Azzedine Rahim (; born 31 March 1972), is a retired

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

n international

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 ...

Club career

Azzedine Rahim grew up in the

Casbah A kasbah (, also ; , , Maghrebi Arabic: ), also spelled qasbah, qasba, qasaba, or casbah, is a fortress, most commonly the citadel or fortified quarter of a city. It is also equivalent to the term in Spanish (), which is derived from the same ...

and began playing football at

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 ...

. He quickly made his mark, and in 1987 he played his first senior game at the age of 15 and a half against the

USM El Harrach Union Sportive de la Médina d'El Harrach (), known as USM El Harrach or simply USMH for short, is an Algerian Association football, football club based in El Harrach, a suburb of Algiers. The club was founded in 1935 as Union Sportive Musulmane ...

. While he is still only cadet. During the 1994-1995 season, he participated greatly in the accession of his club in the first division after five years spent in Division 2.

Injury

In 1996, Azzedine was at the height of his skill and represented one of the greatest hopes of

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

n. In advanced contacts with the Belgian Football Club of

KV Mechelen Yellow Red Koninklijke Voetbalclub Mechelen (), often called KV Mechelen (, KVM) or simply by their former French name Malinois /ˌmalɪˈnwɑː/, is a Belgian professional association football, football club based in Mechelen in the Antwerp (pr ...

, and in the viewfinder of other clubs, in

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 ...

Olympique de Marseille Olympique de Marseille (, ; , ), also known simply as Marseille, or by the abbreviation OM (, ), is a French professional Association football, football club based in Marseille which competes in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top f ...

Le Havre AC Le Havre Athletic Club () is a French professional association football club based in Le Havre, Normandy. The football club was founded in 1894 as a section of the sports club of the same name, founded in 1884. Le Havre plays in Ligue 1, the ...

and

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

, his career changed when, in the Algiers derby against the

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 ...

, defender

Tarek Lazizi Tarek "Baresi" Lazizi (born 8 June 1971) is a retired Algerian footballer in Finland. He played as a central defender. Career He was nicknamed «Baresi» after Italian defender Franco Baresi and is mostly remembered for his career-ending tack ...

mowed him and severely injured him in the knee, causing him to rupture the cruciate and lateral ligaments. His convalescence lasted more than two years, and required his departure to

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

to benefit from Dr. Tom Rosenberg's sports medicine expertise.

Back

When he returned to the competition in

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

, Rahim did not succeed in winning the USMA, the player deplores the lack of confidence placed in him, despite the fact That the

championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

takes place without relegation. He then deposited his suitcases with

Constantine Constantine most often refers to: * Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I * Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria Constantine may also refer to: People * Constantine (name), a masculine g ...

to evolve in the local sporting club.

National team statistics

Honours

* Won the Algerian league one in 1996 with

* Won the

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 ...

twice in 1997 and 1999 with

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rahim, Azzedine 1972 births Living people Footballers from Algiers Algerian men's footballers Algeria men's international footballers USM Alger players ES Sétif players JSM Béjaïa players CA Bordj Bou Arréridj players CS Constantine players CA Batna players Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 players Men's association football forwards 21st-century Algerian people