Islam Merili (; born 27 June 1998) is an Algerian 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 plays 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 ...

for

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 ...

in the

Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 The Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 (), known as Championnat National de Première Division or Ligue 1 for short, and formerly known as the Championnat National 1, is the Algerian professional league for association football clubs. It is the co ...

Career

USM Alger

On 8 February 2022, Islam Merili signed a two-year and a half contract with

. Free from any commitment, he was coveted by several clubs, notably

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 ...

, but Merili opted for L'USMA after an agreement with sports director

Hocine Achiou Hocine Achiou (; born April 27, 1979) is a former Algeria national football team, Algerian football (soccer), footballer. Achiou was a member of the Algeria national football team, Algeria national team at the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations where he ...

. Usmist supporters have no idea about the new recruit and they expect to see him form a good duo with

Brahim Benzaza Brahim Benzaza (; born 8 April 1997) is an Algerian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 club USM Alger. Career In 2021, he signed a two-year contract with USM Alger. Honours USM Alger * Algeri ...

after playing together for several seasons with

ASO Chlef Association Sportive Olympique de Chlef (), known as ASO Chlef or simply ASO for short, is an Algerian professional football club based in Chlef, founded in 1947. The club colours are red and white. Their home stadium, Mohamed Boumezrag Stadium, ...

. On 9 November 2022, Minutes after he came on as a substitute, Merili scored the winning goal against

Cape Town City A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment of any length that hangs loosely and connects either at the neck or shoulders. They usually cover the back, shoulders, and arms. They come in a variety of styles and have been used thr ...

, as the first goal in the colors of USM Alger and qualified for the group stage of the

CAF Confederation Cup The CAF Confederation Cup, known as the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup for sponsorship purposes, is an annual association football football team, club competition established in 2004 and organized by Confederation of African Football, CAF ...

. On 3 June 2023, Merili won the first title in his football career by winning the

2022–23 CAF Confederation Cup The 2022–23 CAF Confederation Cup (officially the 2022–23 TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 20th edition of Africa's secondary club football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) ...

after defeating

Young Africans Young Africans Sports Club (commonly referred to as Yanga) is a Tanzanian professional football club based at Jangwani ward of Ilala District in Dar es Salaam Region, Tanzania. Founded in 1935, the club plays their home games at the 60,000-c ...

of Tanzania. On 16 August 2023, Islam Merili renewed his contract for two seasons until 2026 along with nine other players. On 15 September 2023, Merili won the

CAF Super Cup The CAF Super Cup, known as TotalEnergies CAF Super Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual African association football competition contested between the winners of the CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederation Cup. The competition was f ...

title after winning against

Al Ahly Al-Ahly Sporting Club (), commonly known as Al-Ahly, is an Egyptian professional sports club based in Cairo, Egypt. The club is mainly known for its professional football team which currently plays in the Egyptian Premier League, the highest ...

, it is the second African title with

in three months.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

USM Alger *

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 ...

: 2024–25 *

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Merili, Islam 1998 births Living people Algerian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders USM Alger players ASO Chlef players People from El Attaf Sportspeople from Aïn Defla Province