA Hussein Dey 16 points
18. MSP Batna 16 points

Chemma League: USM Alger 1-0 CR Belouizdad

2010-03-05T14:44:00.001-05:00

USM Alger came away victorious after defeating rivals CR Belouizdad 1-0 in today's edition of the Alger derby held at the OPOW Stadium in Rouiba. The lone goal of the game came in the 63rd minute when USMA forward Mouaouia Meklouche easily beat CRB defender Amine Aksas on the left-wing to setup up former Algerian international Noureddine Daham, who scored his 5th goal of the season with a simple tap-in from 6 yards out (VIDEO). The goal came just minutes after another USMA chance created by Meklouche who had no trouble eliminating the CRB defender but could not manage to get his shot on target.

The win moves USMA into 11th place with 30 points from 23 points, while CRB remain in the 7th place with 33 points. The remaining games of the week are all scheduled for tomorrow with the exception of the other Alger derby involving MC Alger and USM El Harrach, which has been postponed to a later date. The Kabyle derby between 3rd placed JS Kabylie and 2nd placed JSM JSM Béjaia will be shown live on Canal Algerie starting at 2.30PM local time.

MSP Batna (17) - ES Sétif (10)
CA Bordj Bou Arreridj (9) - MC El Eulma (13)
NA Hussein Dey (18) - CA Batna (14)
USM Blida (16) - WA Tlemcen (6)
ASO Chlef (12) - MC Oran (8)
JS Kabylie (3) - JSM Béjaia (2)
USM Annaba (5) - AS Khroub (15)

Algeria A': Bencheikha Finalizes Squad For Libya

2010-03-04T19:27:00.005-05:00

The coach of the Algerian A' National Team (local team), Abdelhak Bencheikha, finalized his list of players for the upcoming African Champions of Nations qualifier against Libya on March 13th. Bencheikha made very few changes to the team that beat Liechtenstein 4-0 in a friendly (VIDEO) in Koléa on Wednesday, handing call-ups to goalkeeper Mohamed Lamine Zemmamouche (MC Alger), left-back Réda Babouche (MC Alger) and central defender Abdelkader Laïfaoui (ES Sétif), who were part of the Algerian senior team that lost to Serbia. Dropped from the team were Sofiane Bengoureïne (MC Oran), Antar Boucherit (USM Annaba), Mohamed Derrag and Mohamed Bouchema (MC Alger). Derrag was the only one of the dropped players that featured in the game against Liechtenstein. The return leg is scheduled for the weekend of March 26-28 in Tripoli.

Libya was the only North African team to qualify for the first edition of the African Champions of Nations (CHAN) held in 2009 in Ivory Coast. They'll be hoping to do it again especially after beating Mali 2-1 in a friendly on Wednesday as they prepare for the upcoming game. Algeria's last campaign ended in the first round of qualifiers after they lost 2-1 on aggregate to Morocco.

Squad

Malik Asselah (NA Hussein Dey)
Cedric Si Mohamed (JSM Béjaïa)
Mohamed Lamine Zemmamouche (MC Alger)

Mohamed Meftah (JS Kabylie)
Naceredine Khoualed (USM Alger)
Ali Rial (USM Alger)
Adel Maiza (USM Annaba)
Mohamed Yekhlef (ES Sétif)
Réda Babouche (MC Alger)
Abdelkader Laïfaoui (ES Sétif)

Si Abdenour Cherif El Ouzzani (JS Kabylie)
Hocine Metref (ES Sétif)
Lazhar Hadj Aïssa (ES Sétif)
Abdelmoumen Djabou (USM El Harrach)
Mohamed Messaoud (ASO Chlef)
Sid Ali Yahia Cherif (JS Kabylie)

Mustapha Djallit (WA Tlemcen)
Youcef Ghazali (WA Tlemcen)
Hadj Bouguèche (MC Alger)
Ahmed Gasmi (USM Annaba)
Youcef Saïbi (CR Belouizdad)

Algeria 0-3 Serbia: Reality Check

2010-03-03T16:04:00.003-05:00

The Algerian National Team put on a disappointing display in front of a packed 5 Juillet Stadium as they fell 3-0 to visiting Serbia in an international friendly, just 3 months before the upcoming World Cup. Despite being the better team in the first half, Algeria gave up the opener after just 13 minutes when Ajax-striker Marko Pantelić took advantage of a Lounes Gaouaoui error to tap in from 6 yards out. The score at the half remained that way with both teams creating a number of chances. In the second half, the Serbian coach Radomir Antić made a number of changes to the team, and it paid off with a goal after only 9 minutes. Zdravko Kuzmanović made no mistake from inside the box when a looping free kick was not properly cleared by the Algerian defense. FC Koln midfielder Zoran Tošić, on loan from Manchester United, completed the rout in the 64th minute as he easily slotted the ball past the keeper from close in. There were few chances in the remaining 25 minutes but neither side could change the score before the full-time whistle.

Saadane's Choices

As the starting line-up was announced, Rabah Saadane's choices raised a few eyebrows as the 63-year old decided to go with Slimane Raho in right back, Abdelkader Ghezzal all alone upfront and to employ three holding midfielders with Yazid Mansouri, Hassan Yebda and Mehdi Lacen. However, despite conceding the opener after just 13 minutes, the team played relatively well in the first half creating a number of occassions thanks to the lively Karim Matmour and the likes of Nadir Belhadj and Abdelkader Ghezzal. The first chance came in the 3rd minute when Abdelkader Ghezzal dribbled past two defenders on the right-wing before unleashing a shot from about 6 yards out. However, the difficult angle and the defensive pressure forced his shot into the side of the net. The most notable chance from the Algerian side was a counter attack led by Nadir Belhadj who lobbed a Serbian defender and sprinted up the field before picking out Karim Matmour on the opposite side with a pefect pass. However, Matmour's shot was well taken care of by the Serbian keeper Stojković.

Different Story

For the second half, the Serbian coach made a few changes to the team while Rabah Saadane kept faith with the starters. It seemed like a good chioce as the Algerians had the first chance with Karim Ziani's counter attack finding Hassan Yebda on the right-wing with his ensuing shot being put out for a corner. However, just 5 minutes later it was the Serbians who added their second goal when Kuzmanović took advantage of a missed clearance on a free-kick. The Algerian team kept pressing and Ghezzal almost pulled one back but his shot was put out for a corner by the keeper. A few minutes later, it was Karim Matmour's turn, as he rose up high on a Karim Ziani free-kick but his header was again put out by Stojković. Shortly after, Serbia should have made it three were it not for poor finishing. Saadane brought in Rafik Djebbour, his first game for Algeria since the win against Rwanda in October, to replace Ghezzal. However, it proved too little too late as Zoran Tošić added the third goal which effectively ended the match. Both teams had a few chances in the remaining minutes, notably a Djebbour shot from inside the box, but the final score did not change.

Changes Ahead of World Cup

With the World Cup just 3 months away, Saadane will have his work cut out for him to get the team ready for their Group C counterparts Slovenia, England and USA. While the absence of infleuntial defender Madjid Bougherra was felt, the team still lacked the collective force to compete at the highest level. Despite some terrific play at times, the team lacked the consistency over 90 minutes against a World Cup bound opponent. In the coming months, Saadane will need to urgently solve a number of issues: finding a dependable right-back, instilling a hard-battling midfield and solve the goal-scoring drought up front.

Player Ratings

Gaouaoui - 4/10 - At fault for the first goal, Gaouaoui put on a relatively good display for the rest of the match. Not much he could do on the other two goals.

Raho - 3.5/10 - After a solid start, he started to fade away after the 25th minute and was not helped by the midfielders in front of him.
Yahia - 4.5/10 - Solid display given the circumstances.
Halliche - 4/10 - Almost conceded a penalty (again) and was at the origin of the second Serbia goal after losing the ball in their half.
Belhadj - 6/10 - One of the few bright spots on the team, Belhadj defended well and provided a lot of support with his dashing runs.

Mansouri - 3/10 - "Mansouri-esque" performance from Captain Yazid ...
Lacen - 4/10 - For his debut with the Algerian team, Lacen showed glimpses of his ability but did not really adapt to the pace of the game. He will need time to gel with his teammates.
Yebda - 4.5/10 - Workman-like performance from the towering midfielder. However, he did not provide support upfront and was not having his best of days in terms of passing.
Ziani -4/10 - Had a few good runs on the left wing but looked completely out of form as the game progressed. His lack of playing time with Wolfsburg really showed.
Matmour - 6.5/10 - A man of the match performance from Matmour who was the most dangerous threat to the Serbian back line. Despite having little support, Matmour created a number of good chances.

Ghezzal - 5.5/10 - Put in the lone striker role again, Ghezzal took advantage of the few chances he received. Constantly pressed the Serbian defense and worked for the aerial balls.

Subs:

Djebbour (replaced Ghezzal) - 4.5/10 - Replacing Ghezzal in the lone striker role, he only had a couple of chances, one of them almost finding the bakc of the net.

Laifaoui (replaced Halliche) - 5/10 - Not much work to do.

Abdoun (replaced Ziani) - Despite the minimal playing time, Abdoun managed to make the highlight reel with a "flip flop" against the Serbian left-back. He also combined well with Mansouri and Djebbour in a play which almost provided a goal.

Zaoui (replaced Lacen) - In his only play of the game, Zaoui did well to tackle the ball away from a Serbian forward.

Coaching:

Saadane - 3/10 - Got his tactics and starting line-up wrong and his decisions only got worse as the game progressed. He played a huge role in qualifying the team to the World Cup but will have to do an even better job to succeed there. Coach Rabah .. it maybe time to put Mansouri on the bench.

Friendly: Algeria vs Serbia

2010-03-02T20:15:00.008-05:00

The Algerian National Team will host guests Serbia in an international friendly tomorrow evening at the 5 Juillet Stadium in Algiers, Algeria. With the 55,000 tickets to the game selling out in only 6 hours, the atmosphere in tomorrow's contest promises to be electric, as both sides prepare for the upcoming 2010 World Cup in just over 3 months time. Among the fans will be former World Cup winner, Zinedine Zidane, who is currently in his native Algeria along with members of the France 1998 World Cup winning team for a futsal tournament. Zidane is no stranger to the current team, having paid a visit to the Algerian squad prior to their departure to the 2010 African Cup in Angola.

Algeria will use tomorrow night's game to prepare for their opener at the World Cup against fellow former Yugoslav-republic Slovenia. Serbia, on the other hand, will use the friendly as a tune-up for their Group D counterparts: Germany, Australia and Ghana. While the Algerian players have trickled into camp over the last couple of days, the Serbian delegation arrived as a group on a chartered flight today.

Team News

The biggest story from the Algerian camp will be the debut of Racing Santander holding midfielder Mehdi Lacen. After a year of interviews and reports, Lacen has finally accepted the call to the team and should be starting tomorrow with Yazid Mansouri's injury. The only other major news will be whether the likes of Madjid Bougherra (injury) and Antar Yahia (wedding) will participate in the game. With Nacional's Rafik Halliche already confirmed as a scratch tomorrow, Saadane might have to rely on his bench against the likes of Zigic and Stankovic.

From the Serbian camp, head coach Radomir Antić will be without Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic, who remained with his club after recently returning from injury. He is the only player expected to miss tomorrow's game.

Probable line-ups

Algeria : Gaouaoui - Laifaoui, Bougherra, Yahia, Belhadj - Lacen, Yebda, Ziani, Matmour - Djebbour, Ghezzal

Serbia : Stojković - Ivanović, Luković, Subotić, Dragutinović - Stanković, Milijaš, Kuzmanović - Krasić, Jovanović - Žigić

Kick-off is scheduled for 7.15PM local time (1.15PM Eastern) and can be seen live on Canal Algerie

[ACN2010] Algeria vs Mali Team News

2010-01-09T11:46:00.005-05:00

Algerian team manager Rabah Saadane held a brief press conference today at the Continental Hotel in Luanda, Angola, ahead of the team's Group A encounter against Malawi. Saadane confirmed the news that Lounes Gaouaoui has left the team with a case of appendicitis and has been replaced by Mohamed Ousserir (CR Belouizdad). He also confirmed that Antar Yahia will definitely miss the game against Malawi. However, Saadane did provide some good news, indicating that Rafik Saifi and Mourad Meghni have returned to regular training with the team but that they will not start the game against Malawi.

Given the news, the most probable starting line-up will be:

4-4-2 - Chaouchi - Raho, Bougherra, Halliche, Belhadj - Mansouri, Yebda, Matmour, Ziani - Ziaya, Ghezzal

One option Saadane might also consider is starting Matmour instead of Ziaya in attack, with Bezzaz filling on the right of midfield.

African Cup of Nations 2010: Algerian Team Arrives in Angola

2010-01-08T05:08:00.004-05:00

The Algerian National Team arrived last night in the Angolan capital Luanda after flying down from their team camp in the Castellet region of southern France. The Algerian team flew out of Marseille's airport and spent part of the day in Niger's capital, Niamey, where they met officials of the Algerian Embassy there. Algeria plays its first game in Angola on January 11th against Malawi, the opening game of their Group A schedule.

Puma Releases Algeria Away Jersey

2010-01-07T12:32:00.006-05:00

Puma have released Algeria's away jersey that will be used at the upcoming 2010 African Cup of Nations in Angola. The jersey's can already be found in a number of Puma licensed stores. The away version features horizontal white and red stripes on a light green background with a white Puma logo in the middle and the usual badge and star over the right chest. This design is a slight upgrade over the home jersey which was released earlier this week. However, the overall quality of Puma's first designs for the Algerian team still leave a lot to be a desired.

Djebbour Returns to AEK Athens Lineup

2010-01-07T07:00:00.003-05:00

Rafik Djebbour returned to the AEK Athens lineup for the first time in over four months after being left out by team manager Dusan Bajevic for disciplinary problems. The 24-year old striker went straight into the starting line-up for AEK's away trip to second placed Olympiakos, and after a slow start, he managed to adjust to the pace of the game. Halfway through the first half, Djebbour had an excellent chance to get back to his scoring ways, as he was put through clear against the keeper. However, Djebbour could not round Greek international keeper Nikopolidis, and found himself trying to dribble past him on the edge of the box before the ball was put out for a corner. In the 27th minute, Olympiakos opened the scoring through Avram Papadopoulous, but a quick fire double from Argentinian striker Ignacio Scoco in the 33rd and 40th minute put AEK back in the driving seat. The score remained that way until the full-time whistle, with Djebbour having played the entire game. The win moves AEK Athens into 5th place in the Greek Super League, just one point behind 4th placed Aris Thessaloniki.

Ziaya Joins Ittihad Jeddah

2010-01-06T12:02:00.003-05:00

ES Sétif striker Abdelmalek Ziaya has joined Saudi Arabian club Ittihad Jeddah, according to the Algerian Press Service (APS). The 25-year old was originally reported to be joining Ligue 1 side FC Sochaux on loan. However, complications arose after ES Sétif president broke off negotiations with the club in favour of Ittihad Jeddah. Serrar's decision was fueled by the financial terms of Ittihad's offer, who are reportedly paying €2-million for the player who has only 6 months left on his contract.

According to APS, Ziaya signed a two contract with the club and will join them after the end of the African Cup of Nations, which he will be participating in with Algeria.

Puma Release Algeria Jersey

2010-01-05T08:07:00.006-05:00

On January 2nd, Puma released the new Algeria jersey that will be worn by the team at the upcoming 2010 African Cup of Nations. A few months ago, most fans were unanimous with the Algerian Football Federation's decision to sign with the German firm when the contract with Le Coq Sportif came to its term. After all, any respectable sporting manufacturer, especially one as prestigious and successful as Puma, would have been an upgrade over Le Coq's uninspired designs and mediocre-quality kits. Puma was already the supplier of many of the top African nations and its cutting edge designs earned rave reviews from football fans.

However, to the shock of many Algerian fans, Puma has managed to drag itself below the level of its predecessor with the release of the new Algeria jersey, a plain white shirt featuring a cartoonish Fennec (desert Fox) on the shoulder that looks like it could have been drawn up by a 10-year old student in a grade school art class. The kit lacks any form of inspiration, and, in fact, it could quite as easily pass as the uniform for a team in a children's rec league. Puma simply put out a white jersey, with a touch of green and the head of Pokemon character, and slapped a €75 price tag on it.

For a company known for its sleak and modern designs in the footballing world, the "jersey" is nothing less than a mockery, especially for a country that will be playing in the upcoming World Cup in less than 6 months time. What makes matter worse is that plenty of Algerian fans looking to support the team have gone out in droves and bought this abomination, to the point where it is already sold out in many stores in France less than two days after its release. Puma officials must be laughing all the way to the bank as they cash in on this farce, as their calculated risk of putting out a clown suit as a National Team jersey looks like its paying off. Let us hope that this is just a minor blip from Puma before the Algeria team steps into the world spotlight in South Africa in June. Otherwise, some fans might just be calling for a return to Le Coq Sportif's dull, drab designs ..

Daily Fix: Fennecs Continue Preparations in France

2010-01-04T00:09:00.003-05:00

-The Algerian National Team continued their training camp in the Toulon region of southern France as they prepare for the upcoming African Cup of Nations in Angola. Today, the team went through two practices, a light physical practise in the morning, before getting down to the tactics in the even practise. However, the team was without defender Antar Yahia who traveled to Switzerland to see a specialist about his injury, while Rafik Saifi and Mourad Meghni practises on their own as they continue to nurse their injuries. The team will stay in France for the next three days before flying down to Luanda, Angola on Thursday. Algeria faces Malawi on January 11th in their opening game of the competition.

-In the Scottish Premier League, Ismael Bouzid helped Hearts come away with a 1-1 draw against rivals Hibernian FC in the Edinburgh derby at Easter Road. Bouzid started in the heart of defense and played the whole game, putting in a solid performance despite a couple of mistakes. The win keeps Hearts in the 5th place in the SPL. In the other derby of the day, Rangers also managed a 1-1 draw against Celtic at Celtic Park in the Old Firm derby. Rangers were without two key players for the game, Algerian defender Madjid Bougherra and striker Kenny Miller. Given the circumstances, the result is considered a positive one for 'Gers and maintains their lead at the top of the table at 7 points.

-In the Spanish Segunda Division (D2), Gimnàstic Tarragona were 1-0 winners on the road against relegation threatened Cadiz. Algerian left-back Walid Cherfa played the whole game for the visitors, his 8th game of the season. With the win, Gimnàstic moves up to 6th place in the standings.

Daily Fix: Goals Galore!

2009-12-30T18:45:00.003-05:00

-In the English Premier League, bottom placed Portsmouth lost 4-1 to visiting Arsenal at Fratton Park in front of 20,404 people. Algerian internationals Nadir Belhadj and Hassan Yebda both started for Pompey, occupying the wings. Despite the loss, Belhadj managed to score his 2nd goal of the season after a couple of one-two's with Kanu and Vanden Borre before putting his shot past keeper Almunia (Video). The goal is his second in less than 2 weeks after his spectacular volley against Liverpool. Portsmouth remain last in the EPL with just 14 points from 20 games.

-In the Scottish Premier League, league leaders Rangers walked all over visiting Dundee United with a 7-1 win in front of 48,721 people at Ibrox Stadium. The goalfest was capped off in the 85th minute when defender Madjid Bougherra turned into a forward, skipping past 3 United players before placing his shot into the back of the net, his first league goal of the season (Video). Rangers now build a 7 point lead atop of the tables before their all-important clash against rivals Celtic in the Old Firm derby on Saturday.

-In an international friendly, Saudi Arabian club Ittihad Jeddah invited ES Sétif playmaker Lazhar Hadj Aïssa to play for them as they hosted Italian giants Juventus. Hadj Aïssa made full use of the opportunity with a series of spectacular dribbles, one which left Italian defender Fabio Cannavaro in the dust, and a goal in the 45th minute to level things up after Juventus had taken a 2-1 lead (Video). The game ended 2-2.

-In the Belgian First Division, Charleroi SC lost 1-0 on the road to KV Mechelen with the lone goal of the game coming in the 78th minute from Cameroonian striker Nong. Algerians Adlène Guedioura and Mohamed Chakouri started the game for Charleroi, with Guedioura getting sent off in the 90th minute.

Daily Fix: Meghni Could Miss African Cup

2009-12-30T03:17:00.003-05:00

-According to Le Soir d'Algerie, Mourad Meghni has been ruled out of the upcoming 2010 African Cup of Nations with an ankle injury. Other sources have reported similar news, although Le Buteur has reported that the medical team still does not know the exact severity of his injury due to the lack of available medical facilities during the holiday period. If Meghni does end up missing the tournament, he will surely be replaced by FSV Mainz midfielder Chadli Amri, who was one of the reserves for the competition.

