Adel Ben-Bechir Chedli (, born 16 September 1976) is a former professional

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

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. Born in France, he represented

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

at international level.

Club career

Born in La Ricamarie,

Loire The Loire ( , , ; ; ; ; ) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône. It rises in the so ...

, France, Chedli joined

AS Saint-Étienne Association Sportive de Saint-Étienne Loire (), abbreviated as A.S.S.E. () and commonly known as Saint-Étienne, is a French professional football club based in Saint-Étienne, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. The club was founded in 1933 and competes ...

and broke into the first team in 1996. In 1997, he was transferred to

FC Sochaux FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Paki ...

for whom he played several years in the

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

. It was during that time that also earned his first cap for the Tunisian national team. Before his move to Germany Chedli played for

FC Istres Istres Football Club (; commonly referred to as simply Istres) is a French association football club based in Istres. The club was formed in 1920 and currently play their home matches at the Stade Parsemain in Fos-sur-Mer, a commune in the A ...

. He left the club on a free transfer after they had been relegated to

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsorship reasons, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Prof ...

after playing in 88 games. At Nürnberg, Chedli had a rough first year and a hard time breaking into the first squad, at the end of the season he had played in only six Bundesliga matches and was at times demoted to the club's

Bayernliga The Bayernliga (English: Bavarian league) is the highest amateur football league and the second highest football league (under the Regionalliga Bayern) in the state of Bavaria () and the Bavarian football league system. It is one of fourteen Ob ...

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

. His situation did not improve when Chedli was sent off twice in a short span, once with the reserves and once in friendly against the

Kansas City Wizards Sporting Kansas City is an American professional soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. The administrative offices are located in downtown K ...

. After the latter incident in which Chedli had kicked a Wizards player in the shins, he left the field cursing at Nürnberg first team coach Hans Meyer, an event that the Nürnberg press interpreted as insubordination and predicted an early release of the left midfielder whose contract with Nürnberg would have run until 2007. That prediction became true in July 2006, when player and team agreed on a termination of the contract.

International career

A French youth international, he made his debut for his native Tunisian side on 26 May 1996, a friendly match against

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

. Due to nationality transfer was not allowed until the 2000s, he's entered the team again and been a regular with the Tunisian national team since 2003 and won the 2004 African Nations' Cup with the "Carthage Eagles". He was also a member of the Tunisian

Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six Continental football championships, continental champions ...

team in 2005 and was a member of the squad at the

2006 World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams represe ...

Honours

Tunisia *

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chedli, Adel Living people 1976 births Footballers from Loire (department) Men's association football midfielders French sportspeople of Tunisian descent Tunisian men's footballers Tunisian expatriate men's footballers 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2006 FIFA World Cup players Istres FC players FC Sochaux-Montbéliard players AS Saint-Étienne players 1. FC Nürnberg players FC Sion players Étoile Sportive du Sahel players Raja CA players Al-Shaab CSC players Tunisia men's international footballers Bundesliga players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players 2004 African Cup of Nations players 2006 Africa Cup of Nations players 2011 African Nations Championship players 2012 Africa Cup of Nations players UAE Pro League players French men's footballers Tunisia men's A' international footballers Africa Cup of Nations–winning players