Camel Meriem ( ar, كامل مريم; born 18 October 1979) is a French 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 ...

who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

Sochaux Sochaux () is a commune in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France. Geography Sochaux lies east of Montbéliard, and southeast of Paris. Population Inhabitants are known as ''Sochaliens''. Economy S ...

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture ...

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fran ...

AS Monaco Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club SA, commonly referred to as AS Monaco () or Monaco, is a professional football club based in Monaco that is member of French Football Federation (FFF) and competes in Ligue 1, the top tier of Fren ...

, Aris, Arles-Avignon,

OGC Nice Olympique Gymnaste Club Nice Côte d'Azur (), commonly referred to as OGC Nice or simply Nice, is a French professional football club based in Nice. The club was founded in 1904 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the top tier of French football. ...

, and

Apollon Limassol Apollon Limassol FC ( el, Απόλλων Λεμεσού, ''Apollon Lemesou'') is a Cypriot sports club, based in Limassol. It has football, basketball and volleyball teams. Founded in 1954, Apollon FC currently plays in the Cypriot First Div ...

. He has represented

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

at international level.

Club career

Born in

Montbéliard Montbéliard (; traditional ) is a town in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France, about from the border with Switzerland. It is one of the two subprefectures of the department. History Montbéliard is ...

to Algerian parents, Meriem began his career with

, where he played 82 games and scored eight goals in five years. In January 2002 he signed for

and later that season he played and scored as his new side won the 2002 Coupe de la Ligue Final. He played three seasons with

, representing his team in another 82 games, scoring eight goals before playing in the 2003–04 season on loan for

, for whom he played in the

2004 UEFA Cup Final The 2004 UEFA Cup Final was an association football match that took place on 19 May 2004 at Ullevi in Gothenburg, Sweden, contested between Spanish side Valencia and French side Olympique de Marseille. Valencia won the match 2–0, with goals fro ...

. After the end of the season 2003–04 he returned to

before signing in August 2005 for

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign ''Sovereign'' is a title which can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word ...

. After 110 games and eight goals in four seasons he was released by Monaco in the summer of 2009. He became a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

and joined

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pik ...

on trial on 14 October 2009. On 26 October 2009, it was revealed that Meriem was now training and having talks with

Sam Allardyce Samuel Allardyce (; born 19 October 1954), colloquially referred to as Big Sam, is an English football manager and former professional player. Allardyce made 578 league and cup appearances in a 21-year career spent mostly in the Football Lea ...

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

in a deal that could see him joining the

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a Historic counties of England, historic county, Ceremonial County, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significa ...

based club until the end of the 2009–10

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

season. He returned to Blackburn Rovers for a second round of trials, however the trial was terminated early when Meriem picked up a knee injury. He returned to Rovers just after the new year (2009–2010) for a third trial and talks over a deal to join the club. On 5 February 2010, Meriem signed a contract with Greek club Aris on a 1.5-year contract. On 24 June 2010, Aris re-signed his contract and released the French midfielder into the free agent pool. On 9 August, Meriem signed a one-year contract plus an option for another year with newly promoted

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. ...

club AC Arles-Avignon. He left Arles-Avignon in June 2011 on a free transfer and

. Nice released him after him in 2013. Apollon Limassol announced the signing of 33-year-old French midfielder Camel Meriem on a 1+1 year contract. At the end of the season 2014–15 Meriem decided to leave the island of Cyprus, leaving behind two successful years with Apollon Limassol. Apollon Limassol finished 3rd and participated in the Europa League group stages both years. In January 2017, Meriem joined AS Monaco third's team in the French seventh tier.

International career

Meriem earned his first national cap with the

France national team France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area e ...

on 17 November 2004 against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

in a 0–0 draw.

Style of play

Meriem was a playmaker well known for his vision and precision passing.

Personal life

His brother is FC Tournai midfielder Samir Meriem.

Honours

Sochaux * Division 2: 2000–01 Bordeaux *

Coupe de la Ligue The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a knockout cup competition in French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was established in 1993 and, unlike the Coupe de France, w ...

: 2001–02

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Meriem, Camel 1981 births Living people Sportspeople from Montbéliard Association football midfielders French footballers France international footballers France under-21 international footballers French sportspeople of Algerian descent Kabyle people French people of Kabyle descent Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Super League Greece players Cypriot First Division players FC Sochaux-Montbéliard players FC Girondins de Bordeaux players Olympique de Marseille players AS Monaco FC players Aris Thessaloniki F.C. players AC Arlésien players OGC Nice players Apollon Limassol FC players French expatriate footballers French expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate footballers in Greece French expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Expatriate footballers in Cyprus Footballers from Bourgogne-Franche-Comté