-In the English Premier League, Hull City managed a 2-2 draw away to Bolton despite being down two goals with 20 minutes to go. Republic of Ireland midfielder Stephen Hunt scored twice in the space of 7 minutes to give both teams a share of the spoils. Kamel Ghilas was on the bench for Hull City but did not play in the game. The result keeps Hull City in the relegation zone with 18 points from 20 games.

-In the Scottish Premier League, the scheduled match between Aberdeen and Falkirk was postponed to a later date because of weather conditions. Algerian midfielder Toufik Zerara was expected to start the game.

Daily Fix: Bougherra Impressive In Rangers Win

2009-12-28T20:19:00.002-05:00

-Rangers put on an brilliant display on the road at Easter Road to win their fifth Scottish Premier League match in a row with a 4-1 victory against third placed Hibernian. However, Rangers got off to the worst start possible when the home side opened the scoring after just 12 seconds play thanks to Anthony Stokes. However, the two teams were level 20 minutes later when Kenny Miller scored his 11th goal of the season. In the 37th minute, took the lead when Madjid Bougherra picked out teammate Kris Boyd with a well placed low cross, with the striker making no mistake from about 6 yards out. After Nacho Novo scored the third goal in the 53rd minute, Bougherra was again decisive, when his run led to Kenny Miller's second goal of the night. The Algerian defender received the highest rating by fans on SkySports.com, 8.7 out of 10. Rangers are now 4 points ahead of rivals Celtic at the top of the SPL.

-In the English Premier League, Hull City lost 3-1 at home to Manchester United extending their winless run to 5 games. However, the game was an opportunity for Kamel Ghilas to get his first action on the field since last featuring on Halloween in a 2-0 loss to Burnley. Ghilas, who was dropped for the African Cup of Nations by Algerian head coach Rabah Saadane, was subbed on in the 83rd minute with the score already 3-1. He had one chance in his brief appearance, a well-struck shot from about 20 yards out which United keeper Tomasz Kuszczak kept out.

-In the Belgian Jupiler League, Excelsior Mouscron were kicked out of the top flight and relegated to the 3rd division after announcing they would forfit their upcoming match against Westerlo on Wednesday. This means that all the players, including Algerian forward Idir Ouali, who was previously linked with a move to Standard Liege.

Belhadj Starts In Pompey Loss

2009-12-27T07:08:00.004-05:00

Belhadj put in a lacklustre display for Portsmouth before being subbed off in the 45th minute as they lost 2-0 away in a relegation battle with West Ham

Algerian international Nadir Belhadj was given the start for the second week in a row by manager Avram Grant as Portsmouth traveled to Upton Park to face West Ham. In a crucial encounter between the two bottom clubs in the English Premier League, Grant chose to stick with Belhadj on the leftwing after his impressive display the previous week against Liverpool where he scored a spectacular goal.

However, Belhadj and the rest of his teammates could barely manage to get going against a more motivated West Ham. Already losing 1-0 at halftime, Grant chose to replace the Algerian with German Under-21 international Kevin-Prince Boateng. Portsmouth would concede a second goal in the last minute of the game to seal their fate and plunge the club into further crisis. Pompey sits last in the tables with just 14 points from 19 points, 3 behind Hull City and Bolton who have both played less games.

Fellow Algerian Hassan Yebda, a regular starter in the Pompey XI, was left on the bench for the game. Both players will stay with the club for the next game against Arsenal before joining up with the Algerian National Team for the African Cup of Nations.

Daily Fix: Dahmane Decisive In Brugge Comeback

2009-12-27T07:02:00.000-05:00

-In the Belgian Jupiler League, Mohamed Dahmane played a key role in Club Brugge's 2-1 come back win in their derby against city rivals Cercle Brugge. With Dahmane starting the game on the bench, Cercle took the lead in the 21st minute through Oleg Iachtchouk, with the score remaining that way at halftime. Dahmane was subbed on during the break, replacing Ronald Vargas on the right wing and 19 minutes later was at the origin of the tying goal. He sent in a cross from the top right of the box which was played back to Geraerts who put it past the Cercle keeper. Just 11 minutes later, Dahmane was again involved in a Brugge goal, providing the pass prior to the final cross that found Wesley Sonck, scorer of the game winning goal. The win keeps Club Brugge in the second place in the Belgian top flight with 40 points from 14 games, 4 points behind leaders Anderlecht who have a game in hand. In other league action, Charleroi won 3-0 at home against bottom club Roeselare. Algerians Adlène Guedioura and Mohamed Chakouri both played the full match for Charleroi, which is now 4 points clear of the relegation zone.

-In the English Championsip (D2), Blackpool FC went back to their winning ways with a 2-0 win away to Derby County. However, the Seasiders did it for the most part without the help of Algerian international Hameur Bouazza who only played the last 3 minutes of the game.

-In the Scottish Premier League, a couple of Algerians went head-to-head as Falkirk hosted Hearts. Midfielder Toufik Zerara started in the left of midfield for Falkirk, as former Algerian international Ismael Bouzid started in defense for the visitors. The game was decided from the penalty spot in the 43rd minute, when Hearts midfielder Michael Stewart converted from 12 yards out to make it 1-0. Zerara, chosen as the Man of the Match, was subbed off in the 84th minute while Bouzid played the entire 90 minutes. Falkirk remain last in the SPL, while Hearts jump over Motherwell into 5th place.

Ziaya Set On Sochaux Loan Move

2009-12-24T20:12:00.004-05:00

According to DZFoot.com, ES Sétif striker Abdelmalek Ziaya is set to join French club FC Sochaux on loan until the end of the season. The 25-year old has been in fine form this year scoring 15 goals in 13 games in ES Sétif's run in the CAF Confederation Cup, 8 league goals since the start of the 2009-2010 domestic season in August and 3 goals in 4 games in the 2009 North African Champions Cup. His performances did not go unnoticed as many European and Arab clubs came knocking to enroll his services. He even earned himself a call-up to the Algerian National Team for the upcoming 2010 African Cup of Nations.

While earlier reports had indicated that Ziaya would join Sochaux on transfer, scouts from the club hesitated after his lacklustre performance in the return leg of the North African Champions Cup against ES Tunis where he was replaced at halftime. However, the two sides have reportedly reached a loan agreement with Sochaux paying €700,000 for the initial loan, and a further €1,200,000 if Ziaya makes 7 appearances during the loan period.

If the move does materialize for the talented striker, he will become the first Algerian player from the domestic league to sign with a Ligue 1 side since Abderraouf Zarabi signed with AC Ajaccio in 2003.

World Cup 2010: Algeria Qualify!

2009-11-23T22:57:00.002-05:00

Algeria qualified to the 2010 World Cup with a 1-0 win over rivals Egypt in a playoff match held at the Merreikh Stadium in Khartoum, Sudan. The only goal of the game came in the 40th minute when Karim Ziani set up defender Antar Yahia who's shot from inside the box struck the bar and went in. The draw for the World Cup will be held on December 4th.

PS. Blog back up !!

Daily Fix: Bougherra Reaffirms Commitment to Rangers

2009-04-27T13:41:00.009-04:00

-Rangers defender Madjid Bougherra reaffirmed his commitment to Rangers after reports on the weekend had indicated that the Algerian international would leave the club if they did not win the league title this season. Bougherra clarified his message on Rangers' official site saying "I have no intention of leaving Rangers.I was trying to say that if you don't have the mentality to win a championship then you should not be at a club like Rangers.I did not express myself properly in English and I believe what I said sounded bad to the supporters listening to the radio." In related news, Bougherra was also honored on the weekend as the Rangers Player of the Year by the Brothers in Blue supporters group. He received his trophy in an event organized by the group at the Ibrox Suite.

-According to The Egypt Report, Uganda has requested a friendly with the Algerian National Team in the Ugandan capital Kampala. Uganda, already eliminated from the African and World Cup qualifiers, has also sollicited Egypt and the Ivory Coast.

-In the English Premier League, Portsmouth drew 0-0 away to relegation threatened Newcastle United. Nadir Belhadj started on the left-wing for Pompey and put in a good presentation attacking the Newcastle defense. He received a 6 out of 10 from SkySports.com for his efforts. Portsmouth now need a maximum of just 4 points from their final 4 games to avoid the drop, and could probably maintain their place in the EPL with less than that.

-In France's Ligue 2, Strasbourg and Metz also played out to a goalless draw in front of 23,000 fans at the Stade La Meinau with both sides looking to cement their promotion bids. Algerian international Yacine Bezzaz returned to training for Strasbourg but did not participate in the game. Midfielder Laurent Agouazi started for Metz but was replaced in the 67th minute. The draw means that Metz remain in the 3rd place with just a 1 point advantage over 4th placed Strasbourg.

-Finally, according to various sources, Ahli Jeddah has decided to terminate the contract of its coach and all the foreign players on the team after being eliminated from the domestic cup. This includes Algerian striker Youcef Saibi who joined the Saudi club in February from USM El Harrach, scoring 4 goals in his brief time with the club. Saibi will return having left a good impression about his abilities with Saudi National Team head coach Jose Peseiro considering giving him a call-up before being told that he was Algerian.

Daily Fix: Ziani Helps Marseille Take Step Closer to Title

2009-04-26T21:31:00.005-04:00

-Karim Ziani return to the Marseille starting line-up in their important away trip to Lille after a one month absence due to his hernia surgery. Playing on the right wing, Ziani had a quiet first half by his standards failing to really implicate himself in Marseille's play. However, Ziani proved to be more decisive in the second half and even started the action that led to Marseille's second goal which proved to be the game winner. Marseille's 2-1 win means that they now have a 5 point lead at the top of the Ligue 1 table with just 5 more games to go.

-In other Ligue 1 action, Lorient drew 1-1 away to Toulouse to end their 2 game losing streak. Midfielder Yazid Mansouri started the game in his usual holding role and gave the assist on Lorient's goal in the 86th minute with a perfectly placed cross for Andre Ayew. However, Lorient could not hold on to the lead and gave up a goal in the last minute of the game to share the spoils.

-In the German Bundesliga, Karim Matmour scored his 3rd goal of the season in Borussia Monchengladbach's 1-1 draw at home against Arminia Bielefeld. Matmour opened the scoring in the 13th minute of the game with a well struck right-footer into the corner of the net. However, the visitors equalized 20 minutes later with the score remaining that way until the final whistle. The draw keeps both sides in the relegation zone with 7 more rounds to go.

-In the German second division, FSV Mainz beat FC Ingolstadt in a 4-3 thriller to move up to second place in the table. Chadli Amri started the game and gave the assist in Mainz's second goal before being subbed off in the 70th minute. The win means that Mainz are now in a prime position to gain promotion to the Bundesliga.

-In the Italian Serie A, AC Siena lost 1-0 on the road to Torino. Striker Abdelkader Ghezzal did not start the game for the Bianconeri but came on in the 53rd minute with his side already down a goal. However, Siena were unable to find the equalizer.

-Kamel Ghilas scored his 10th goal of the season as Celta Vigo drew 2-2 at home against Levante. Celta Vigo were destined for the win but 2 goals in the last 25 minutes dashed their hopes.

-Finally, 34-year old striker Hamid Berguiga scored his second goal of the season as his team DPMM FC climbed to the top of Singapore's S League with a 2-1 win over powerhouses Singapore Armed Forces FC. Put through on goal by his teammate Rene Komar, Berguiga kept his cool to slot him the winner to the delight of the 10,000 fans in attendance. With the win, DPMM FC take a 1 point lead over SAAFC at the top of the S League 10 games into the season.

Arab Champions League: ES Sétif Eliminated in Semi-Finals

2009-04-26T14:27:00.005-04:00

ES Sétif's quest for a third consecutive Arab Champions League came to an end today as they lost 2-0 against Tunisian side Espérance to go out 3-0 on aggregate. Playing in front of a full house at the Radès Stadium, the home side took the lead in the 7th minute with a penalty converted by Zine El Abidine Souissi after goalkeeper Hadjaoui had been deemed to bring down Nigerian striker Eneramo in the box. Despite a number of chances for ESS to equalize, notable a Slimane Raho shot off the bar, they failed to find the back of the net. Espérance put the icing on the cake 3 minutes from the full-time whistle with a goal from striker Wajdi Bouazzi. Espérance will face Moroccan side Wydad Casablanca in the finals of the competition. ESS will now turn their attention to the domestic title, where they currently sit in first, and the CAF Confederation Cup.

ESS: Hadjaoui - Raho, Laifaoui, Diss, Yekhlef - Belkaid, Delhoum, Metref - Djediat (Ambane) - Ziaya, Hemani (Segeur)

Daily Fix: Bougherra, Rangers Qualify to Scottish Cup Final

2009-04-26T02:24:00.005-04:00

-Madjid Bougherra helped Rangers to a comfortable 3-0 win over St. Mirren in the semi-finals of the 2009 Scottish Cup at Glasgow's Hampden Park. Goals from Velicka, Boyd and Miller booked Rangers place in the May 30th final for the second year in a row. Rangers won last year's edition, the 32nd in team history, with a 3-2 win over second division side Queen of the South. The 26-year old Bougherra will be looking to win the first trophy of his young career.

-VfL Bochum lost their second league game in a row after going down 3-2 on the road to Werder Bremen. Despite holding a 2-0 advantage, Bochum gave up 3 goals in the last 35 minutes a game to miss out on the 3 points. Algerian defender Antar Yahia played the whole game for Bochum.

-Ankaragücü managed a shocking 2-1 win on the road against giants Fenerbahce in the Turkish Süper Lig. Defender Ismael Bouzid held his own in the heart of the Ankaragücü defense despite going up against the likes of David Guiza, Roberto Carlos and Deivid. Ankaragücü have now won 3 of their last 4 games and seem destined to avoid relegation to the second division.

-As is usually the case, a number of Algerians were in action in the Belgian league this weekend. Adlène Guédioura helped Charleroi to a 1-0 win over Zulte Waregem before being replaced in the 87th minute of the game. His former teammate Karim Belhocine played the entire game for Courtrai as they drew 2-2 at home against Tubize. Finally, forward Idir Ouali could not help his Mouscron side avoid defeat as they went down 3-0 at Lokeren.

-In the Swiss Super League, AC Bellinzona won 2-0 at home against FC Luzern with former Lyon midfielder Yacine Hima playing the whole game for the home side. Hima has made 21 appearances this season scoring 1 goal.

-Last but not least, Tunisian side Espérance Tunis will host ES Sétif in the return leg of their semi-final match-up of the 2009 Arab Champions League at the Stade 7 November in the Tunisian capital. The Tunisians managed a 1-0 win in Sétif in the first leg and ESS will come out looking to score knowing they have nothing to lose. The game is scheduled for 3.30PM Algerian time (10.30AM Eastern Standard Time) and can be seen live on ART.

Daily Fix: Dahmane Starts In Club Brugge Loss

2009-04-24T22:27:00.005-04:00

-Mohamed "Momo" Dahmane started his second game in a row for Club Brugge in the early game of the weekend on the road against Germina Beerschot. However, the home side took the lead just 5 minutes into the game through Croatian international Ivan Leko. Despite a number of chance for the visitors, namely through Akpala and Sonck, Brugge were unable to level things. Dahmane was subbed off in the 80th minute as Brugge coach Jacky Mathijssen looked to bring in some fresh legs to get the equalizer but Germinal Beerschot sealed the game just 5 minutes later, when Leko scored again this time from the penalty spot. Despite the loss, Brugge will remain in 3rd place with 4th placed La Gantoise 6 points behind.

-A number of games were on the Ligue 2 schedule today:

Nîmes 2-1 Dijon - Nîmes won 2-1 at home to keep up their hopes of staying up this season. Midfielder Mehdi Mostefa, captain of the team, played the full game for the Crocodiles with defender Saad Ichalalene making a brief 6 minute cameo in the game and collecting a yellow card. Algerian international Abderraouf Zarabi missed the game through suspension. Despite the win, Nîmes remain last in the standings but are not just 3 points below the safety zone.

Ajaccio 0-2 Amiens - Midfielder Foued Kadir came on at the half for Amiens as they won 2-0 away to Ajaccio. The win moves them to 12th place in the table.

Clermont Foot 1-0 Reims - Salim Arrache was back in the Reims starting line-up for their trip to Clermont. However, the left winger lasted just 58 minutes before being replaced. Clermont scored the winner 12 minutes from time when Reims defender Ibrahim Thiam scored an own goal. Reims just 2 points above the relegation zone but could move down if Châteauroux win in their game against Vannes.

Lens 1-0 Bastia - Ligue 2 leaders got the 3 points at home with a 1-0 win over visitors SC Bastia. Two former Algerian internations were in the starting line up for Bastia: fullback Mehdi Méniri and left back Fethi Harek. While Méniri did not have his best game, Harek put in an excellent performance both on defence and offence. Both of them played the entire game.

Angers 1-5 Boulogne - Angers lost any hope of promotion to the top flight as they were thrashed at home 5-1 by visitors Boulogne thanks to a hat-trick from Gregory Thil and a brace from Alexandre Cuvillier. Midfielder Karim Djellabi played the whole game for Angers.

Chemma League: JSM Béjaïa Win to Move Back Into Top Three

2009-04-23T20:46:00.003-04:00

JSM Béjaïa moved back into third place in the Algerian League with a 1-0 win at home against 12th placed NA Hussein Dey. The lone goal of the game in the 75th minute from striker Hamza Boulemdïs, who scored his 6th goal of the season. The win puts JSMB level on points with 4th placed CA Bordj Bou Arreridj, with JSMB possessing the better goal average and a game in hand.

In the other game of the day, USM Alger won 3-0 at the Omar Hamadi Stadium against visitors AS Khroub. USMA opened the scoring in the 41st minute when a Amar Ammour free kick found an unmarked Isâad Bourahli who headed into the net. The second goal of the game came from another set piece, this time a Billel Dziri corner kick with defender Ali Rial rising over the opposition to double the gap. Bourahli put the icing on the cake in the 79th minute getting his second goal of the day. Despite the win, USMA have little to play for this season with the club likely finishing in the middle of the pack. ASK are looking to avoid relegation with the team sitting just 7 points clear of the relegation zone.

Coupe d'Algerie: CR Belouizdad and CA Bordj Bou Arreridj Qualify to Final

2009-04-23T14:31:00.003-04:00

CR Belouizdad and CA Bordj Bou Arreridj qualified to the final of the 2009 edition of the Algerian Cup with wins over USM Annaba and ES Sétif respectively.

CR Belouizdad were the first to qualify to the final with a 1-0 win over USM Annaba at the 8 Mai 1945 Stadium in Sétif thanks to a goal by Hocine Fenier in the 85th minute. The goal came after Seddik Berradja got the ball past his marker and blasted a shot towards the keeper which was saved right into the path of the oncoming Fenier. With the win, CR Belouizdad return to the final for the first time since 2003 when they lost to USM Alger in the final. CRB has already won the trophy 5 times with their last win coming in 1995.

In the other semi-final, played at the 1er Novembre Stadium in Batna, CA Bordj Bou Arreridj qualified to their first final in team history after winning the penalty shootout 4-3 against favorites ES Sétif with the game ending 1-1 in regulation. ESS seemed destined to qualify for the final after Hocine Metref's goal in the 28th minute but a last gasp equalizer from Houssam Bouharbit in injury time of the second half denied them that. Both teams failed to take advantage of the 30 minutes of extra time and CABBA sealed the deal in the shootout.

Daily Fix: Belhadj Shines at Old Trafford

2009-04-23T00:40:00.005-04:00

-Nadir Belhadj finally returned to the Portsmouth starting line-up for their away trip to the legendary Old Trafford stadium for their Premier League encounter with table toppers Manchester United. Belhadj started the game in the left-midfielder role, replacing the injured Niko Kranjcar. Despite Portsmouth losing the game 2-0, Belhadj put in an excellent display and looked like one of the few motivated Pompey players. Belhadj received a 7/10 from SkySports, 7.5/10 from Setanta and a 7/10 from Goal.com.

-In the Swiss Super League, AC Bellinzona drew 1-1 on the road away to second placed FC Basel. Midfielder Yacine Hima did not start the game but was brought on as a sub in the 86th minute to help his team protect the 1-1 scoreline.

-JS Kabylie striker Adlène Bensaïd is being linked with a move to Tunisian side Espérance de Tunis and Emirati club Al Dhafra. According to Le Buteur, Al Dhafra are ready to table in a bid worth €300,000 for the the 27-year old Bensaïd, who has scored 7 goals in the league this season.

-A number of other JS Kabylie players could be in line for moves to foreign clubs with FC Istres reportedly sending officials to supervise 24-year old striker Mohamed Derrag and 21-year old Malian defender Idrissa Coulibaly. FC Istres are looking to bolster their squad after pretty much assuring promotion to Ligue 2. Coulibaly can also count on interest from Ligue 2 side FC Metz. Among the other JSK players receiving interest are keeper Fawzi Chaouchi and right back Rabie Meftah.

