Abderrahmane Meziani (12 May 1942 – 2 June 2016) was a professional Algerian

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

Life and career

Born in

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

on 12 May 1942, Abderrahmane Meziani began his career at

MC Alger Mouloudia Club d'Alger (), referred to as MC Alger or MCA for short, is an Algerian football club based in Algiers. The club was founded in 1921 and its colours are red, green and white. Their home stadium, Ali La Pointe Stadium, has a capacit ...

in 1955 in the minimal category, he then passed through ASPTT Algiers before landing at the AS Saint-Eugène, Algiers flagship club during the colonial era. After the

independence of Algeria Independence Day (, ), observed annually on 5 July, is a National Holiday in Algeria commemorating colonial Algerian independence from France on 5 July 1962. Algerian War (1954–1962) The Algerian War of Independence began in November ...

in 1962, then aged 20, Meziani signed to

USM Alger Union Sportive de la Médina d'Alger (); known as USM Alger or simply USMA for short, is a Association football, football club based in the inner suburbs of Algiers. The club was founded in 1937 and its colours are red and black. Their home sta ...

to spend the rest of his career there. On 6 January 1963, he was selected for the first time in Team Algeria for a friendly match against the

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

. He scored a goal in the 80th minute and allowed his team to emerge victorious from his first official meeting. On 1 May 2006 Meziani suffered a cardiovascular event. The left side of his body was paralyzed. After several days in a coma, he was transferred to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in order to receive the necessary care. He recovered slowly after a long rehabilitation. However, it became necessary to always use a

wheelchair A wheelchair is a mobilized form of chair using two or more wheels, a footrest, and an armrest usually cushioned. It is used when walking is difficult or impossible to do due to illnesses, injury, disabilities, or age-related health conditio ...

. Abderrahmane Meziani died on Thursday 2 June 2016 at 8 am in Algiers after a long fight against illness.

Honours

Championnat National The Championnat National (), commonly referred to as simply National or Division 3, is the third division of the French football league system behind Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. Contested by 18 clubs, the Championnat National operates on a system of ...

*** Winner: 1962-63 **

Algerian Cup The Algerian Cup () also known the Republic Cup (), is a football competition in Algeria, pitting regional teams against each other. It was established in October 1962, three months after independence, and has been played yearly since then apart ...

*** Runners–up: 1968-69, 1969-70, 1970-71, 1971-72, 1972-73

International goals

National Team

:''Scores and results list Algeria's goal tally first. "Score" column indicates the score after the player's goal.''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meziani, Abderrahmane 1942 births 2016 deaths Algerian men's footballers Algeria men's international footballers Ligue 1 players Footballers from Algiers USM Alger players Men's association football forwards 21st-century Algerian people