Daily Fix: Henri Michel Linked to Algeria Job

2009-04-21T19:31:00.005-04:00

-There was quite a stir in Algerian football circles today involving a rumor linking French coach Henri Michel with the Algeria coaching job. According to various sources, he had signed a two-year deal with the Algerian FA to take control of Les Fennecs. However, in an interview with Algerian paper Echorouk, Michel denied the news and said that he was simply in talks to take over the vacant DTN Position.

-Algerian international Brahim Hemdani suited up again for the Rangers reserve team today as they drew 0-0 away to Hearts. The 31-year old holding midfielder has not featured for the first team after a fallout with manager Walter Smith and has been reduced to outings with the reserves. Hemdani was free to leave the club in the winter transfer window but opted to see out the remainder of his contract, which reportedly pays him a cool £17,000-a-week.

-Chadli Amri and FSV Mainz were eliminated in the semi-finals of the German Cup (DFB-Pokal) after losing 4-1 to Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen. Playing in front of 40,000 fans in the Düsseldorf's LTU Arena, the game remained goalless until the 82nd minute when Greek international Angelos Charisteas put Leverkusen ahead. It seemed that the one goal would be enough until Burkina Faso's Aristide Bancé levelled the score with just 2 minutes to go, forcing the game into extra-time. However, Bayer Leverkusen added 3 goals in the extra period to book their place in the final of the German Cup. Midfielder Chadli Amri played the whole game for FSV Mainz, who will now focus the rest of their attention this season on promotion to the top flight.

-In the Italian Serie B, Avellino lost 3-0 on the road to fifth-placed Brescia. The loss only complicates Avellino's chances of staying up in the Italian second flight, with the team sitting in second last and 9 points below the safety zone. Algerian midfielder Djamel Mesbah, on loan from Swiss side FC Lucerne, played the whole game.

Chemma League: ES Sétif, JS Kabylie Win At Home

2009-04-20T23:11:00.002-04:00

Four games were on schedule today in the Algerian League, all of them make up games for teams involved in various other competitions. The top two teams in the league, ES Sétif and JS Kabylie, both won at home today to keep pace with one another. The two others teams playing at home, ASO Chlef and MC El Eulma, also came away with wins, making it a clean sweep for the hosts.

ES Sétif (1) 3-2 RC Kouba (17) - First-placed ES Sétif had a relatively easy task at home against bottom placed RC Kouba, and it took the home side just 2 minutes to open the scoring when central defender Smaïn Diss found the back of the net. They doubled just 21 minuters later, this time through midfielder Lamouri Djediat, who scored his 10th league goal of the season. The score remained that way going into the half, and during the interval RC Kouba coach Baâziz Safsafi must have had some inspirational words for his men as they come out firing in the second half. RCK levelled the score with goals from Sakho in the 49th minute and Benyahia in the 66th. However, the come back lasted just 1 minute as ESS took the lead again for good in the 67th minute by way of Ivorian midfielder Rémi Adiko.

MC El Eulma (8) 3-2 CA Bordj Bou Arreridj (3) - In the televised game of the day, third placed CA Bordj Bou Arreridj had a tricky away trip to navigate in El Eulma if they hoped to remain in the title chase. An MCEE goal from French-born attacking midfielder Amir Karaoui in the 21st minute made their task a lot harder, especially with the wind and occassional showers. CABBA managed to level things up in the 57th minute with a goal from former Algerian international Benhalima Rouane. However, goals from Cameroonian striker Gérard Mongolo, his 9th of the season, and Laïd Belhamel, another former international, sealed the 3 points for MCEE. The visitors added a consolation goal in the 90th minute by way of another Cameroonian, Christian Essomba.

JS Kabylie (2) 1-0 MSP Batna (14) - Playing at home on the 29th anniversary of the 'Berber Spring', an important date in the Kabyle calendar, JS Kabylie had double the incentive to come away with a victory. Despite dominating the game, the home fans had to wait until the 57th minute to see a goal when Adlène Bensaïd created some space for himself before beating the MSPB keeper Abderrahmane Boultif. It was the only goal of the game and ensured that JSK kept pace with league leaders ES Sétif, who have a 1 point advantage at the top.

ASO Chlef (11) 2-1 USM Annaba (8) - In a battle of mid-table teams at Chlef's Mohamed Boumezrag Stadium, ASO Chlef were 2-1 winners against visitors USM Annaba. ASO's goals came through strikers Karim Ali Hadji in the 48th minute and Mohamed Messaoud in the 70th minute, who scored his league leading 14th goal of the season. The USMAn goal came in the 77th minute, an own goal by ASO defender Mohamed Mekioui.

Daily Fix: Soltani Brace Not Enough

2009-04-20T00:03:00.005-04:00

-Karim Soltani got off to the perfect start for his side ADO Den Haag in their away game against Willem II as he scored two goals in the first 30 minutes of the game to give his side the 2-0 advantage and take his season tally to 5 goals. Den Haag even added a third goal in the early minutes of the second half but a remarkable comeback from the home side including 3 goals in 6 minutes halfway through the second half brought the two sides back level again at 3-3. With the score remaining that way until the end, ADO Den Haag blew another opportunity to make some distance with the relegation zone after giving up 2 goals in the final 5 minutes last week to drop 3 crucial points.

-Karim Ziani made a triumphant return from injury to the Marseille line-up as they won 2-1 on the road against FC Lorient. With the score level at 1-1, Karim Ziani came on as a substitute in the 74th minute and just 6 minutes later provided a cross to Brazilian striker Brandao who blasted it past Lorient keeper Cappone, a goal which proved to be the winner. With the win, Marseille remain at the top of the table with 64 points, ahead of Bordeaux with 62 points and Lyon with 60. On the Lorient side, midfielder Yazid Mansouri played the whole game, while Rafik Saifi came into the game in the 68th minute.

-In the Italian Serie A, AC Siena lost 2-0 at home against Chievo Verona. Striker Abdelkader Ghezzal started for the home side in place of the injured Massimo Maccarone but was replaced at halftime.

-In the Scottish Premier League, Rangers were 3-2 winners on the road over Hibs extending their winning streak to 4 games. Algerian international defender Madjid Bougherra played the 90 minutes and even provided the cross on the 3rd Rangers goal. Rangers remain 2nd in the table, 4 points behind league leaders Celtic.

-In the Turkish Süper Lig, MKE Ankaragücü managed to exit the relegation zone with a 3-2 win at home against Eskisehirspor. Defender Ismael Bouzid played the whole game for the home side.

Daily Fix: Belhadj Leads Portsmouth to Victory

2009-04-18T22:50:00.008-04:00

-Fullback Nadir Belhadj provided instant offense for Portsmouth today when he was called up on in his teams 1-0 win over Bolton. Belhadj started the game on the bench but was subbed on in the 79th minute when Croatian midfielder Niko Kranjcar went down with an injury. Within seconds of stepping on the pitch, Belhadj sent in a corner kick that was tapped into the goal at the line by Nigerian international Nwankwo Kanu, giving Pompey the one goal advantage. Belhadj had another opportunity to shine in injury time with a 60-yard solo run. However, his shot would go just over the top of the bar. With the win, Portsmouth are now 6 points clear of the relegation zone with just 6 games to go and are almost assured of remaining in the English Premier League the upcoming season.

-In the Germany Bundesliga, VfL Bochum slumped to their thid defeat in five games as they lost 2-0 at home to Borussia Dortmund. Defender Antar Yahia played the entire game for the home side and had an occassion to score when his header bounced off the upright. Despite the loss, Bochum still remain on course to avoid relegation as all the sides below them in the table failed to win. Among those teams were Karim Matmour's Borussia Monchengladbach, who lost 4-1 on the road to Eintracht Frankfurt. Matmour started the game but was subbed off in the 65th minute by German international Oliver Neuville.

-In Ligue 1, Nassim Akrour played just 11 minutes for Grenoble before coming off with a thigh injury was they won 1-0 against Toulouse. His status is uncertain for Grenoble's semi-final Coupe de France match up with Monaco next week.

-In the Portuguese SuperLiga, fourth placed Nacional drew 1-1 at home against fifth placed Sporting Braga. Rafik Halliche started the game for Nacional but was replaced at the half. The 22-year old defender is on season long loan from Benfica, who currently sit in 3rd place in the league.

-In the Belgian top flight, Idir Ouali's Mouscron failed to create the upset against league leaders Standard Liege as they lost 3-0 at home. The Algerian winger played the entire game but was unable to score. Elsewhere, Mohamed Dahmane, facing his former club Mons, was put back into the FC Bruges starting line-up after two months as a substitute. Despite winning 3-2, Dahmane did not score and was replaced in the 75th minute. Former Algerian international Fadel Brahami started for Mons but was sent off the 82nd minute for his second bookable offence. Midfielder Adlène Guédioura also had to deal with defeat as his Charleroi side lost 3-1 away to Tubize. Finally, Courtrai were trashed 5-1 on the road against Zulte-Waregem with both Karim Belhocine and Salah Bakour playing for the visitors. Belhocine only lasted 51 minutes in the game before getting a straight red for a professional foul.

-In the Swiss Super League, AC Bellinzona lost 2-1 at home against FC Aarau. Defensive midfielder Yacine Hima played the entire game and picked up a yellow card on the stroke of halftime for the home side.

-In the Spanish Segunda Division, striker Kamel Ghilas scored for the second week in a row to take his season tally to 9 goals. However, his Celta Vigo side fell to a 4-1 defeat at the hands of third placed Rayo Vallecano Madrid. Gimnastic Tarragona were also 1-0 losers away to Real Zaragoza but defender Walid Cherfa did not feature in the match.

-In the Italian Serie B, Djamel Mesbah scored his second goal of the season as Avellino drew 1-1 at home against Piacenza. The on-loan midfielder opened the scoring in the 44th minute of the game with a header off a set piece. With the draw, Avellino remain in the 21st place in the Italian second division, and serious contenders for relegation.

-In the Saudi King Cup of Champions, Youcef Saibi scored his 4th goal in all competitions for his club Al Ahli as they drew 1-1 in the away leg against Al Hazm. Saibi scored in the 47th minute of the game, when he through against the goalie and slotted it past him into the far corner of the net. The return leg will be played in five days time.

African Confederation Cup: JSM Béjaïa 1-0 Stade Malien (Mali)

2009-04-18T14:14:00.004-04:00

JSM Béjaïa managed a 1-0 win at home against Malian side Stade Malien in the first leg of their third round match up in the African Confederation Cup. In a game that offered little in terms of scoring chances, the home side managed to break deadlock in the 80th minute of the game with a well placed lob by Mohamed Amine Belkheir from the edge of the box to beat the Malian keeper (Video). Belkheir scored the goal just 7 minutes after his entry into the game. The two teams square off again in two weeks time in the Malian capital Bamako.

JSMB: N'Jeukam - Megateli, Messali, Zafour, Belakhdar - Belatrèche, Lahmar (M. Deghiche 85), Zerdab (Ghazi 60) - N'Djeng, Boulemdaïs, Boukessassa (Belkheir 73)

African Confederation Cup: ES Sétif 4-0 Recreativo Libolo (Angola)

2009-04-17T17:05:00.004-04:00

ES Sétif took a closer step to the next round of the 2009 African Confederation Cup with a convincing 4-0 win (Video) at home against Angolan side Recreativo Libolo in their first leg match up of the third round. It took the home side just 10 minutes to get their name on the score sheet through Algerian international Nabil Hemani who blasted a shot from just outside the box after lovely work by Hadj Hadj Aïssa. Halfway through the first half, Lamouri Djediat could have doubled the lead from the penalty spot but failed to convert his attempt. However, he redeemed himself at the stroke of halftime when another Hadj Aïssa setup found a cutting Djediat who beat out the keeper and two defenders to slot him his 3rd goal of the competition. In the second half, the visitors would bury themselves deeper in trouble when Machado scored into his own net try to clear a Abdelmalek Ziaya cross. The rout was complete in the 87th minute when Abdelmalek Ziaya turned finisher scoring his 3rd goal of the competition with a well placed shot from outside the box after a nice build up play with Bouazza Feham. With the win, ESS extends their 100% record in the competition after beating Libyan side Khaleej Sirt in both legs last round. The two teams face each other again in the return leg in two weeks time in Angola.

Goals: Hemani 10, Djediat 45, Macheda 67 (OG), Ziaya 87

ESS: Ferradji - Raho, Aksas, Diss, Yekhlef - Adiko, Metref, Djediat (Delhoum 73), Hadj Aïssa (Feham 73) - Ziaya, Hemani (Benchaïra 83)

Daily Fix: Ziani To Miss Shakhtar Clash

2009-04-16T09:52:00.004-04:00

-Olympique Marseille will be without midfielder Karim Ziani for their UEFA Cup quarter-final clash with Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk. Although Ziani has returned to training after his thigh injury, Marseille's medical staff has not given him the green light to return to competition.

-Madjid Bougherra will miss his third Old Firm derby of the season through suspension after picking up a yellow card against St. Mirren in league action. The Rangers midfielder had already missed the first two encounters of his team this season with city rivals Celtic, with Rangers losing both games. Rangers currently sit just one point behind Celtic in the league.

-Stade Brest's Brahim Ferradj will be out for at least 6 months after tearing his ACL during practise. The 21-year old midfielder has been one of the top players in Ligue 2 this season, featuring 27 times for his club and netting 4 goals. He has been linked with a number of Ligue 1 clubs throughout the season and Algerian National Team manager Rabah Saadane has even supervised the youngster in view of a call-up.

-SC Bastia Abdelmalek Cherrad will miss the next 3 weeks with a thigh injury during a training session with his club. The former Algerian international has scored just 2 goals in 14 appearances this season for the Corsican side.

-Former JS Kabylie striker Hamid Berguiga scored his first goal in Singapore's S-League as his team Brunei DPMM FC drew 2-2 away to Albirex Niigate FC. Berguiga came into the game in the 20th minute and found the back of the net in the 65th minute. DPMM FC are first in the S-League with 19 points from 9 games.

-According to Algerian paper El Watan, right back Icham Mouissi could be in line for a national team call up in the near future after impressing head coach Rabah Saadane. Mouissi is currently plying his trade in the Belgian 2nd division with RFC Tournai. He has scored 6 goals in 28 appearances and has also been linked to a move with a number of Belgian top flight sides. Mouissi has previously featured for the Algerian Under-23 National Team.

Chemma League: JS Kabylie Close Gap at the Top

2009-04-13T12:47:00.004-04:00

In Round 26 of action in the Algerian league, JS Kabylie defeated MC Saïda 4-2 on the road to close the gap at the top of the table to just 4 points on league leaders ES Sétif, who still have a game in hand. With ESS playing its second competitive game in less than 40 hours it was almost certain that the club would drop points on their trip to relegation threatened USM Blida. They did just that, managing just a 0-0 draw at the Mustapha Tchaker Stadium in a game where both sides had chances to take the 3 points. Second-placed JSM Béjaïa could only muster up a 2-2 draw as well in their away game against AS Khroub.

JS Kabylie took full advantage of the dropped points by both teams recording a 4-2 win on their trip to Saïda to leapfrog into second place (Video). JSK opened the scoring in the 22nd minute through midfielder Nabil Hamouda but the home side equalized just 11 minutes later when striker Abdelhamid Seddik found the back of the net. JSK then went on to score three unanswered through Rabie Meftah, Mohamed Derrag and Adlène Bensaïd. MCS got a consolation goal in the final minute of regulation with Mauritanian striker Dahmed Ould Teguedi converting from the penalty spot. With the loss, MCS are now just 2 points clear of the drop zone with 6 games to go.

In the Alger derby between MC Alger and CR Belouizdad, the two sides could only spoil the shares with a goal a piece in the opening 30 minutes. In front of a full house at the Omar Hamadi Stadium in Bologhine, CRB opened the scoring in the 7th minute through striker Hocine Fenier. However, MCA equalized in the 27th minute when Salim Boumechra found the back of the net. The score remained unchanged keeping the two sides level at 38 points, with CR Belouizdad ahead in 5th place on goal difference.

Full Results:
USM El Harrach 1-0 MSP Batna
RC Kouba 1-3 MC El Eulma
USM Blida 0-0 ES Sétif
MC Alger 1-1 CR Belouizdad
NA Hussein Dey 1-1 USM Annaba
MC Saïda 2-4 JS Kabylie
AS Khroub 2-2 JSM Béjaïa

ASO Chlef vs USM Alger (late kick-off)

Standings

Daily Fix: Ghezzal Scores 5th Serie A Goal

2009-04-13T00:15:00.006-04:00

-AC Siena forward Abdelkader Ghezzal scored his 5th goal of the season in the Italian Serie A as his team were 4-1 winners on the road against Bologna. Ghezzal started the game on the bench and came on as a substitute in the 55th minute replacing striker Emanuele Calaiò. Just seven minutes later, Ghezzal found the back of the net reacting to a rebounded shot from his teammate Houssine Kharja and knocking it into the empty goal. In the 81st minute, the two players reversed roles and Ghezzal played the provider lobbing a pass over the keeper for Kharja who made the score 4-1. With the win, Siena climb to 14th place in the Italian top flight, 11 points clear of the relegation zone with just 7 more games to go.

-The only other Algerian scorer this weekend was Kamel Ghilas, who notched up his 8th goal of the season in Celta Vigo's 1-0 win over Cordoba CF in the Spanish Segunda. The goal came in the 47th minute when an unmarked Ghilas picked up the ball near the penalty spot and slotted it past the keeper. With the win, Celta Vigo move up to 15th place, 7 points clear of the relegation zone.

-In the Scottish Premier League, Rangers FC closed the gap with Celtic at the top of the table to just 1 point after winning 3-1 against Motherwell at Ibrox Stadium. Celtic had dropped 2 points earlier in the day as they drew 1-1 on the road to Hearts. Rangers defender Madjid Bougherra played the full 90 minutes for his side.

-In the German Bundesliga, VfL Bochum managed their second away win of the season with a 3-0 triumph over Hoffenheim. Antar Yahia played the full game for Bochum, who are now 5 points clear of the relegation zone. His Algerian international teammate Karim Matmour was not as lucky with his side Borussia Monchengladbach losing 2-1 at home against Werder Bremen thanks to a Bremen goal just 5 minutes from time. Matmour was replaced in the 87th minute. With the loss, Gladbach remain in the relegation playoff spot.

-In France's Ligue 1, Rafik Saifi, Yazid Mansouri, Nassim Akrour and Ryad Boudebouz were all starters for the respective sides. All shared the same losing fate with just Mansouri played the full 90 minutes for his side.

-Finally, in the English Premier League, Nadir Belhadj was again named to the subs bench for Portsmouth home game against bottom placed West Bromwich Albion. Belhadj came on in the 64th minute with his side down 2-1 and Pompey equalized just a minute later. However, the score would remain that way.

Daily Fix: ES Sétif Fall At Home

2009-04-11T23:17:00.005-04:00

ES Sétif took a serious knock in their quest to win their third consecutive Arab Champions League title after falling 1-0 at home to Tunisian side Espérance de Tunis in the first leg of their semi-final match up. The lone goal of the game came in the 75th minute when Espérance midfielder Oussama Darraji was led free on goal and lobbed the ball past the outstreched arms of goalkeeper Mohamed Seghir Ferradji. Despite the loss, the result could have been worse for the home side when it seemed like the visitors had taken the lead in the opening minutes of the game when Zied Derbali's header off a free kick found the back of the net. However, the referee called the goal off when the linesman signalled a handball on an Espérance player, a non-existant handball at that. In fact, Espérance completely dominated the first half with ESS fullbacks Slimane Raho and Hocine Metref struggling to stop the onsluaght. However, in the second half, ESS bounced back to take control of the game and had a number of occassions to score. However, all that came to a halt in the 75th with Darraji's goal. Darraji could have also added a goal in the last action of the game having a clear path to the keeper but his run was halted ... by the referee's whistle. ESS will look to overturn the scoreline in the return leg in two weeks time at the Stade El Menzah in the Tunisian capital.

Interview: Dalil Benyahia (IF Brommapojkarna)

2009-04-10T17:44:00.006-04:00

Name: Dalil Benyahia
Date of birth: April 21, 1990
Place of birth: Stockholm, Sweden
Position: Midfielder
Current Club: IF Brommapojkarna (Sweden)
Former clubs: Vendelsö IK

At just 18 years of age, Dalil Benyahia is already a starter for his club IF Brommapojkarna in the Swedish Allsvenskan (top flight). The Swedish-Algerian midfielder is no stranger to the elite either, having gone on trial with some of the biggest clubs in the world. He is also a regular member of the Swedish Junior National Teams. We caught up with the talented teenager for a brief chat.

Hi Dalil. Can you introduce yourself to the readers?
My name is Dalil Benyahia. I'm 18 years old and I'm born in Stockholm, Sweden. I play as a midfielder for IF Brommapojkarna.

Can you tell us briefly your football career so far?
I started playing for Vendelsö IK when I was 5 years old because it was near where I lived. I was playing with older players and my father trained me a lot. As a 12 year old, I started playing for Brommapojkarna after one of their scouts called me, and I've been playing there my whole life. We are now playing in the first division in Sweden. I have been fortunate in my career to play for the Swedish junior national teams and go on trial with clubs like Manchester United, AJAX Amsterdam, Sporting CP (Portugal) and Chelsea.

What are your goals in terms of football?
My goal is to become professional player and play in one of the big leagues like Spain, England or Italy. I also want to win the Champions League.

Where are you originally from in Algeria?
My family is originally from Jijel.

Do you follow the Algerian National Team?
Yes I follow the Algerian team. I had a chance to watch them during the African Cup.

You're Swedish and Algerian and you've already represented Sweden at the junior level (U17, U18, U19). In the future, would you prefer to represent Sweden or Algeria?
I would represent whichever country wanted me the most.

A last word for the readers?
Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Under-17 National Team: France Call Up Lyon's Belfodil

2009-04-10T14:42:00.003-04:00

France's Under-17 National Team head coach Philippe Bergeroo announced his squad today for the upcoming European Under-17 Championship. Among the 19 players chosen for the tournament, three are of Algerian origin: Idriss Saadi (AS Saint-Etienne), Mehdi Abeid (RC Lens) and Ishak Belfodil (Olympique Lyon). While it comes as little surprise to see the first two, the call-up of Belfodil seems rather strange considering the player does not even possess French citizenship.

In an interview with Boita Chemma in December, Belfodil said: "I am Algerian and if God gives me the opportunity to play for Algeria, I will do so immediately and with great pride!" Interestingly, Belfodil received a call-up to the Algerian Under-17 National Team immediately after as the team prepared for the U17 African Cup, which was held in March. Belfodil was present for the training camps prior to the competition but his club Lyon did not release him for the tournament since it was in the middle of the season and not part of the FIFA calendar. Despite that, the Algerian team managed to reach the finals of the tournament and qualify to the 2009 Under-17 World Cup which will be held in Nigeria later this year.

The French FA's decision to call him up to the Under-17 European Championship after all this seems more to do with spite than anything else. It is still to early to determine whether Belfodil will represent France at the Euro, or whether he is even eligible to do so without receiving citizenship. However, it is already clear that the Algerian FA is in an early tussle with their counterparts to secure the services of the talented youngster.

Daily Fix: ES Sétif Prepare For Battle With Espérance

2009-04-10T13:28:00.005-04:00

-ES Sétif are putting their final touches on their preparation for tomorrow's Arab Champions League first leg semi-final battle with Tunisian League leaders Espérance ST. With both sides topping their current domestic tables, tomorrow's match at the 8 Mai 1945 Stadium in Sétif is shaping up to be one of the biggest of the year, with both sides looking to book a place in the final. ESS have won the competition the last two years and are favorites against Espérance. However, the Tunisian side, a traditional powerhouse, will be looking to create the upset to bring back some glory to the club after a dismal run in international competitions in the past 4 years.

-Olympique Marseille have been boosted by the speedy return of midfielder Karim Ziani after minor surgery on his thigh. The 26-year old trained with the team on Friday but is unlikely to feature this weekend.

-According to sources, JS Kabylie right back Mohamed Rabie Meftah is being linked with a move to a number of different of European clubs with Ligue 1 side FC Lorient leading the pack. The 23-year old Algerian international has received interest from clubs in France, Turkey, Portugal and Switzerland, and could be on the move in the offseason. His JSK teammate Fawzi Chaouchi could also be leaving at the end of the season, with a number of European clubs reportedly interested in signing the 24-year old goalkeeper.

-Originally expected to miss the next two months with an ankle injury, RC Strasbourg midfielder Yacine Bezzaz will only be out for about a month after an MRI scan did not reveal any serious damage. The 27-year old left winger should be available for Algeria's next pair of qualifiers against Egypt and Zambia in June.

-In a move that they hope will improve the domestic league, the Algerian FA has decided to reduce the number of foreign players next season to just two players per club, with that number further decreasing to just one by the 2010/2011 season. On top of that, the Algerian FA will stop offering player licenses to foreign players meaning no new foreign players will be able to join the league. Currently, there is a limit of three foreign players at clubs.

-Finally, in the Swedish Allsvenskan (top flight), IF Brommapojkarna were 2-0 winners over BK Häcken to temporarily go to the top of the table with 4 points from 2 games. Algerian-Swedish midfielder Dalil Benyahia started for Bromma but was replaced in the 65th minute. The 18-year old, who has already had trials with clubs like Manchester United, Chelsea and AJAX, has started both of Bromma's games this season.

German Luger: Karim Benyamina

2009-04-07T23:28:00.006-04:00

Although he's already 27 years old, Karim Benyamina has never played at a level higher than the German 3rd division. Despite his proven track record knocking in the goals, the striker has gone relatively unnoticed in the eyes of the bigger clubs. However, based on his performances this season, all that could come to change in the coming months as more and more clubs are paying attention to the German-born Algerian.

Humble Beginings
Born on December 18th, 1981, in the German city of Dresden, near the Polish and Czech borders, Benyamina took his first footballing steps in the East German capital of Berlin. Growing up in the Märkische neighborhood of the city, he started playing for local sides MSV Normannia and FC Lübars. At age 18, he took his first real step towards the professional game, signing with regional side Berliner AK 07, a club founded by Turkish immigrants. He spent just one year with the club before joining league rivals Reinickendorfer Füchse where he would play the next 3 seasons. The highlight of his time at the club came in 2003, when the club managed to win the local Berlin Cup allowing them to qualify to the first round of the DFB-Pokal, the German National Cup. However, they would go on to lose their first game 2-0 in the competition against FC Nuremberg. In 2004, Benyamina joined SV Babelsberg, a club from the outskirts of Berlin. In his only season there, the striker notched up 18 goals in 33 appearances, earning himself a move to FC Union Berlin, who were looking to revamp their team after getting relegated.

Berlin Player of the Year
In his first season with Union Berlin, Benyamina helped the club finish first in the Oberliga Nord, earning them back promotion to the 3rd flight. While doing so, Benyamina earned the award as the Berlin Amateur Player of the Year. The following two seasons, he would go on to score 11 and 7 goals respectively, slightly off his previous pace. His club also failed to gain promotion in either season, finishing 12th and 4th. In 2008, the German Football Assocation announced the formation of the 3rd Liga, making it the third highest level in the German football system. More importantly, however, was that the all the clubs in the league had to be 'professional' according to the guidelines of the German FA. That decision seems to have motivated both Union Berlin and Benyamina himself, as the club is currently first in the tables, 9 points ahead of second placed SC Paderborn, and Benyamina has 13 goals including 4 braces in the first half of the season.

Breaking New Ground
In January 2009, FC Union Berlin coach Uwe Neuhaus talked about the likelihood of Benyamina leaving at the end of the season, despite the club offering him a new contract. Whether he decides to re-sign with the club, or move on elsewhere, its almost certain that the striker will be playing at a higher level next season. Although his journey to the top took longer than he probably expected, he has never let that slow him down.

Daily Fix: Bezzaz Likely Done For Season

2009-04-07T18:43:00.004-04:00

RC Strasbourg midfielder Yacine Bezzaz's season probably came to an end on the weekend with an ankle injury, just 15 minutes after scoring his first goal for his new club since joining them in the winter transfer window. Bezzaz, who already had surgery on the same ankle in November, is scheduled to undergo an MRI tomorrow to determine the full extent of his injury. If the injury is anywhere as serious as reported, the 27-year old midfielder will most likely miss Algeria's next two qualifiers against Egypt and Zambia in June, giving head coach Rabah Saadane problem to deal with after Saifi's suspension for accumulation of yellow cards. Bezzaz had already missed the last qualifier against Rwanda last week with Rabah Saadane deeming the winger out of form. Bezzaz has 15 caps and 3 goals for the national team.

Daily Fix: Bezzaz Scores, Strasbourg Tops Table

2009-04-05T20:50:00.005-04:00

-Midfielder Yacine Bezzaz scored his first goal of the season as RC Strasbourg won 3-1 at home against AC Ajaccio to climb to the top of the Ligue 2 table. Bezzaz opened the scoring in the 5th minute of the game, collecting a cross and slotting it neatly past the keeper. However, the Algerian international would leave the game just 15 minutes later with an injury. French-Algerian defender Carl Medjani played the whole game for Ajaccio, and scored their lone goal. With the win, Strasbourg sit at the top of the table with 55 points, level with FC Metz and one point ahead of RC Lens, who still have a game in hand. In the other Ligue 2 game of the day, FC Metz were 1-0 winners over Brest. Midfielders Laurent Agouazi (Metz) and Brahim Ferradj (Brest) played the full 90 minutes for their respective sides.

-In the Scottish Premier League, Rangers were 1-0 winners away to Falkirk to remain within 3 points of league leaders Celtic. Madjid Bougherra started for Rangers after missing the past 2 games with a calf injury.

-In the Spanish Segunda Division, Celta Vigo fell 2-1 away to UD Salamanca despite taking an early lead in the game through Algerian forward Kamel Ghilas who notched his 7th goal of the season in the 16th minute of the game. With the loss, Celta Vigo drop to 17th place in the Spanish second division.

-In Italy's Serie A, AC Siena were 2-0 winners against Lazio, moving them 10 points clear of the relegation zone. Forward Abdelkader Ghezzal started the game on the bench but replaced Moroccan international Houssine Kharja in the 61st minute with the score 1-0. French-Algerian midfielder Mourad Meghni started for Lazio but was replaced in the 68th minute.

-In the German Bundesliga, Borussia Monchengladbach could only manage a 0-0 draw away against bottom side Karlsruher SC wasting a valuable opportunity to exit the relegation zone. Karim Matmour played the whole game for the visitors.

-In the Turkish Süper Lig, 25-year old defender Ismael Bouzid scored his first goal for his new club as Ankaragücü defeated Kocaelispor 4-0. The win ended the club's 3 gaming losing streak and moved them within 2 points of the final non-relegation spot.

-In the Greek Super Leauge, AEK Athens could only manage a 1-1 draw against promoted side Panthrakikos. Striker Rafik Djebbour started the game for the Athens side but was replaced in the 73rd minute. With the draw, AEK Athens fall 3 points behind Panathinaikos and PAOK Saloniki who sit in 2nd and 3rd spot respectively.

-In France's Ligue 1, Sochaux ran away with a 3-0 win over Rennes. Sochaux opened the scoring in the 35th minute with a cooly taken penalty from talented 19-year old midfielder Ryad Boudebouz, who just last week announced his intention to represent Algeria in international competition. It was his 3rd goal of the season, and his 2nd in 3 games.

Daily Fix: Ouali Nets Double In Mouscron Win

2009-04-05T00:45:00.000-04:00

-Idir Ouali scored two goals in Mouscron's 3-2 win over RAEC Mons in the Belgian top flight. With the score already 1-0, the 20-year old attacking midfielder doubled the lead in the 38th minute when he beat the keeper with well placed shot on a one-on-one. Mons pulled a goal back in the 44th minute but Ouali sealed the game in the 71st minute when he converted a penalty, his 6th goal of the season. Mons scored a consolation goal in the 78th minute but could not salvage any points from the game. Former Algerian international midfielder Fadel Brahami came into the game in the 67th minute for Mons, who now sit last in the table with just 17 points from 28 games. Mouscron are in 8th place with 41 points.

-In other Belgian top flight action, Club Brugge were 2-1 winners over Charleroi with midfielder Adlène Guédioura playing the entire game for Charleroi and striker Mohamed Dahmane coming on as a sub in the 79th minute for the home side. Elsewhere, Courtrai managed a 1-1 draw away to FC Malines with midfielder Salah Bakour playing the full game and Karim Belhocine coming as a sub in the 69th minute for the visitors.

-In the German Bundesliga, defender Antar Yahia made his return to the VfL Bochum line-up but could not help his team avoid defeat as they went down 2-1 to VfB Stuttgart. Yahia had missed the last 2 months with a knee injury suffered against Wolfsburg.

-In the English Premier League, Portsmouth took a further step towards promotion with a 1-1 draw away to Hull City. However, Nadir Belhadj had to settle for a substitute appearance off the bench again, his 4th in a row, making his entry onto the field in the 76th minute.

-In France's Ligue 1, Nassim Akrour scored his 6th goal of the season in Grenoble's 3-1 loss to FC Lorient. Akrour came on as sub at halftime, and found the back of the net in the 70th minute with a well placed header off the bar and into the back of the net. Rafik Saifi and Yazid Mansouri played the full 90 minutes for Lorient.

JS Kabylie Crash Out Of Champions League

2009-04-04T19:08:00.006-04:00

JS Kabylie crashed out of the first round of the 2009 African Champions League today after losing 1-0 on the road to Libyan side Al Ahly Tripoli, coached by Algerian Noureddine Saâdi. After losing the first leg 2-1 at home, JSK needed to score at least 2 goals to have any chance of advancing to the next round but failed to find the back of the net in the 90 minutes. Ironically, the lone goal of the game came from former JSK player Omar Daoud in the 39th minute, heading past keeper Chaouchi from a corner kick. Daoud was deemed surplus to requirements at the Tizi Ouzou outfit by team president Mohand Cherif Hannachi in 2007, and was sold to his current side.

The elimination marks the second year in a row that JSK, or any Algerian club for that matter, has failed to qualify to the group stage of Africa's biggest club competition. Last season, JSK was eliminated in the 3rd round and played in the Confederation Cup.

JS Kabylie: Chaouchi - Douicher (Amaouche), Belkalem, Coulibaly, Oussalah - Abdeslam, Dehouche, Berramla (Bensaïd) - Achiou, Azuka, Derrag (Belaoued)

Under-17 National Team: Merzouki On Trial With Fulham

2009-04-03T21:51:00.003-04:00

According to sources, Algeria's Under-17 National Team goalkeeper Abdennour Merzouki is going on trial with English Premier League side Fulham FC. The 17-year old Merzouki, born on February 15th, 1992, was one of the standout players for the Algerian team during the recently finished African U17 Championships. He had 3 clean sheets and allowed just 3 goals in the competition, all 3 coming against Gambia in the final. Merzouki has spent the last two years playing for the Algerian FA's own academy, the AC FAF, and is available on a free transfer.

Daily Fix: Arrache Signs Return With Brace

2009-04-03T17:41:00.007-04:00

Most Ligue 2 and Bundesliga 2 clubs were back in action after the international break:

Bundesliga 2:
MSV Duisburg 0-1 FSV Mainz - FSV Mainz took an important step to promotion with a 1-0 win over MSV Duisburg. Algeria international midfielder Chadli Amri played his third game in a row, starting on the right wing, after missing the last 5 months with injury. Amri was replaced in the 66th minute with Mainz looking to preserve the lead. With the win, Mainz move into 2nd place in the standings with 47 points, two ahead of 3rd placed team SpVgg Greuther Fürth who still have a game in hand.

Ligue 2:
Stade Reims 3-1 Vannes - Salim Arrache returned to the Reims line-up after a month of absence to score the first brace of his career with goals in the 5th and 49th minute. Arrache was replaced in the 57th minute, with both sides adding a goal before the final whistle. With the win, Reims move to within just 3 points of exiting the drop zone.

Bastia 2-1 Chateauroux - Mehdi Meniri, Fethi Harek and Ahmed Kashi were all in the starting line-up for the Bastia-Chateauroux encouter but it was Abdelmalek Cherrad, who started on the bench, who would prove to be the decider of this match. Cherrad came into the game in the 71st minute, and scored the game winner in the last minute of regulation to give the home side the 3 points. The goal was Cherrad's 2nd goal of the season in 13 appearances.

Boulogne 2-0 Nimes - Nimes took another step toward relegation with a 2-0 loss to Boulogne. Abderraouf Zarabi, Medhi Mostefa and Saad Ichalalene all started for the Crocodiles, with Idriss Ech-Chergui coming in as a subtitute at halftime.

Guingamp 0-0 Troyes - Guingamp could only manage a goalless draw against 15th placed Troyes. Midfielder Jugurtha Hamroun was on the bench for Guingamp but was not used.

Tours 3-1 Angers - Angers missed a golden opportunity to move up the table with a 3-1 loss away to Tours with Karim Djellabi playing the full game for them.

Daily Fix: ES Sétif and JSM Béjaïa Advance In African Cup, ASO Chlef Eliminated

2009-04-03T16:56:00.006-04:00

In the African Champions League, ASO Chlef were eliminated in the first round of the competition after only managing a 0-0 draw at home against Tunisian side Etoile du Sahel (Video). With the first leg two weeks ago ending 2-1 in favor of the Tunisians, ASO needed to score at least one goal to advance. However, despite dominating the game, they failed to find the back of the net.

In the African Confederation Cup, both Algerian representatives advanced to the next round in convincing fashion. In the early game, JSM Béjaïa defeated Senegalese side ASC Yakaar 4-1 to advance 5-2 on aggregate (Video). After a scoreless first half, JSMB got 4 goals second half goals from Ahcen Lahmar, Zahir Zerdab, Amine Megatli and Kouider Boukessassa. ASC Yakaar pulled one back two minutes from time through a Amer Belakhder own goal. JSMB will face the winner of Stade Tunisien (Tunisia) and Stade Malien (Mali) in the next round, who drew 0-0 in the first leg.

In the late kickoff, ES Sétif thrashed Libyan side Khaleej Sirt 5-0 to advance 6-0 on aggregate. ESS opened the scoring in the 30th minute with a goal from Amine Aksas to take the lead at halftime. In the second half, the flood gates opened with another 4 goals from Abdelmalek Ziaya, a brace from Lamouri Djediat and a goal from Mohamed Segeur. ESS will face the winner of SOA (Ivory Coast) and GD Libolo (Angola) in the next round, with GD Libolo taking a 1-0 advantage in the away leg.

Under-17 National Team: Algeria 1-3 Gambia

2009-04-03T13:37:00.003-04:00

The Algerian Under-17 National Team lost 3-1 to Gambia in the final of the 2009 African U17 Championship. Playing in front of a full house at the Dar El Beida Stadium in Algiers, the Algerian team went down 2-0 after just 22 minutes with goals from Alasana Camara and Ebrima Bojang. However, the Algerians pulled one back in the 43rd minute of the game, when Nadir Bendahmane converted from the penalty spot, scoring his 4th goal of the competition. However, the Algerians could not complete the come back, and the Gambians added the icing on the cake in the 85th minute when Bojang scored his 2nd goal of the game.

In the 3rd place game, Burkina Faso defeated Malawi 2-0 to take home the bronze medal. With the win, Gambia win their second African U17 Championship after winning the 2005 edition at home. They join traditional powerhouses Nigeria and Ghana as the only countries to win the competition twice since its inception in 1995.

Just a recall, Africa will be represented at the 2009 U17 World Cup by the 4 semi-finalists: Gambia, Algeria, Burkina Faso and Malawi. Nigeria will also be present as hosts.

Algeria: Merzouki - Cheheima, Cherchar, Bekakchi, Belkadi - Boughoula (Khelifi 70), Ziane, Ferkous, Bezzaz, Aït Fergane - Bendahmane

Under-17 National Team: Chasing Historic Success

2009-04-01T12:17:00.003-04:00

The Algerian Under-17 National Team will be looking to make history against Gambia tomorrow in the final of the African U17 Championship by becoming the first Algerian U17 team to win the continental trophy since its inception in 1995. If the Young Fennecs manage to lift the trophy, it will be just Algeria's third success at the continental level after winning the African U20 Championship in 1979, and the African Cup of Nations in 1990. Coached by the duo of Athmane Ibrir and Hakim Meddane, most gave the team little hope of success against the likes of Cameroon, Gambia and Guinea. However, the hard work has paid off.

"Its true that the qualification (to the final) was not easy against Burkina Faso," head coach Ibrir said. "We are very proud of qualifying to the World Cup. We have reached our first objective and now we're going to try and achieve our second, to win the African Cup. Our players have worked very hard and winning will be the only justice, even though Gambia will be a tough opponent."

The Algerians are no strangers to the Gambian team, having lost to them 2-0 in the final game of the group stage in the competition. The players know that winning will not be an easy task but with little to lose and backed by the home crowd, they must surely believe that anything is possible.

Under-17 National Team: Algeria 1-0 Burkina Faso

2009-03-29T14:29:00.007-04:00

The Algerian Under-17 National Team reached the final's of the 2009 African Under-17 Championship with a 1-0 win at home against favorites Burkina Faso at the Dar El Beida stadium in the Algerian capital Algiers. The lone goal of the semi-final matchup came in the 40th minute from AS Cannes forward Nadir Bendahmane, who scored his 3rd goal in 4 games in the competition. The win is the 3rd of the Algerian team in this competition with a 1-0 scoreline.

Algeria will face Gambia in the final on April 2nd in Zeralda, a team they already lost to 2-0 in the group stage. Gambia reached the final by beating Malawi 4-0 earlier today. Malawi replaced Niger in the semi-final's of the competition after the CAF discovered that Niger had fielded some over-age players in their games. Burkina Faso will face Malawi in the 3rd place matchup.

Algeria: Merzouki - Cheheima, Cherchar, Bekakchi, Belkadi - Boughoula (Djouba), Ziane, Ferkous, Bezzaz, Ait Fergane - Bendahmane

Rwanda 0-0 Algeria: Fennecs Manage Draw In Unconvincing Performance

2009-03-28T11:49:00.004-04:00

The Algerian National Team came away with an unconvincing 0-0 draw against hosts Rwanda in a match played in front of a packed house in Kigali's Amhoro Stadium. Although the Algerian team had a number of chances to score, including a shot from Abdelkader Ghezzal in the first half which bounced off the post, the team look very disjointed and without any rythm for the most part. After a good start pressing the opposition, the team slowly started losing the edge and by the end of the game it was the Rwandans who were in control of the affair, even missing a sitter from about 6 yards out.

It was no surprise to see the Algerian team struggle in the encounter based on Rabah Saadane's bizarre starting line-up. Although there was no surprises in defense (Raho-Bougherra-Halliche-Belhadj) or the holding midfielder roles (Mansouri-Lemmouchia), his selection on the attacking end left a lot to be desired. Saadane opted to go with Matmour on the rightwing, Ghilas on the leftwing and the Saifi-Ghezzal combo upfront. With no legitimate playmaker it was hard to see where the goals would come from. In fact, most of the dangerous plays in the game from Portsmouth leftback Nadir Belhadj, who was uncontestedly the player of the game for the Algerian side. Saadane made a double change in the 60th minute, bringing on Hameur Bouazza and Rafik Djebbour for Rafik Saifi and Kamel Ghilas but that did little to stem the tide from the Rwandan team, apart from a few of chances for Djebbour, Bouazza and Belhadj. Saadane finally brought on Hadj Aissa in the 2nd minute of injury time, giving him little chance to showcase his abilities.

With Egypt hosting Zambia tomorrow, the two-time defending African champions will be licking their lips at an early chance to take the lead in the group before their crucial encounter against Algeria on June 7th.

Algeria: Gaouaoui - Raho, Bougherra, Halliche, Belhadj - Mansouri, Lemmouchia, Matmour, Ghilas (Bouazza 60') - Saifi (Djebbour 60'), Ghezzal (Hadj Aissa 90')

Man of the match (Algeria): Nadir Belhadj

Video:

Rwanda vs Algeria: Team News

2009-03-27T16:09:00.004-04:00

Rabah Saadane announced his group of 18 players for tomorrow's game against Rwanda in the capital Kigali. The Algerian team made the trip to Rwanda with 24 players, giving Saadane a chance to judge over the fitness of certain players. However, his team selection took a hit yesterday when ASO Chlef defender Samir Zaoui stepped on glass and required eight stitches to his foot. Zaoui was expected to start alongside Madjid Bougherra in defense. Aslo dropped from the team for tomorrow's encounter are goalkeeper Mohamed Ousserir (CR Belouizdad), right-back Rabie Meftah (JS Kabylie), left-back Abderraouf Zarabi (Nimes Olympique, France), midfielder Lamouri Djediat (ES Setif) and left-wing Yacine Bezzaz (RC Strasbourg).

The group of 18 for tomorrow's match:

1. Lounes Gaouaoui (USM Annaba)
2. Mohamed Benhamou (MC Alger)
3. Madjid Bougherra (Rangers FC, Scotland)
4. Adel Maiza (USM Annaba)
5. Rafik Halliche (CD Nacional Madeira, Portugal)
6. Slimane Raho (ES Setif)
7. Nadir Belhadj (Portsmouth FC, England)
8. Reda Babouche (MC Alger)
9. Cherif Abdeslam (JS Kabylie)
10. Yazid Mansouri (FC Lorient, France)
11. Khaled Lemmouchia (ES Setif)
12. Karim Matmour (Borussia Monchengladbach, Germany)
13. Kamel Ghilas (Celta Vigo, Spain)
14. Lazhar Hadj Aissa (ES Setif)
15. Hameur Bouazza (Birmingham City FC, England)
16. Rafik Saifi (FC Lorient, France)
17. Abdelkader Ghezzal (AC Siena, Italy)
18. Rafik Zoheir Djebbour (AEK Athens, Greece)

Probable starting line-up:

Gaouaoui - Raho, Bougherra, Zaoui, Belhadj - Mansouri, Lemmouchia, Matmour, Bouazza - Ghilas, Ghezzal

Hadj Aissa, Saifi and Djebbour are all in the running for a spot in the starting line-up as well.

Under-17 National Team: Algeria Achieve Historic Qualification

2009-03-23T18:16:00.003-04:00

The Algerian Under-17 National Team defeated Guinea 1-0 to achieve a historic qualification to the 2009 Under-17 World Cup, marking the first time Algeria has qualified to the event. Playing in front of a sizable and loud crowd at home in Zéralda, the Algerian team again had to deal with early pressure from the visitors like in the previous game against Cameroon. Following that trend, Algeria took the lead in the 15th minute when Nadir Bendahmane scored his second goal of the tournament when he beat the Guinean goalkeeper from close range following a corner. The Algerian team held on to the lead until the end of the game, and with the win earned a berth to the semi-final of the competition, and qualification to the World Cup. Algeria has one last game against Gambia, who also have a perfect start to the competition after defeating Guinea 1-0 and Cameroon 2-0, to determine the seedings for the semi-finals. Algeria will face either Niger (2-0-0) or Burkina Faso (2-0-0) in the semi-finals.

Algeria: Merzouki - Cheheima, Cherchar, Bekakchi (c), Belkadi - Ferkous, Ziane, Ait Fergane (Djouba 45) - Bezzaz - Bendahmane (Bouteldja), Khelifi (Toulait 52)

Arab Champions League: ES Sétif Edge Closer To Three-peat

2009-03-22T17:56:00.003-04:00

ES Sétif took a step forward towards their third consecutive Arab Champions League title with a 3-1 win at home over Tunisian side US Monastir in the return leg. After drawing 1-1 in the away leg in Tunisia two weeks ago, ESS came out blazing in front of their home crowd when Abdelmalek Ziaya opened the scoring in the 6th minute. Although the Tunisians equalized in the 19th minute, Ziaya aded another pair of goals in the 27th and 42nd minute to complete his hattrick, and more importantly, ensure the team of qualication to the semi-finals. ESS will be joined in the semi-finals with three other North African teams: Esperance Tunis (Tunisia), CS Sfaxien (Tunisia) and Wydad Casablanca (Morocco).

Video:

Under-17 National Team: Algeria 1-0 Cameroon

2009-03-20T10:27:00.002-04:00

The Under-17 National Team kicked off their 2009 African Championship campaign in perfect fashion with a 1-0 victory over continental powerhouse Cameroon. Playing in front of a full house at the Stade Zéralda in the western outskirts of Algiers, the home side brushed off the early pressure from the visitors to open the scoring in the 20th minute, when AS Cannes forward Nadir Bendahmane shot it past the keeper from about 15 yards out. Cameroon did not help their cause in the 35th minute when Thierry Onana picked up a straight red for a raised boot on an Algerian player. Although the replays showed that the referee's decision was a bit harsh, the immediate reaction to the play seemed like it warranted the sending off. Algeria held off the Cameroonian's for the rest of the game, who were pressing hard for the equalizer, to collect the 3 points and edge closer to qualifying to the 2009 Under-17 World Cup which will be held in Nigeria in 2009. In the other game of the day in Group A, Gambia defeated Guinea 1-0 to join Algeria at the top of the table. The next round of games, scheduled for March 22nd, will see Algeria face Guinea and Gambia take on Cameroon.

Algeria: Merzouki - Cheheima, Cherchar, Bekakchi, Belkadi - Ferkous, Ziane, Ait Fergane, Bezzaz (Bouteldja 88) - Bendahmane (Boughoula 69), Khelifi (Toulait 82)

Interview: Youcef Hendel (Syrianska FC)

2009-03-18T20:58:00.006-04:00

Name: Youcef Hendel
Date of birth: October 8, 1990
Place of birth: Stockholm, Sweden
Position: Midfielder/Forward
Current Club: Syrianska FC (Sweden)
Former clubs: IFK Stockholm, Hammarby IF, Mälarhöjden IK, IK Tellus

Already in contacts with the likes of Arsenal FC, Birmingham City and FC Köln, Youcef Hendel is already attracting some major interest despite being just 18 years old. However, the Swedish-born midfielder has not let it get to his head and he has not forgotten about his Algerian roots. We caught up with him for a brief interview.

Can you introduce yourself to the readers?
Hello, my name is Youcef Hendel and I'm born 8 October, 1990, in Stockholm, Sweden. When I was 5 years old I started playing for IFK Stockholm until the age of 10. Since the age of ten I’ve played for 3 different football clubs: Hammarby IF (between age of 10-12), Mälarhöjden IK (between age of 12-14) and for IK Tellus (between age of 14-15). I am know playing for Syrianska FC.

What position do you play? What are your best and worst qualities on the field?
I play on the right and left in midfield or as a striker. My best qualities are to attack, my strength and my technique.

What are your goals for the future?
My goal right now is to be the best player for Syrianska FC. My goal for the future is to be the best soccer player in the world. I am going to do everything to succeed and I'm just going to train, train and train more. Ive got a good family who´s there to support me with everything, especially my father. He has been to all my training and matches since I was 5 years old.

You've been on trial with Arsenal, Birmingham City and FC Koln. How did you end up going on trial with those clubs? How was the experience?
Birmingham City and Arsenal saw me in a tournament where I played 2-3 very good matches and they contacted me after that and asked me if a wanted to go on trial with their academy. I did well there so I don't know if I am going to still be playing in Sweden in the next 1-2 years. They said that the English clubs are going to keep a eye on me. To be in England and to train with professionals was a very good experience for me, but I felt it was a little too early for me to move to England at the time. I've also been scouted by FC Köln in Germany, I went to their academy because a scout from Germany wanted us to come. They really liked us and they are a really good option for the future but for now I'm focused on my current team.

Are you still in contact with any of the clubs?
Yes, I'm in close contact with two teams abroad and they will be sending scouts and agents to look at me soon. Both teams are from England.

Where are you originally from in Algeria?
My family is originally from Garidi/Kouba (Alger) but are now living in Gallieni (El Biar, Alger). I go to Algeria almost every summer if I can get some vacation time from my team.

Do you follow the results of the Algerian National Team?
Yes of course I do, I watch all the national team matches.

You're born and raised in Sweden, if you had the choice, would you rather play for Algeria or Sweden?
I would play for Algeria of course because no matter what Algeria is my home country. I'd play with pride for my country and my whole family.

A last word for the readers?
I just want to say thanks everyone for reading and I want to say thanks for this interview and don't forget my name in the future (laughs). Vive l'Algerie!

Prince of Brunei: Hamid Berguiga

2009-02-21T23:10:00.004-05:00

Hamid Berguiga. Two time winner of the CAF Cup. Two time winner of the Algerian League. Two time top scorer of the Algerian league.

Despite being a late bloomer, he did not start his professional career until he was almost 24, Berguiga boasts one of the more impressive curriculum vitae's around. Yet although his proven track record and success at the highest level, the Ouargla-native rarely gets the credit he deserves. Perfect proof of this is the fact that he has never been called up to the Algerian National Team, even though he finished as the top scorer of the domestic league two seasons in a row with 18 goals a year. Its this lack of respect that has driven the soft spoken striker to look elsewhere for his deserved recognition, and with it, a big financial payday.

This past week, Hamid Berguiga, who has is the top scorer for CR Belouizdad this season with 4 goals, travelled to the tiny oil-rich country of Brunei in Southeast Asia to go on trial with Brunei DPMM FC. The team, which will play this season in the Singapore Premier League, brought in a number of foreigners on trial to bolster their squad including players from Brazil, Croatia, Serbia, Chile and France. After just a few days, the 34-year old Berguiga did enough to showcase his abilities and earn himself a permanent spot on the team. While the move does little to bolster Berguiga's footballing career in the long run, it will allow him to take a step closer to achieving financial freedom, something he could not do in the turmulous Algerian league.

On November 8, 2002, Hamid Berguiga scored two goals in the 4-0 win in the final of the CAF Cup against Cameroonian side Tonnere Yaoundé, a game played in front of 80,000 JS Kabylie fans at the 5 Juillet Stadium all dressed in the infamous yellow and green. Its unlikely that Berguiga will ever experience the same sensation again but at least he will finally be reaping the benefits ... 8 years later.

Interview: Faycal Nini (Lille OSC)

2009-02-21T16:43:00.005-05:00

Considered to be one of the most gifted technical players in France, Faycal Nini has been creating a buzz with his abilities. However, despite being 22 years old, Nini has yet to sign his first professional contract. We caught up with the Lille OSC (LOSC) midfielder for a brief interview:

Hello Faycal, can you please introduce yourself to the readers and talk to us about your career so far?
Hello to everyone, my name is Faycal Nini, born August 10th, 1986 in Armentières in the north of France. I've been playing with LOSC for the last two years as an attacking midfielder. I started my career at the age of 15, in the Montpellier Academy in the south of France before joining ASO Valence. I signed with LOSC two seasons ago to play with the reserve team (CFA). I started training with the first team since the beginning of the season.

What position do you play in? What are your best and worst qualities as a player?
I play in the attacking midfielder role, in the center or on the wings. I can also play as a striker upfront. My best qualities are my technical ability, and liveliness on the field, I like to attack players with the ball and my speed. My worst quality is my heading ability.

What are your goals for the future?
My goal is to play for a good club and win some trophies.

Despite your good performances with the reserve team, you have not signed pro yet. You're 22 years old, do you play on staying with LOSC or are you in talks with other clubs?
Its true that I'm having some good games this season with LOSC but my contract will be ending soon and I plan on leaving the club at the end of the season. I'm trying to finish the season strongly with more goals to attract more interest.

There's a number of other Algerians in the club with you like Badis Lebbihi, Omar Benzerga and Youssef Sofiane, which one has impressed you the most?
Yes, there's a lot of Algerians in the team. The three players play in different positions but they're all very good players. Badis is a big defender who wins a lot of his duels in defense. Omar is a very technical defensive midfielder and Youssef is a striker, a pure scorer.

Where are you originally from in Algeria? Do you support a specific club in Algeria?
I am originally from Oran and I have a lot of family that still lives there. I don't support any team in particular but I follow the league there when I can.

Do you follow the Algerian National Team?
Yes, I follow the results of the National Team, especially during the qualifiers. Despite having played for France in the junior ranks, I would not mind playing for the Algerian team. Its an honor for me to wear the jersey of my country, Algeria.

A last word for the readers?
For those that don't know me, check out my videos on Dailymotion, and continue to visit the site, to follow all the news of Algerian football.

Video of Faycal Nini during the 2007/2008 season:

The interview was also published in French on DZFoot.com

Chlef Star: Ali Benouna

2009-02-19T22:04:00.005-05:00

Dennoun second from left in bottom row

For the majority of football fans, the first name that comes to their mind when they think of France is "Zizou". The French-born midfielder of Algerian origin led Les Bleus to the their only World Cup triumph, scoring two goals in the final against Brazil in 1998, and helped them win the European Championship two years later, the second in team history. He led the team again to the 2006 World Cup final, losing in the end to Italy with the game mostly remembered "infamous" headbutt incident with Zidane and Italian defender Marco Materazzi. More recently, other players of Algerian origin have suited up for Les Blues: Camel Meriem, Karim Benzema and Samir Nasri, the latter two still regular members of the team. 73 years ago, Ali Benouna became the first Algerian to play for France.

Born on July 23rd, 1912, in the city of Chlef, Ali Benouna became the first Algerian player to play professionally in France when he joined FC Sète in the early 1930`s. Benouna became an instant hit, helping Sète win the league and cup double in 1934. That season he scored 6 goals in 24 league games, and started in the Coupe de France final against Olympique Marseille, a 2-1 win for Sète. His performances did not go unnoticed and in February 1936, he was called up to the French National Team for a friendly against Czechoslovakia. Benouna started the game up-front but the French team would go on to lose 3-0. A month later, Benouna would feature against for France, this time a 3-0 win over Belgium in another friendly. It would be his last game for Les Bleus. Benouna would go on to play for Stade Rennais but for ending his career.

Benouna passed away on November 6th, 1980, in the Algerian capital Alger. Although he did not have the most illustrious career when compared to Zidane, Benouna opened the doors for many Algerian and North African players to showcase their talents on the big stages of European football.

Algeria In Tough Group In African Under-17 Championship

2009-02-15T12:38:00.002-05:00

The draw for the 2009 African Under-17 Championship was held today at the Sheraton Hotel in the western outskirts of Alger. The host Algeria was drawn into a tough group A alongside 2005 champions Gambia, 2003 champions Cameroon and Guinea, who finished 2nd in 2001. In Group B, Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Niger and Malawi will battle it out for a spot in the semi-finals. The top 2 teams in each group qualify for the semi-final, and all 4 semi-finalists qualify to the 2009 Under-17 World Cup which will be hosted in Nigeria in the summer.

This is the first time that Algeria will participate in the Under-17 Championships but anything less than a place in the podium will be deemed a failure. The team has been grouped together for the last year under the title "FAF Academy" and has played over 20 international matches including a 1-1 draw against Spain in Gijon, and a 1-1 draw at home against Group A rivals Guinea. The team will be bolstered by the addition of PSG's Under-16 captain Yannis Takerboucht, rated as one of the top defenders in France in his age category.

Algeria's Schedule

March 19, 2009 - 4.30PM - Zeralda - Algeria vs Cameroon
March 22, 2009 - 4.30PM - Zeralda - Algeria vs Guinea
March 25, 2009 - 3.00PM - Zeralda - Algeria vs Gambia

For the full tournament schedule:

http://www.cafonline.com/competition/can-u-17_2009/news/2217-fixtures-african-u-17-championship-algeria-2009.html

Daily Fix: Saïfi Makes Triumphant Return

2009-02-14T20:07:00.003-05:00

-After being sidelined with an injury for the past three months, Rafik Saïfi made a triumphant return to the FC Lorient line-up against SM Caen scoring a goal less than 2 minutes after being introduced as a sub at halftime. With the score 1-0 for Caen, Saïfi rose to head in a cross from defender Jeremy Morel and score his 3rd goal of the season. The score would remain that way until the final whistle, giving Lorient a precious away draw. Midfielder Yazid Mansouri was on the Lorient bench but did not see any playing time.

-Portsmouth ended their 10 game winless run in the English Premier League with a 2-0 win over Manchester City. Playing under caretaker Paul Hart, who replaced the fired Tony Adams, there was no room in the starting line-up for left back Nadir Belhadj. He would make a brief appearance at the end, coming on in the 86th minute with Pompey holding on to a 2 goal lead. With the win, Portsmouth sit in the 15th place in the EPL with 27 points from 25 games.

-AEK Athens managed to steal a 1-0 win over Thrasivoulos Fylis with a last minute winner from Tachstidis. Algerian striker Rafik Djebbour played the whole game for the capital side. The win allowed them to keep pace with 2nd placed PAOK Saloniki who were also winners today. AEK Athens sit in 4th spot in the Greek Super League with 38 points from 22 rounds.

-In the German Bundesliga, bottom-placed Borussia Monchengladbach managed to get a 1-1 draw away to Werder Bremen. Karim Matmour started for the Rhine-Ruhr side but was subbed off in the 75th minute with the game still scoreless. The game marked the 100th league appearance for Matmour in the Bundesliga (both divisions combined).

-In Ligue 1, Grenoble managed to get a point on the road after drawing 1-1 against 2nd place Bordeaux at the Chaban Dalmas Stadium. Former Algerian international Nassim Akrour came on the 67th minute for Grenoble, but it was another Algerian who took center stage in the game. Sofiane Feghouli, who is still undecided whether he will play for Algeria or France, was a constant threat throughout the game, setting up the tying goal and hitting the bar in the final minutes of the game.

-In the Spanish Segunda División, it was a rare battle with two Algerians playing on opposite sides as Walid Cherfa's Gimnastic Tarragona hosted Kamel Ghilas' Celta Vigo. Both players started the game, which ended 1-1. Ghilas was replaced in the 83rd minute.

-Hameur Bouazza made his first appearance off the bench for Birmingham City as they won 2-0 against Nottingham Forest in the English Championship. Forest defender Hamza Bencherif did not make the bench.

Chemma League: JSM Béjaïa Maintain Second Place With Impressive Win

2009-02-12T21:58:00.003-05:00

In the opening game of Week 17 of the Algerian League, JSM Béjaïa continued their push for the title with a convincing 3-0 victory over MSP Batna at the Unité Maghrébine Stadium in Béjaïa. It took the home side just 2 minutes to break the deadlock, with Hamza Boulemdaïs taking advantage of a mix up between the defenders and the keeper to score his 4th goal of the season. JSMB doubled the lead just 21 minutes later, this time through the penalty spot, with new signing Zahir Zerdab slotting home from the penalty spot. The rout was complete in the 41st minute when a Kouider Boukessassa free-kick found the back of the net. The score stayed that way and with the win, JSMB closed the gap with ES Setif at the top of the table to just 2 points, despite the latter still having a game to play.

In the days other game, 3rd placed CA Bordj Bou Arreridj kept pace with JSMB, as they defeated USM Alger 1-0 at home. The only goal of the game came in the 75th minute from Issamba. With the win, CABBA remain in 3rd place with 28 points from 17 games. USM Alger remain in 8th place with 22 points from 17 games.

Les Fennecs With Easy Win Over Benin

2009-02-11T20:15:00.007-05:00

The Algerian National Team came away with a relatively easy 2-1 victory against Benin in a friendly at the Mustapha Tchaker Stadium in Blida. Saadane had to do with a under-strength squad and started with Gaouaoui in nets, Raho in right back, Bougherra and Maïza in the middle of defence and Nadir Belhadj in the left back position. In the midfield, Mansouri and Lemmouchia were given the task in the middle of the park, with Karim Matmour and Yacine Bezzaz on opposite wings. Upfront, Saadane went the duo of Kamel Ghilas just behind Abdelkader Ghezzal. Slimane Raho lasted just 13 minutes in th egame before being replaced because of injury by Mohamed Rabie Meftah.

Playing in front of a packed house, Les Fennecs had a number of chances in the first half before taking the lead in the 36th minute (VIDEO) when defender Madjid Bougherra set up Abdelkader Ghezzal with a nicely placed thru-ball, with the latter making no mistake and putting it past Benin keeper Djidonou to take a 1-0 lead. The team doubled the lead just 6 minutes later (VIDEO), this team Ghezzal turning passer and setting up Kamel Ghilas who again beat the Benin keeper in a one on one to make it 2-0.

With a 2-0 lead going into the half, Rabah Saadane took the opportunity to incorporate some new players at the break bringing in Lazhar Hadj Aïssa and Abderraouf Zarabi in the place of Yacine Bezzaz and Nadir Belhadj. Saadane continually brought in a number of players throught out the second period with Hameur Bouazza coming in for Kamel Ghilas, Lamour Djediat coming in for Karim Matmour and Chérif Abdeslam coming in for Madjid Bougherra. This final move, bringing in a defensive midfielder for a central defender, would prove to be costly as Benin scored a goal in the 85th minute through Abou Maïga, although it would have little impact on the final result.

Overall, the play of the Algerian team was disjointed without key players like Karim Ziani, Rafik Saïfi and Antar Yahia. However, the win should be a good morale booster ahead the all-important first qualifier against Rwanda next month.

Algeria: Gaouaoui - Raho (Meftah 15'), Bougherra (Abdeslam 65'), Maïza, Belhadj (Zarabi 46) - Mansouri (c), Lemmouchia, Matmour (Djediat), Bezzaz (Hadj Aïssa 46') - Ghilas (Bouazza 70'), Ghezzal

Bénin: Djidonou - Ahoueya, Adenon, Chrysostome, Olou (Johnson 62') - Glele, Koukou, Kobena (Boco 46'), Pote, Sessegnon - Omotoyoffi (Maiga 74')

Algeria vs Benin: Starting Line-Up

2009-02-11T09:27:00.004-05:00

According to AlgeriaFoot.com, the starting line-up for the Algeria-Benin friendly will be:

Gaouaoui - Raho, Bougherra, Maiza, Belhadj - Mansouri, Lemmouchia, Matmour, Bezzaz - Ghilas, Ghezzal

Saadane will go with a classical 4-4-2 with Matmour on the RW and Bezzaz on the LW, with Ghilas providing support for Ghezzal upfront. Saadane also opted to go with Adel Maïza in defence along with Bougherra, instead of Abderraouf Zarabi. Ziani is not in the line-up after picking up a slight injury against Bordeaux over the weekend. Both coaches have agreed to an 8 substitution limit for the game.

Algeria vs Benin: Team News

2009-02-09T20:09:00.003-05:00

With the Algeria-Benin game less than 24 hours away, all of the attention of the Algerian sports media has focused on this last friendly before the start of the World Cup qualifiers in March. With a number of notable players injured including Antar Yahia, Rafik Halliche and Khaled Lemmouchia, and the absence of Rafik Saïfi, still getting back into game form with his club, Rabah Saadane will have to make some important choices to fill the voids left by these players. Saadane will surely experiment with the lineups to make-up for Karim Ziani's suspension against Rwanda but his starting line-up should be a good sign of what will come in the future.

Probable starting line-up:

Gaouaoui - Raho, Bougherra, Zarabi, Belhadj - Mansouri, Abdeslam, Ziani, Ghilas, Bouazza - Ghezzal

Possible changes:
-Ousserir might start in between the sticks instead of Gaouaoui with the latter not starting for his club
-Meftah could be an option at RB instead of Raho (who has been injured of late)
-Saadane could give Maïza the starting nod ahead of Zarabi in the heart of defence
-If Ziani does not play, Saadane might go with Djediat or Hadj Aïssa in the play maker role
-Like in the last friendly against Mali, Matmour could start on the RW with Ghilas on the LW instead of Bouazza
-Finally, Djebbour could make his case to start ahead of Ghezzal upfront

Daily Fix: Ziani Leads Marseille To Victory

2009-02-09T17:47:00.000-05:00

-In the biggest Ligue 1 game of the weekend, Olympique Marseille defeated 2nd placed Bordeaux 1-0 to go within 5 points of league leaders Lyon. The only goal of the game in the 56th minute when Bordeaux forward Marouane Chamakh mistakenly headed a Karim Ziani free kick into his own net. Marseille also had a goal from Sylvain Wiltord wrongfully ruled out in the 75th minute, although it did not matter in the end. Ziani, not the most involved played in the first half, had an excellent second half and came off to a standing ovation when he was replaced in injury time.

-In the English Premier League, Portsmouth stumbled to a 3-2 loss at home to 2nd placed Liverpool despite being up 2-1 with just 5 minutes left in the game. Belhadj, playing as a midfielder to replace the injured Armand Traoré, looked like he had help set-up the winner when his free kick was headed into the goal in the 78th minute by Hermann Hreidarsson. However, Liverpool replied with 2 goals in the final minutes through Dirk Kuyt and the eventual winner by Fernando Torres. Portsmouth have now gone winless in their last 10 games, losing 9 and drawing 1, and fall to 16th in the table with 24 points from 24 games, 1 point above the relegation zone.

-In the Bundesliga, there was bad news for Antar Yahia as he came off injured in the 20th minute against VfL Wolfsburg, and his side losing 2-0. His shoulder injury will see him sidelined for about 2 weeks. The news was better for Karim Matmour and Borussia Monchengladbach as they managed to get a 1-1 draw against surprise leaders Hoffenheim. Matmour started the game and was replaced in injury time.

-In the Greek Super League, Rafik Djebbour notched up his 4th goal of the season as AEK Athens drew 1-1 away to AE Larissa. The draw keeps Athens in 4th place, and in the running for a Champions League spot.

-In La Liga, Racing Santander could not cause the upset at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium as they went down 1-0 to giants Real Madrid. Defensive midfielder Medhi Lacen started the game for Santander but was replaced in the 64th minute as they sought an equalizer.

-In Belgium's Jupiler League, Fadel Brahami was the talk of the night despite playing just 2 minutes in his team's 3-2 loss to Anderlecht. Coming in as a substitute in the 88th minute, Brahami had the chance to equalize for Mons through the penalty spot just one minute later, but he managed to shoot it wide. His former teammate, Mohamed Dahmane, had a less than triumphant start to his Club Brugge with the club needing 2 late goals from fellow striker Daniel Chavez to secure the win against Dender. Elsewhere, Adlène Guedioura made his debut for Charleroi ... as captain, in their away trip against Cercle Brugge. The game ended 2-2.

Yahia Set To Be Sidelined For Six Weeks

2009-02-08T00:25:00.004-05:00

Antar Yahia came off in the 20th minute in VfL Bochum's Bundesliga game against Wolfsburg today with a knee injury. Initial reports have it that the central defender will be sidelined for about six weeks, meaning he will miss Algeria's friendly against Benin next week, and most likely the important opening qualifier against Rwanda in March.

With Mehdi Meniri already out for about the same period of time, and Rafik Halliche still not fully recovered from his injury, Rabah Saadane will be forced to start one of Abderraouf Zarabi, who usually plays as a left back, or Adel Maïza, who is currently without a club after being released by Saudi club Al Ahli Jeddah, for the upcoming friendly against Benin. Other options for the central defender spot also include ASO Chlef's central pair of Samir Zaoui and Farid Cheklam.

With Karim Ziani already set to miss the Rwanda game through suspension, the game is already promising to be a difficult one for Les Fennecs.

Daily Fix: JS Kabylie Creeping Back To The Top

2009-02-07T14:04:00.004-05:00

-JS Kabylie jumped into 6th spot in the league with a 1-0 home win over promoted side RC Kouba with a lone goal in the 20th minute from Adlène Bensaïd, in a game played behind closed doors. Bensaïd scored the game winner after controlling a cross forward from right-back Mohamed Rabie Meftah and blasting it past keeper Mohamed Benzidane. With the win, JSK are 8 points adrift of leaders ES Sétif but just 5 points away from the relegation zone. RCK, who have played a marathon-like schedule to catch up on their missed games since joining the top flight in November, now sit in second last place with 15 points from 16 games. The game against JSK was their last make up game and the team will follow a regular schedule from here on in.

-In the Algerian Cup, USM Annaba were 2-0 winners over GC Mascara at the 20 Aout Stadium in Alger with goals from Adel El Hadi and Ivorian midfielder Sékou Fadiga. USMAn needed extra-time to make the difference with the game still deadlocked with no goals after 90 minutes.

-Farès Mecheri scored his first goal (VIDEO) in the Moroccan league in Wydad Casablanca's 3-0 win over KAC Marrakech. Coming on in the 80th minute, Mecheri, with his first touch of the game, controlled a long pass forward before neatly slotting it past the outstretched keeper. It was Mecheri's second game with Wydad since joining them in January from USM Alger.

-Defensive midfielder Karim Belhocine came off injured in the 73rd minute in KV Kortrijk's 2-0 loss at home Belgian league leaders Standard Liège. The shoulder injury will keep him sidelined briefly with a scan scheduled to determine the full extent of it.

-Algerian international defender Ismaël Bouzid's dismal run with Ankaragücü continued in the Turkish league as they lost 2-1 on the road to Trabzonspor. Since joining them in the winter transfer window, Bouzid has started 3 games, all of them losses. Ankaragücü now sit in the relegation zone in the Turkish Süper Lig with just 12 points from 15 games, 3 points away from the safety zone.

Coupe d'Algerie: ES Ben Aknoun Continue Fairy Tale Run

2009-02-05T22:42:00.004-05:00

ES Ben Aknoun continued their fairy tale run in the 2009 Algerian Cup with a penalty shoot-out win over second division side USM Sétif in the Round of 16. With the scored tied 1-1 after 120 minutes at Tizi Ouzou's 1er Novembre Stadium, the game went into a penalty shootout and the capital-side took full advantage of their chances. ES Ben Akoun play in the 2nd division of the regional Alger league, the 5th division in the national football system, and are looking to be the first team from this division to win the title.

The other surprise of the day came from second division side WA Tlemcen as they beat top flight outfit ASO Chlef 2-1 with goals from Redouane Bachiri and Youcef Ghazali. ASO's only goal came from Mohamed Messaoud. The two teams will be joined by 3 teams from the top flight: CR Belouizdad (1-0 winners over CA Batna), MC El Eulma (1-0 winners of MC Oran) and CA Bordj Bou Arreridj (4-1 winners over ES Mostganem).

The last two games of the round are scheduled for tomorrow and Sunday with GC Mascara taking on USM Annaba and USM Blida facing ES Sétif.

Full results:

ES Ben Aknoun (D5) 1-1 USM Sétif (D2) *ESB won on penalties
WA Tlemcen (D2) 2-1 ASO Chlef (D1)
CR Belouizdad (D1) 1-0 CA Batna (D2)
MC El Eulma (D1) 1-0 MC Oran (D2)
CA Bordj Bou Arreridj (D1) 4-1 ES Mostganem (D2)

GC Mascara (D3) vs USM Annaba (D1)
USM Blida (D1) vs ES Sétif (D1)

Daily Fix ... Is Back

2009-02-04T22:51:00.003-05:00

After a brief boredom-induced hiatus, the Daily Fix is back once again. Not sure that it will remain daily but I'll do my darndest to keep things going ...

-Madjid Bougherra started for Rangers FC in their much anticipated gala friendly against Italian giants AC Milan in front of a crowd of 45,197 at Ibrox, with the game ending 2-2. Bougherra was replaced at halftime with the score 0-0 as manager Walter Smith made wholesale changes.

-Youcef Saïbi showcased his scoring ability for his new club Ahly Jeddah in a 3-0 friendly over 3rd division side Hara with the striker netting the 3rd goal of the game in his first appearance for the team. Saïbi, who was the top scorer in the first half of the Algerian league with 9 goals in 14 games, joined Ahly until the end of the season.

-Defender Walid Cherfa made his second start of the season for Gimnàstic Tarragona as they won 2-0 at home against Eibar in the Spanish second division. The 22-year old's only other start came in the first game of the season in a 1-1 draw against Huesca.

-Angers SCO's Karim Djellabi signed a contract extension with the club that will see him remain with the Ligue 2 club until 2012. The 25-year old left back has started every game for the team, who sit 2nd in the tables and are strong contenders for promotion to the top flight.

-Le Havre AC loaned out midfielder Selim Bouadla to 3rd division side Paris FC until the end of the season. The 20-year old midfielder has managed just 2 league appearances and will look to get more playing time with the move.

-In a surprising move, the Algerian Under-17 national team has called up PSG youngster Yanis Takerboucht for a set of friendlies next week. Takerboucht, a central defender, is captain of the PSG Under-16 squad is regarded as one of the top defenders in France. The Algerian Under-17 National Team is completing its preparations for the African Under-17 Championships which are going to be held in Alger, Algeria in March. Algeria will be represented by the FAF Academy in addition to a few other elements.

Interview: Lamine Nekrouf (Hammarby IF)

2009-02-01T00:00:00.001-05:00

Lamine Nekrouf is a 17-year old midfielder who is making his name heard in the junior ranks of Swedish club Hammarby IF . We recently caught up with the talented Swedish-Algerian youngster for a brief interview ..

Can you introduce yourself to the readers?
My name is Lamine Nekrouf. I was born January 20th, 1991 in Stockholm, Sweden. I play as a midfielder on the right and left with Hammarby IF. I’m currently playing with the reserves, under the A-Team.

Where are you originally from in Algeria?
I’m originally from Alger, and we live in Kouba. My mother comes from Blida.

Can you tell us briefly your football career so far?
I started playing football when I was 5 years old, I was playing with a team of 8-year olds at a club called Haninge FF. I played there until I was 10 years old when the club closed down. I started playing again with another team called Haninge FK when I was 12 years old. I always played in categories with players who were older than me. When I was 14 years old, a club called IF Brommapojkarna called me and wanted me to sign with them, so I ended up joining them. However, Brommoapojkarna was very from my house, and when I started high school Hammarby IF called me and wanted me to start playing with their academy and study at their school. The school was not far from my house, so I joined them and began playing there as a junior. For now, I don’t know if I will continue playing in Sweden. I recently went and played in France and did very well there.

How has your time been at Hammarby? What are your goals?
The club has been very good to me and takes care of me well. They help me with any problems I have, even with school work and its not far from my house, just a 5 minute bus ride. My goal is to play for the A-Team and become the best player at the club!

Do you follow Algerian football?
Yes, I follow the National Team but I don’t have the channels to watch the club teams. My favourite teams are JS Kabylie and USM Alger, I have both their jerseys.

You’re Algerian and Swedish … which country would you rather play for if you had the opportunity?
I would definitely play for Algeria. I feel that I am Algerian and not Swedish. I still don’t understand why I have never been invited by the Algerian team.

Do you have any favourite players or role models?
My only role model is Zinedine Zidane, but I also like Karim Ziani.

A last word for the readers ..
Thank you for reading and Tahia El Djazair!

National Team: Saadane Announces Squad For Benin Friendly

2009-01-24T11:37:00.005-05:00

National team coach Rabah Saadane announced his squad for the upcoming friendly scheduled against Benin on February 11th in Blida, Algeria. As expected, Saadane kept the bulk of the team unchanged and gave a number of players recalls to prove their worth ahead of the important World Cup qualifiers that kick off in just over 2 months time. Among the recalled were ES Sétif play-maker Lazhar Hadj Aïssa, AEK Athens striker Rafik Djebbour, Birminghan City winger Hameur Bouazza and Ahly Djeddah defender Adel Maïza. Dropped from the team were injured defender Mehdi Meniri, Samir Zaoui, and out of form strikers Nabil Hemani and Mohamed Seguer.

Goalkeepers:
Mohamed Benhamou (MC Alger)
Lounes Gaouaoui (USM Annaba)
Mohamed Ousserir (CR Belouizdad)

Defenders:
Mohamed Meftah (JS Kabylie)
Slimane Raho (ES Sétif) *
Nadir Belhadj (Portsmouth FC, England)
Madjid Bougherra (Rangers, Scotland)
Rafik Halliche (CD Nacional, Portugal)
Adel Maïza (Ahly Djeddah, Saudi Arabia)
Antar Yahia (VfL Bochum, Germany)
Abderraouf Zarabi (Nîmes Olympique, France)

Midfielders:
Cherif Abdeslam (JS Kabylie)
Lamouri Djediat (ES Setif)
Lazhar Hadj Aïssa (ES Sétif)
Khaled Lemmouchia (ES Sétif)
Yacine Bezzaz (Valenciennes FC, France) *
Yazid Mansouri (FC Lorient, France)
Karim Ziani (Olympique Marseille, France)

Forwards:
Hameur Bouazza (Birmingham City FC, England)
Rafik Djebbour (AEK Athens, Greece)
Abdelkader Ghezzal (AC Siena, Italy)
Kamel Ghilas (Celta Vigo, Spain)
Karim Matmour (Borussia Monchengladbach, Germany)
Rafik Saïfi (FC Lorient, France) *

* - injured

Daily Fix: Bouazza Joins Birmingham City

2009-01-09T00:51:00.004-05:00

-Hameur Bouazza has joined Championship-side Birmingham City FC on loan until the end of the season from Fulham. Bouazza was originally loaned out to Charlton for the whole season but a clause in his contract allowed him to move in the January transfer window. He featured in 27 games in all competitions, scoring 4 goals. Bouazza will be available for Birmingham's game at Blackpool on Saturday.

-The transfer saga surrounding Rangers defender Madjid Bougherra continues with a number of clubs joining the race to sign him. On top of Newcastle, SkySports.com is reporting that the trio of Sunderland, Wigan and Bolton are ready to put in a bid for the 26-year old. This despite Rangers' team President David Murray announcing that the team's best players will not be sold after the rumoured departure of striker Kris Boyd.

-JS Kabylie drew 1-1 with Ittihad Tripoli in the 3rd place game of the North African Champions Cup. Playing with a number of youngsters, JSK went down 1-0 in the 20th minute but managed the equalizer 11 minutes from time through Adlène Bensaïd. With the game ending 1-1, JSK team officials assumed victory with the away goals rule but the referee insisted on a penalty shootout, which JSK refused. The final decision on the result will be made by the North African Football Union (UNAF).

-MC Alger fell 3-2 in a friendly against Tunisian CS Sfaxien in Sfax, Tunisia, as they continue their mid-season preparations. MCA's goals were scored by Hamza Yacef and Salim Boumechra. MCA almost managed the draw before CSS scored a penalty in injury time. Algerian Under-20 international Amine Taha Antir started the game for CSS, with Tunisian international Chakib Lachkham starting for MCA.

Daily Fix: JSM Béjaïa Stumble Against Espérance

2009-01-07T21:40:00.003-05:00

-JSM Béjaïa stumbled to a disappointing 0-0 draw at home against Espérance Tunis in the first leg of the North African Cup Winners' Cup. There were not many chances in the game with both keepers only having to make one save each to keep the clean sheets. Despite the draw, JSMB still have hope in the return leg with the Tunisian side failing to score the all-important away goal. The return leg is scheduled to be played at the Radès Stadium in Tunis on January 20th, 2008.

-The Algerian National Team will face Togo on February 11, according to Togolese press, replacing the scheduled friendly with Benin. Togo, who qualified to the 2006 World Cup, will use the game to prepare for their qualifiers against Morocco.

-The Ligue National de Football (LNF) has announced the postponement of all league games this coming weekend in a show of solidarty with the people of Gaza, as Israel continues attacking the tiny enclave. The postponement applies to all divisions, age groups and both men's and women's matches.

-In Spain's Copa del Ray, Racing Santander drew 1-1 against Valencia in the first leg of their 5th round matchup. Valencia took the lead in the 36th minute through Pepe Colsa but Racing equalized in the 56th minute through Algerian midfieder Medhi Lacen. The return leg will be played in one week's time at Valencia's Mestalla Stadium.

Daily Fix: JSM Béjaïa After First International Title

2009-01-06T22:38:00.003-05:00

-JSM Béjaïa will look to win their first international title in team history as they host Espérance de Tunis tomorrow in the 1st leg of the final of the North African Cup Winners' Cup. Founded in 1936, JSMB won the first trophy in team history last year when they beat WA Tlemcen in the final of the Algerian Cup. The game is scheduled for 3PM local time at the Stade de l'Unité Maghrébine and will be shown live on Algerian television.

-RAEC Mons have announced that they have released striker Mohamed Amroune. The 25-year old made just 1 appearance since joining in 2007 from CR Belouizdad after going down with a serious injury in his first game for the club. His former club CRB have hinted at the possibility of singing the Algerian international.

-Hameur Bouazza could be set for an exit from Charlton after another Championship side, Birmingham, expressed interest in taking the 23-year old on loan until the end of season. Despite being on loan to Charlton from Fulham, Bouazza has a clause in the deal allowing him to move in the January transfer window. He has scored 4 goals in 23 games and has been the most dangerous player for bottom placed Charlton. Birmingham are currently 3rd in the standings.

Chemma League: AS Khroub 2-0 RC Kouba

2009-01-05T20:56:00.003-05:00

-In a battle of newly promoted teams, AS Khroub came away with a 2-0 victory at home against RC Kouba with goals from defender Djamel Benchergui and Cameroonian striker Gil Ngomo in the 63rd and 76th minute respectively. The win puts AS Khroub level on points with ASO Chlef in the 3rd spot in the league, with RC Kouba still at the bottom. RCK have an opportunity to catch up to USM Blida in the 16th spot as they face USM El Harrach on Friday.

-The draw for the Round of 64 of the Algerian Cup was held today at the Lounge Hotel in Dely Brahim, Alger. Of the 32 matches, 4 of them will pit Division 1 teams against each other:

JSM Béjaïa vs USM Blida
JS Kabylie vs ASO Chlef
ES Sétif vs USM El Harrach
NA Hussein Dey vs AS Khroub

The full draw can be found on the LNF website.

-JS Kabylie will travel tomorrow to Libya for their 3rd place match against Ittihad Tripoli scheduled for Thursday at 4PM local time. The JSK delegation will consist of 30 people, with 23 of them players. Team president Mohand Cherif Hannachi will also make the trip.

-US Créteil midfielder Faris Khenniche is set to join MC Alger on an 18-month contract after, according to paper Liberté. Khenniche arrived in Algeria today to sign his contract and will travel to Tunisia to join the team in its midseason training camp. The 27-year old who has spent the last 5 seasons with Créteil, has featured just once in the league for the club.

Daily Fix: Ziani Leads l'OM In French Cup; Bougherra Makes Rangers Return

2009-01-04T22:47:00.005-05:00

-Olympique Marseille had to settle for a penalty shoot-out to defeat CFA-side Besançon in their Round of 32 French Cup tie after the game ended 1-1 after 120 minutes of play. Besançon took the lead in the 66th minute after a Zubar own goal but Marseille levelled in the 84th minute when a Karim Ziani pass was handled by a defender in the box, with Taiwo making no mistake from the ensuing penalty. Marseille won the penatly shootout 5-4, with Ziani converting his spot kick. Two other Algerians were invovled in the game for Besançon: Nasser Hakkar and Romain Hamouma. In another Round of 32 tie, US Créteil easily cruised to a 5-0 victory over 6th division side Evry. Former Algerian international Ali Boulebda scored the final goal for Créteil.

-Madjid Bougherra finally made his return to the Rangers line-up after a missing the past 4 games with a thigh strain. Bougherra started in his usual spot in central defense as Rangers won
3-0 away from home against Inverness CT.

-In the Greek Super League, the Athens derby between Panathinaikos and AEK Athens ended in a disappointing 0-0 draw at the Athens Olympic Stadium. AEK's striker Rafik Djebbour started the game and was replaced in the 89th minute, after a lacklustre display.

-In the Portuguese Leauge, CD Nacional lost 4-2 at home in heartbreaking fashion to champions FC Porto, with Porto scoring 2 goals in injury time of the game. Although expected to start, Rafik Halliche came on in the 56th minute for Nacional with the score 1-1. It seemd like the game with end with a draw with the score tied 2-2 at the end of the game, but a quick double from Porto changed all that.

-In La Liga, Racing Santander came away with a 1-0 victory at Real Valladolid with Medhi Lacen playing the entire game for them at the defensive midfield position. This should come as good news for the National Team as Algerian newspaper Le Temps has reported that Lacen will be part of the Algerian squad for a friendly against Benin on February 11th.

Le Parisien: Khaled Kemas

2009-01-04T00:37:00.008-05:00

This past weekend, amateur side Sainte Geneviève des Bois lost 3-0 at home to Ligue 1 side Lille in the Round of 32 (9th Round) of the French Cup, hardly a surprising result to the 1,650 spectators in attendance at the Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois Parc des Sports in the suburb of Paris. For many in the crowd, it was a good (and cheap) opportunity to see one of the top teams in France. It was also a chance to see former Algerian Under-21 international Khaled Kemas, who came on as a second half substitute for Sainte Geneviève, and is considered a legend in the Parisian football scene despite being just 29-years old and having seen better days in his playing career.

Produit de Banlieue
Born in the Parisian suburb of Créteil (94) on September 1st, 1979, Kemas began his career at CO Joinville 94, following in the footsteps of his uncle former Algerian international and PSG star Youssef Haraoui. He stayed at the club until he made the first team, playing in the Paris Regional League (6th Division) and it was there that he was spotted by scouts from PSG who signed him to his first contract in 1999. He was part of a promising crop of young players including Selim Benachour, Bartholomew Ogbeche and Jean-Michel Badiane. However, the competition at the club barred the young forward from making any first team appearances and he was restricted to just 11 appearances with the reserve side.

Kemas went looking elsewhere for an opportunity to play and after impressing in trial signed with Scottish side Dundee United in December 2001 until the end of the season. He quickly made a name for himself in the Scottish Premier League playing and was quickly snapped up by Motherwell at the end of the season. Just one month into his stint with Motherwell, Kemas was seriously injured and would miss a good part of the season. He came back again to play some important games including an important league tie against Celtic, but a torn muscle forced him until the end of the season and essentially spelt the end of his adventure in Scotland.

Kemas came back to France in 2003 and has since played for a number of amateur sides including Les Lilas (2003-2005), US Créteil (2005-2006), US Red Star 93 (2006-2007), US Ivry (2007-2008) and currently Sainte Geneviève. He also managed one appearance in Ligue 2 for US Créteil in 2005-2006. Yet, despite languishing in the bottom divisions, Kemas has proven that he can still play, scoring 14 goals and setting up 12 more last season for Ivry. In his first game for Saint Geneviève this season, he came on as a second half substitute against Epinal in the 8th round of the French Cup with the score tied 1-1 and scored 2 goals and had an assist to help his team win the game 4-1.

What Lies Ahead?
Many have already written off the career of Khaled Kemas as a player that never fulfilled his potential, labeling him as a lost hope. However, at just 29 years old, Kemas has plenty of years ahead of him to reach that 'potential' and, more importantly, the talent to get him there. Only time will tell. One thing is for sure though, when all is said and done with, his name will not be forgotten on the fields of Paris.

Daily Fix: Newcastle Join Bougherra Race

2009-01-02T17:54:00.007-05:00

-English Premier League side Newcastle United are set to make a £4.5 million bid for Rangers central defender Madjid Bougherra. Also in the race to sign the Algerian international is Ligue 1 side Olympique Marseille. Bougherra is still doubtful for Ranger's game tomorrow against Inverness CT.

-Fulham FC gave Charlton Athletic permission to use winger Hameur Bouazza in their FA Cup tie against Norwich and the move paid off as Bouazza provided the assist on Charlton's goal in the 1-1 draw. In the 20th minute, Bouazza pulled back for 16-year old teenager Jonjo Shelvey who made no mistake beating the keeper. Norwich equalized in the 71st minute, forcing the two team's to a replay.

-Portsmouth FC were also forced into a replay as they could only manage a 0-0 draw with Bristol City. Defender Nadir Belhadj played the whole game for Pompey, who were playing without a number of key players.

-A number of Algerians were also involved in today's Round of 32 French Cup games:

Yazid Mansouri came on in the second half of extra time for Lorient as they beat amateur side Alencon in penalties. However, Mansouri missed his penalty.
Brahim Ferradj scored a free kick from 25 meters out for Brest as they beat National-side Croix de Savoie on penalties. Ferradj also scored his penalty in the shootout.
Nassim Akrour played the whole game for Grenoble as they beat Raon-l'Etape in penalties 4-3. Sofiane Feghouli came in at halftime.

-JS Kabylie have announced the departure of defender Demba Barry to Sudanese-side Al Hilal for a sum of €400,000. The 21-year old Demba joined JSK in 2007 from Malian side AS Real Bamako, after initially coming to Algeria to join Paradou AC. JSK have also announced they have put on trial Chadian striker Karl Max, who was also on trial with ASO Chlef earlier this week. With the departure of Demba, JSK have one foreign player spot open on the team.

Chemma League: Leaders ES Sétif Held in Chlef

2009-01-02T13:22:00.006-05:00

League leaders ES Sétif were held to a 1-1 draw at ASO Chlef with a last minute goal from Cameroonian Paul Emile Biyaga denying them the 3 points (Video). ESS took the lead in the 52nd minute through defender Mourad Delhoum but could not hold on in the dying minutes. Despite the draw, ESS remain in first place in the league with 28 points from 14 games, while ASO Chlef move into third spot 24 points from 16 games.

In Saïda, a lone goal from 17-year old Gambian midfielder Abdourahman Dampha in the 10th minute of the game gave the home team MC Saïda a 1-0 victory over visiting USM Alger (Video). USMA, who came off a disappointing loss at home to Egyptian side Al Ismaily, played the game without a number of key players including Ammour, Dziri, Ghazi and Hosni. The win moves MCS into 13th spot, 3 points away from the relegation zone. USMA dropped to 10th but still have 2 games in hand.

In the last game of the day, JS Kabylie could only muster up a 1-1 draw at promoted-side MSP Batna, needing a late penalty from Achiou to split the points (Video). MSP Batna took the lead in the 63rd minute when former MCA striker Rafan Sidibé beat Chaouchi from the penalty spot. JSK equalized in the 83rd minute from the spot again when newly signed forward Hocine Achiou scored his first league goal of the season. JSK remain in the relegation zone with 16 points, but are not just 1 point behind MC El Eulma, with MSPB moving into 9th spot overtaking USM Alger.

DITC: Escape from poverty fuels Bouazza's desire

2009-01-02T01:06:00.006-05:00

A look back at an excellent piece written about Hameur Bouazza's youth growing up in the rough suburbs of Paris (as published on Fulham FC's official website in October 2007):

HAMEUR BOUAZZA, Fulham’s exciting Algerian international forward, is recalling the Paris of his youth, a bleak, suburban hotbed of racial tension and high-rise estates, a volatile cocktail of joblessness, hopelessness, drugs and violence. “Every day we fought with the police,” he explains. “There was fighting all the time.”

With its large immigrant population creating a permanent underclass, Evry, on the southern outskirts of Paris, became a notorious breeding ground for the unrest that erupted into bitter rioting in the city and in other parts of the country during 2005. “I don’t know what happened, but sometimes things just go wrong.” Bouazza reflects. “What I do know is that it wasn’t good for me to live there.”

Department 91, the area in which the 22-year-old grew up along with two brothers, two sisters and parents who had both emigrated from Algeria, was reputed to be the ghetto of Paris. “It is very, very dangerous, the toughest, no question,” says Bouazza’s Fulham teammate, Diomansy Kamara, who grew up in nearby department 93.

“Paris is not just the Champs-Elysees or Tour Eiffel. Its is a big city with a multicultural population. I know 91 and there are a lot of bad people there, drugs, everything. Thierry Henry comes from Les Ulis, which is very close by and is also a tough area. Football gave him a possibility to escape and it was the same for Hameur. You are so angry when you’re born here that you want to leave this place. You have the motivation and this is the key.

Decades of social and ethnic segregation left such a mark that for boys like Bouazza there were few positive influences on the streets of Evry. But Henry was one, and his example offered the promise of new horizons beyond the concrete maze of this city slum.

“Sometimes I didn’t go to school because all that I wanted was to play football. It was football, football,” Bouazza reveals. “I started playing at nine and when I was 15 I got a chance with Auxerre. It did not go well and after a year I returned to Evry. Hen a scout suggested that I should go to England for a trial and this is how I ended up on a scholarship at Watford (in 2003). They were giving young players like me an opportunity and I took it.

He was loaned to Swindon in the 2005-06 season but returned to Vicarage Road to play in the Premier League, manager Aidy Boothroyd deploying him with some effect on the left wing, where his energy, pace and powerful left-footed strikes frequently did damage during a campaign in which Watford, despite commendable effort, did not.

“It was a difficult season and we were disappointed at the end of many games but, for me, it was magnificent to be playing on the biggest stage with some of the world’s best players,” Bouazza acknowledges. “We played in an FA Cup semi-final against Manchester United (in which Bouazza scored Watford’s only goal in a 4-1 defeat, a spectacular overhead volley) and I finished the season as (Watford’s) top scorer (with seven goals). All the time I was thinking about where I’ve come from and all this hard work I’ve put in to achieve my goals.

“I go back to Evry as often as I can to see my family and my parents. They’re pleased that I made it and that I am playing professional football. Many of my friends are still there, playing in friendly games for local teams and, for some of them, it has been impossible to find work.

“There is so much unemployment in the area. So I take back some shirts and boots and they’re really pleased. I like to do this to show I’m still the same person now that I was when I left. Everything has worked out for me but I know how it can be if no one gives you a chance.”

Following Watford’s relegation, Lawrie Sanchez, the Fulham manager, gave Bouazza another chance in the Premier League when he made him his eighth summer signing for a fee that could rise to £4m.

”Hameur is an exciting young player with a great deal of potential,” insists Sanchez, who delighted in his winger’s stunning free kick in the recent 3-3 draw against Manchester City. “His attributes as a player fit in with my philosophy to play attacking, exciting football. He provides further place and attacking guile to our frontline and I’m delighted he signed for the club.

A total of 14 goals conceded by the Cottagers so far indicates where the weakness lies but Bouazza that they are working as a team on becoming stronger defensively. As he serves coffee and cake to the schoolchildren from the Fulham FC Skills and Learning Centre, part of the “World’s Biggest Coffee Morning” in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support, he also reveals that his observance of Ramadan precludes him from eating or drinking during daylight hours throughout the Muslim holy month. His faith is the only aspect of his life that is more important than football. “The fasting is difficult but it’s my religion, so I do it,” he explains.

His conviction proved to be just as strong when he was approached last year by the Algerian Football Association to play for the North African country. “I always wanted to play for my country, and my country is Algeria,” he declares. “I grew up in Paris, yes, but I’ve always known my nationality. I am Algerian, just as my father and mother are. My grandmother lives just outside Algiers (the capital) and I have many cousins there.

“Football is so important to the people of the country and there was great disappointment when we didn’t qualify for the African Nations Cup (they were eliminated in their final qualifying game in September by Gambia) but we intend to come back strong and qualify for the World Cup in 2010.”

It is this determination that is likely to make Bouazza stand out in the Premier League. The fight was bred into him from an early age.

Chemma Leauge: NA Hussein Dey 0-2 RC Kouba

2009-01-01T15:51:00.005-05:00

NA Hussein Dey could not take advantage of the opportunity to jump into the top 3 in the standings after losing at home 2-0 to neighbors RC Kouba at the Stade Zioui in Alger. RC Kouba took the lead in the 9th minute through 24-year old forward Sid Ali Yahia-Chérif, who also added his second of the game in the 45th minute. Yahia-Chérif, who has been linked with a number of French clubs, has now scored 5 goals for RCK, who have played just 11 games, 4 less than most teams, because of their promotion dispute with the league at the beginning of the season. Despite the win, RCK still sit in last spot with 11 points from 11 games, 3 behind USM Blida who have played 4 more games. NAHD remain in 8th with 21 points from 16 games. The game was followed by RC Kouba's new French coach Christian Dalger, who was in the stands with team officials.

Video:

Daily Fix: Ziani Wins Player Of Month Again

2008-12-31T13:16:00.008-05:00

-Karim Ziani was voted as the Marseille Player of the Month for December with 55% of the vote on the team's official website, OM.net. The 26-year old midfielder was also chosen as the best player last month capping off a remarkable first half of the season for the player. Marseille sit in 5th in Ligue 1 at the winter break, 6 points behind league leaders Lyon.

-Four make up games are on the schedule for this week in the Algerian League including an Alger-derby between neighbors NA Hussein Dey (8) and RC Kouba (17) tomorrow, a game being played behind close doors. Three other games are scheduled for Thursday: MSP Batna (12) vs JS Kabylie (15), ASO Chlef (4) vs ES Sétif (1), and MC Saida (14) vs USM Alger (9).

-In Saudi Arabia's Prince Faisal Bin Fahd Cup, Ahli Jeddah fell 1-0 at home to city rivals Ittihad Jeddah in their Group B encounter. Algerian international defender Adel Maïza played the entire game for Ahli who are in a difficult spot to qualify for the semi-final's now with the loss. The top team in the 3-team groups qualify to the next round.

-In the Moroccan League, KAC Kenitra defeated defending champions FAR Rabat 1-0 in their Week 14 matchup. Algerian forward Yassine Boukhari started the game and was substituted by Senegalese striker Eric Traoré. The win is Kenitra's 4th in a row and lifts the club to 6th in the Moroccan top flight.

-USM Alger's Farès Mecheri is on trial with Moroccan side Wydad Casablanca. The 25-year old Lyon-born forward has scored just 2 goals in 11 games in all competitions since joining USMA from ES Sétif in the summer. He has also previously played for French CFA side AS Lyon La Duchère before coming to Algeria.

-Marseille striker Mohamed Amine Dennoun could be the latest Algerian player to try his luck in the Belgian league as newly promoted side AFC Tubize are interested in signing the 22-year old striker. Dennoun has not played for the first team this season and was set to leave the club in the summer were it not for an administrative mistake. Ligue 2 side AC Ajaccio are also keeping tabs on him.

Rash The Smash: Rachid Harkouk

2008-12-30T18:05:00.002-05:00

The number of Algerian players in the English game has steadily rose in the past few years with Algerian internationals Nadir Belhadj and Hameur Bouazza now regulars for their clubs Portsmouth and Charlton. Before that, there was Madjid Bougherra with Charlton, Yazid Mansouri with Coventry City, Ali Benarbia, Djamel Belmadi and Karim Kerkar with Manchester City, and finally Moussa Saib with Tottenham in the late 90's. However, one name that is rarely cited is that of Rachid Harkouk, the lanky London-born forward who was the pioneer of Algerian players in England.

Rash The Smash
Rachid Harkouk was born on May 19, 1956 in the Chelsea Borough of London, England, to an Algerian father and an English mother. Ironically, his career almost ended before it began at age 16 after he was turned down by Fulham in a trial match at Craven Cottage, despite scoring 5 goals and impressing everyone there. Harkouk quit playing and began working various odd jobs until he was spotted by a Sunday league coach kicking a ball around. In at age 17, he joined amateur-side Cherstey Town FC where he was paid £1.50 a week. Harkouk scored 15 goals in 40 games for the club as an 18-year old. The next season he followed his coach at Cherstey to Feltham FC, with the latter paying a massive ... £200 plus sell-on fee for the player. It took just one year at Feltham for Harkouk to move on to bigger things, as he was signed by future England manager Terry Venables at Crystal Palace, then playing in the third division.

In his first season at Selhurst Park, Harkouk finished as the team's top scorer in the league with 11 goals, with the most memorable coming in the final leauge game away against Wrexham with both sides fighting for promotion to the second division and Palace needing to win by 2 goals to have any chance for promotion. With the score 2-2 in the dying minutes, Harkouk scored and gave Palace the advantage, and his teammate Jeff Bourne scoring immediately after to give Palace the 4-2 victory, and more importantly promotion to the second division. In the 1977/1978 season, the 19-year old Harkouk scored 9 league goals and 3 FA Cup goals to again lead the team in scoring in all competitions and helping the team finish 9th in the league. He was nicknamed "Rash The Smash" for his ability to "smash" shots from long distance and impossible angles and was also called "The Spider" for the way he moved in and out position. Despite becoming a fan favourite for his goal scoring, endless energy and attachment to the club, he would leave the club on a low note, after being arrested by police for having possession of £250,000 in forged bills. In 1979, he left Crystal Palace to join second division side Queens Park Rangers for £100,000. He played just one season with QPR, scoring just 3 goals in 20 games before leaving to Notts County FC for £50,000.

Harkouk fit in perfectly at Notts County when he joined at the beginning of the 1980/1981 season, helping the team gain promotion to the English top flight in his first season. Notts County spent the next 3 seasons in the top flight where Harkouk scored 11 goals in total in a mostly substitute role. The club got relegated the next season, and again in the season after that. He would remain at the club until the end of the 1986 season, making a total of 144 apperances and scoring 40 goals.

1986 World Cup
In 1986, Algeria qualified for its second World Cup in a row and were drawn into the same group as Brazil, Spain and Northern Ireland for the Mondial in Mexico. Manager Rabah Saadane surprised many when he included Rachid Harkouk, who had just 1 cap at the time (against West Germany the year before), in his final list for the tournament, thus becoming the first English-born player to feature for an African team at the World Cup. Harkouk made 2 appearances at the World Cup, coming as substitute for the injured Rabah Madjer in the first game against Northern Ireland (1-1), and starting against Spain (0-3) in the final group game, where had a career ending injury. In total, Harkouk made 4 appearances for the Algerian National Team, failing to score a goal.

After his playing career, Harkouk retired to the village of Burton Joyce, just outside of Nottingham, where he currently operates a number of businesses.

Daily Fix: Belhadj Seals Pompey Move

2008-12-30T15:28:00.005-05:00

-Portsmouth FC announced the permanent signing of Algerian leftback Nadir Belhadj from French side RC Lens for a fee of €4.5 million. Belhadj has impressed at Pompey since joining in the summer, making 16 league apearances and scoring 2 goals. The move will be official on January 1st, the opening day of the transfer window.

-Celta Vigo will probably be without Algerian international Kamel Ghilas for their upcoming league game against Hércules. The club has announced that it has granted the forward a leave of absence to deal with personal matters.

-Footgoal.net is reporting that RAEC Mons striker Mohamed Dahmane could be joining Turkish first division side Sivasspor, who sit in first in the Turkish league at the winter break. Dahmane, who is his club's top scorer this season with 7 goals, was close to signing for another Turkish club in the summer, Eskisehir who are the feeder club of powerhouse Besiktas. Dahmane has also been linked with various Belgian clubs this season including Standard Liège and La Gantoise.

-Amiens SC midfielder Foued Kadir is still being rumoured with a move to Valenciennes FC, who are facing a relegation battle and looking to strengthen the squad for the second half of the season. The technically gifted 25-year old playmaker has been one of the best players for Amiens since joining in the summer of 2007 from AS Cannes. In other Valenciennes news, the club will be without injured Djamel Belmadi and Yacine Bezzaz for their Round of 32 French Cup tie against Toulouse.

-JS Kabylie goalkeeper Fawzi Chaouchi is rumoured to be leaving the club at the end of the seaosn and is already in talks with ES Sétif and MC Alger. Chaouchi has had a string of discipline problems with manager's and the team president since replacing Gaouaoui in the starting line up last season. JSK could find Chaouchi's replacement in NA Hussein Dey's Malik Asselah.

-According to various sources in France, FC Metz midfielder Laurent Agouazi could be joining Ligue 1 side Grenoble Foot. The 24-year old midfielder, despite being one of Metz' best players last season in Ligue 1, has not had the best start this year, scoring just 1 goal in 11 appearances.

Daily Fix: Ziani In Eurosport Top 10

2008-12-29T18:02:00.002-05:00

-Midfielder Karim Ziani finished 6th in Eurosport's mid-season vote for the Top Player in Ligue 1 receiving 116 votes. Bordeaux's Yoann Gourcuff finished on top with 524 votes, one ahead of Lyon striker Karim Benzema. Brazilian Michel Bastos of Lille rounded out the podium.

-Midfielder Zahir Zerdab has joined JSM Béjaïa from Belgian side Zulte-Waregem after making just 1 appearance in the first half of the season. Zerdab joined Zulte-Waregem in the summer from Ligue 2 side Stade Reims. He will be eligible to play in JSMB's North African Cup Winners Cup final match-up against Espérance de Tunis, with the first leg being held on January 9th in Béjaïa.

-JS Kabylie have convinced midfielders Nassim Dehouche and Tayeb Berramla to stay with the club until the end of the season. Dehouche, who has not been at his best this season, was rumoured to be joining JSM Béjaïa. As for the case of Malian defender Demba Barry, it is not clear whether he will remain with the team as some sources have indiciated that he has already signed a deal with Sudanese side Al Hilal for a transfer fee of about €300,000.

-A couple of UK-based players are set to move this winter break: Rangers FC midfielder Brahim Hemdani, who has not featured for the team this season despite starting in the UEFA Cup Final against Zenit St. Petersburg last year, and Walsall FC's Sofiene Zaaboub, who has played just 8 games this season due to injuries and fitness issues.

Daily Fix: USM Alger Embarassed At Home

2008-12-28T14:34:00.001-05:00

-USM Alger were defeated 4-1 at home against Egyptian Al Ismaily in the return leg of their second round encounter in the Arab Champions League. USM Alger played with 10 men for half the game, with goalkeeper Mohamed Amine Zemmamouche being shown a red card in the 45th minute. Al Ismaily qualify to the quarter-finals 7-2 on aggregate, an embarassing scoreline for the Soustara side. The elimination will probably spell the end of the coaching reign of Argentinian Oscar Fulloné.

-Arsenal defeated Portsmouth 1-0 in the English Premier League with the game's only goal coming in the 81st minute from defender William Gallas. Defender Nadir Belhadj played the entire game for Pompey and received a 7 out of 10 rating from SkySports. Portsmouth now sit just 3 points from the relegation zone.

-Charlton Athletic fell 3-1 on the road to Sheffield United in their Championship encounter and pushed the club further into crisis, having gone 17 games with a win. Charlton's only goal of the game from Algerian international Hameur Bouazza when he raced onto a long pass and beat the keeper from just outside the penalty area with a low, left-footed shot. With the loss, Charlton are now last in the table with 19 points, 4 away from the safety zone.

-According to FootMercato.net, former Algerian international Ali Boulebda, currently playing for National side US Créteil, could be joining Belgian first division outfit Charleroi. The 28-year old forward has scored just 2 goals in 11 games this season, coming off the bench 5 times. Once considered a budding star in French football, Boulebda's career has languished over the past few years in Ligue 2 and the third division.

-USM Annaba have announced the signing of former Algerian Under-23 National Team captain Benamar Bellabes to a two and a half year contract. The 23-year old defender has spent the past couple seasons in Switzerland playing for Division 3 side UGS Geneve. Bellabes started his career at the Le Mans academy before joining AC Ajaccio's junior ranks. He also played briefly for CFA side Agde. Annaba also annoucned the departure of Cheikh Hamidi and Sofiane Harkat to USM Alger. Hamidi scored 13 goals last season for MC Saida but has barely featured for USMAn since singing in the summer.

The Fall Of JS Kabylie

2008-12-28T02:40:00.001-05:00

What was once the pride of the Kabyle people, Algeria's most successful club, JS Kabylie, is slowly losing its place among the elite in Africa due to the incompetence of its team president Mohand Cherif Hannachi. Despite winning the league title 3 times in the last 5 years, JSK has had little success in African competition, failing to reach the group stage of the Champions League this past year, and crashing out in the group stage the two previous years. The final straw was this past weekend's elimination in the semi-finals of the newly created North African Champions Cup to a very weak FAR Rabat team, failing to even win the home leg in Tizi Ouzou.

A Rich History
In 1981, JS Kabylie defeated AS Vita of Zaire 5-0 on aggregate, winning both legs on the way, to win its first African Champions Cup, the first international trophy for the club. They repeated that feat again in 1990, defeating Zambia's Nkana Red Devils on penalties. Since then, JSK has won four more African cups: the Cup Winners Cup in 1995, and the CAF Cup in 2000, 2001 and 2002. Apart from Egyptian side Al Ahly, no other team in Africa has more African cups than JS Kabylie (Zamalek and Etoile du Sahel both have 6). The team has won the Algerian League 14 times, the Algerian Cup 4 times, the African Super Cup once and the Algerian Super Cup once as well. Its success means that JSK is not only supported by the Kabyle population of Algeria alone, but by all of the Berber populations of North Africa. Last year the club was invited to a tournament in Agadir where it has a huge following from the Chleuh population in the city. The team has produced some of the greatest players in the history of Algerian football such as Rachid Dali, Mokrane Baileche, Driss El Kolli, Mehdi Cerbah, and more recently Moussa Saib and Mahieddine Meftah. So what exactly went wrong .. ?

The Hannachi Era
In 1993, former player Mohand Cherif Hannachi was elected as the team's president, the sixth in the clubs history. Despite winning 4 African and league titles in his era, JSK has slowly lost its allure, and on the way, the stronghold it has had on Algerian football for so many years. The club has resorted to selling its top players at the end of every season to rival clubs and signing mediocre replacements. Just today, reports announced the probable departure of Malian defender Demba Barry to Sudanese-side Al Hilal and with all due respect to Sudanese football, which is on the rise, a club like JSK should not be selling to smaller African clubs, no matter the price being offered. In fact, unless a significant amount is being proposed, JSK should not be selling to any African club and should be exporting its talents to Europe. Last season's top scorer in the league Nabil Hemani was allowed to leave to join rivals ES Setif. Two seasons ago, another league top scorer, Malian Cheikh Oumar Dabo was sold to Ligue 2 outfit Le Havre for a meager €500,000. Before that, it was Hamza Yacef's turn to leave and join Moroccan side Wydad Casablanca.

It is not only the catastrophic management of the players but of its coaches as well, as the position has become a revolving door. This season alone, the team has gone through numerous coaching changes: Romanian coach Alexander Moldovan quit after just two months into the job, his replacement Younes Ifticène quitting shortly thereafter, Moussa Saïb quit before even a single game in charge, and current coach, Frenchman Jean-Christian Lang, looking unlikely to be in charge until the end of the season with his poor start.

The Symbol Of A People
For the Kabyle population, JSK is more than just a football club, it is a symbol of the struggle of the culture and identity of the Kabyle people. The Kabyle language, "Amazigh", is a literal translation of the phrase "Free Men," a people that will not allow themselves to be pushed down, and will always fight for what they believe in. With the current state of the club, it is time for Hannachi to step down and hand over the club to a more competent president, a president that will restore the club to its once former glory ... and more importantly in its rightful place as the pride of the Kabyle people.

Daily Fix: Boukhari Bags Brace

2008-12-27T14:35:00.001-05:00

-KAC Kenitra's Yassine Boukhari scored 2 goal's in his team's 3-1 away win against Maghreb Fès in the Moroccan top flight. The 22-year old striker got his first in the 43rd minute and added his second in the 51st minute, his 2nd and 3rd goals of the season for KAC. The team has now won its last 2 games and sit in 13th in the 16-team Moroccan league with 14 points from 13 games.

-Rangers lost 1-0 at home in the all-important Old Firm derby against city rivals Celtic. Madjid Bougherra missed the game with a thigh strain, his third in a row. However, Rangers fans fear that the player is being protected from further injury before the club sells him in the January transfer window, with Olympique Marseille being a likely destination.

-Algerian international Karim Ziani is being linked with a number of clubs including Spanish side Sevilla FC and German club VfB Stuttgart. After a tough first season at the Velodrome last year, Ziani has been his team's best performer this season. Reports also indicate that the club will offer him a new contract, with his current one running until 2011.

-According to local paper Echorouk, ES Sétif's talented play maker Lazhar Hadj Aïssa could be on the move in January with Greek and Belgian clubs looking to sign him.

Daily Fix: JSM Béjaïa Reach North African Cup Final; JS Kabylie Crash Out

2008-12-26T13:28:00.001-05:00

-JSM Béjaïa progressed to the finals of the North African Cup Winners' Cup with a 2-0 win over Egyptian side Al Masry, to overturn the 1-0 deficit from their first meeting. JSMB took the lead in the 9th minute through Kouider Boukessassa and got the all important second goal in the 77th minute through Hamza Boulemdaïs, despite playing with 10 minutes since the 35th minute. The end of the game was marred with incident as Al Masry assistant coach Ibrahim Hassan (thanks Hosam!) attacked the 4th referee (Video) on the sidelines before turning on the head ref. Security staff in the stadium had to intervene to calm the situation. They were called into action at the final whistle as well, as Al Masry players surrounded the main referee. JSMB will face Tunisian side Esperance de Tunis in the final.

-In the North African Champions Cup, JS Kabylie lost 1-0 in their away tie to FAR Rabat of Morocco and were eliminated 2-1 on aggregate. FAR's only goal was scored in the 55th minute by Akedar. The game saw the debut of two of JSK's new signings: Hocine Achiou, who started the game, and Nigerian striker Izu Azuka, who came on in the 75th minute.

-Portsmouth FC's Nadir Belhadj scored his second goal of the season in Pompey's 4-1 home loss to West Ham. Belhadj opened the scoring in the 8th minute, receiving a pass from England international Peter Crouch and blasting it home from about 12 yards out to beat keeper Robert Green. Portsmouth have now lost their last 3 league games and slip to 11th in the table with 23 points from 19 games.

-In the English Championship, Charlton's dismal winless streak was extended to 15 games as the team drew 2-2 with Queens Park Rangers. Midfielder Hameur Bouazza started the game for the Addicks and was subbed off in the 80th minute after the Charlton equalizer. Charlton currently sit in second last place with just 19 points from 25 games.

Joga Bonito: Khaled Kharroubi

2008-12-25T19:08:00.002-05:00

"Joga Bonito". "Play beautifally" in Portuguese. Practised to the fullest in Brazil.

Home to some of today's biggest superstars like Ronaldinho, Kaka and Robinho, as well as the greatest player to ever play the game, Pele, Brazil has always been considered a footballing hotbed and the birthplace of the most technical football. Brazilian players have always played with a certain swag and flair, or "Ginga", as they like call it. Despite this success, however, very few foreign players come to Brazil to learn the game, and even most local players leave at an early age to join the academy of a European club. Khaled Kharroubi was one of the few exceptions to that rule.

Early Life In Lyon
Born in the suburb of Vénissieux in southern Lyon, France, on February 11th, 1984, Khaled Farid Kharroubi learnt to play on the streets like many of his friends. At age 6, he joined his neighborhood club US Vénissieux. Just two years later, at age 8, he would join the junior ranks of Olympique Lyon. Failing to make it into their academy program at age 13, he would leave the club to join another academy, signing with Grenoble Foot. He spent another 4 years in their junior setup, reaching the semi-finals of the French Under-18 Cup, before jumping into the world of professional football.

Sandy Beaches of Copacabana
Just 18 years of age and without a club, his agent proposed to him a move to Brazilian side Bangu Atlético Clube in the Bangu district of Rio de Janeiro, a 25 minute drive away from the famous Copacabana beach. The talented midfielder instantly welcomed the idea and joined the club in 2002, and in doing so became the first Algerian player to play in Brazil. At first, Kharroubi failed to settle into his new life in such a different environment and away from his family, struggling both on and off the pitch. Over time, he managed to overcome his troubles and started showing signs of improvement. Impressing scouts in the region, he was loaned out to Brazilian Serie A side Esporte Clube Vitória-Bahia for a year, where he continued his learning playing alongside Brazilian internations like Dudu Cearense and Vampeta. He stayed with the club until 2004 when his contract ran out, and decided to return to France after two years in Brazilian football, two years to master the art of "Ginga."

National to Ligue 1
On his return to France, Kharroubi signed a one year deal with third division side Valenciennes FC. In his first season, he made 33 apperances and helped the team finish first in the table and gain promotion to Ligue 2. His performances earned him a 2-year deal with the club. The next season, injuries limited him to just 10 apperances and 1 goal but Valenciennes again managed to finish atop the division, winning promotion to the French top flight. It would be the first celebration of a joyful summer as he was also called up to the Algerian National Team in June by newly appointed manager Jean-Michel Cavalli, and started in a friendly 2-1 win against French-side FC Istres. Despite his steady rise and promising talent, injuries would again slow him down, as again he made just 10 appearances for Valenciennes in Ligue 1 and with his contract coming to its term in 2008, the club decided not to renew it.

New Beginnings
On June 4th, 2008, Belgian club FCV Dender announced the signing of Khaled Kharroubi to a 2-year contract. Having played so close to the Belgian border in Valenciennes, it was of little surprise to see the interest for the player. Kharroubi had already been on trial with the club the previous summer and almost joined had it not been for a disagreement of financial terms. Kharroubi was an instant success at Dender, starting 7 of his first 8 games and considered the club's best signing of the summer by Belgian newspaper La Dernière Heure. Injuries have again slowed him down as he has missed the last 2 months with an ankle injury, but from what he's already shown this season Khaled still has a very promising future ahead.

Daily Fix: Saifi Wins DZFoot d'Or, Soudani Most Promising

2008-12-25T18:03:00.001-05:00

-FC Lorient midfielder Rafik Saïfi won the 2008 DZFoot d'Or with 19.7% of the vote ahead of 2nd place Madjid Bougherra (Rangers FC) with 18.3% and Karim Ziani (Olympique Marseille) with 17.3%. Saïfi also won the year last year and becomes the third player to repeat after Djamel Belmadi, who won in 2000 and 2001, and Karim Ziani, who won 3 years in a row from 2004 to 2006. The award is Saïfi's second this year as he was also chosen the Top Algerian player by sports daily Le Buteur/El Heddaf.

-ASO Chlef midfielder El Arbi Hillel Soudani won the DZFoot Young Player award. The 21-year old striker, nicknamed Drogba by the fans, was chosen by the staff ahead of Bouazza Fahem (ES Setif) and Abderrahmane Hachoud (CA Bordj Bou Arreridj). Soudani scored 11 goals in 24 games last season to help ASO Chlef finish second in the league, and has 4 goals this season for ASO who are sitting in 4th spot.

-Rangers FC defender Madjid Bougherra talked about the importance of next summer's Algeria-Egypt match-up ahead of Rangers' all important Old Firm derby match against city rivals Celtic on Saturday. Bougherra is still incertain for Saturday's game but should be fit according to his coach.

-Hocine Achiou and Nigerian forward Izu Azuka are set to make their JS Kabylie debut tomorrow in the return leg of the team's North Africa Champions Cup tie against FAR Rabat. The first leg in Tizi Ouzou ended 1-1.

-JSM Béjaïa will look to overturn their 1-0 defecit against Egyptian side Al Masry tomorrow in the return leg of their North African Cup Winner's Cup tie in Béjaïa.

-Algerian Under-20 international Taha Amine Antir made his first team debut for CS Sfaxien and scored his first league goal in the space of 7 days in the Tunisian leauge. Antir made his debut against Olympique Beja in Week 12, coming on as a second half sub, and scored his first goal in Week 13, again coming off the bench at halftime, against US Monastir.

-Mouscron striker Idir Ouali will probably remain with the club according to the team's Technical Director, Gil Vandenbrouck, after being tipped with a €400,000 move to Belgian giants Standard Liege earlier this week. Vandenbrouck cited the departure of Mouscron forward Custovic, as well Standard's displeasure about the move being made public before details were finalized.

-On-loan left winger Salim Arrache is set to leave Ligue 2 side Stade Reims and is being linked with a number of clubs including FC Nantes, FC Moscow and English-side Watford FC. Arrache has just made 8 appearances for Reims since joining them on loan in the summer from Marseille and is not part of the coach's plan for the second half of the season.