Lakhdar Belloumi (; born on 29 December 1958) is an Algerian former

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 ...

player and manager. A former

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

, he is widely considered the best Algerian player of all time and one of the best players in Africa. He is said to have invented the "Blind Pass". He was named the fourth-best African player of the century by

IFFHS The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for so ...

. He holds the record as the most capped Algerian player with 100 national caps (147 caps not recognized by

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

) and is also the third best goalscorer of the Algerian national team in all time with 28 goals (34 goals not recognized by FIFA). Belloumi's goal against reigning European champions

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

earned

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 ...

a stunning 2–1 victory in their

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

debut in Spain '82.

Club career

Belloumi spent almost his entire career at home (apart from a brief spell in

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

late in his career), most notably with his hometown club GC Mascara, as well as

MC Oran (), known as , commonly referred to as MC Oran for short, is an Algerian professional Association football, football club based in Oran. Founded on 1 January 1917, the club was known as Mouloudia Chaâbia Ouahrania from 1971 to 1977, Mouloudia P ...

. He played also with

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 ...

for two years during his military service in Algiers. He won two domestic championships during his career in 1984 with GC Mascara and in 1988 with

. After returning for another spell in Mascara in 1994, he continued playing until retirement in 1999. Belloumi had contact with various European clubs, including

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, before Spain '82, but "the law did not allow us to leave the country before the age of 27". In 1985, he caught the eye of

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

after shining in a friendly against them, only to miss out on a dream transfer after breaking his leg in the African Champions' Cup in Libya against

Al-Ittihad Al-Ittihad may refer to: Sports Football Men Teams * Al-Ittihad Club (Jeddah), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia * Al Ittihad SCSC (Tripoli), Tripoli, Libya * Al Ittihad Gheryan, Gharyan, Libya * Al Ittihad Misurata SC, Misurata, Libya * Al Ittihad SC ...

. He was understandably disappointed "It was a real shame for me that I couldn't go". Often overlooked for international recognition due to not joining a major European club, despite the interest of major European clubs (Juventus were reportedly very keen to acquire his services despite the performances of Michel Platini). Belloumi was recognised by any who watched him play, including the great

Pelé Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; 23 October 1940 – 29 December 2022), better known by his nickname Pelé (), was a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. Widely reg ...

, as a fantastic player. Image:MC Oran (saison 1978-79).jpg, Belloumi with

in 1978–79 Image:GC Mascara (Champion d'Algérie 1984).jpg, Belloumi with GC Mascara in 1984

International career

Belloumi has a total of 147 caps and 34 goals for Algeria national team but only 100 caps and 28 goals are recognized by

. He participated at

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...

, at two editions of

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

(

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

and

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

), at four editions of

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 ...

(

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

and

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

) and at two editions of

Mediterranean Games The Mediterranean Games is a multi-sport event organised by the International Committee of Mediterranean Games (CIJM). It is held every four years among athletes from countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea in Africa, Asia and Europe. The fi ...

(1979 and 1983). In 1981, he was awarded

African Footballer of the Year The African Footballer of the Year award, presented to the best African association football, footballer each year, has been conferred by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) since 1992. Samuel Eto'o and Yaya Touré have won the award the ...

. Belloumi scored the winning goal in the 2–1 win over

in the 1982 World Cup, and was a pivotal player in the Algerian national team throughout the 1980s. His last game for Algeria came in 1989.

Controversy

Belloumi was a subject of an arrest warrant in Egypt for almost 20 years following an incident in

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

in 1989 when after a

1990 FIFA World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second ...

qualifying match a brawl erupted to the hostel residence of the Algeria team, between players of the Algerian squad and Egyptian supporters that left an Egyptian fan, doctor by profession, seriously injured in his eye by a broken bottle which was attributed to be thrown by Belloumi. From 2006, he was added among the lists of the accused in

Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL (abbreviated as ICPO–INTERPOL), commonly known as Interpol ( , ; stylized in allcaps), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and crime cont ...

. The Algerian authorities accused Egypt of wanting deliberately to accuse Belloumi who was the biggest star of the country, to make diversion against hostile events that Algeria team has suffered during the qualifying match in Cairo. Belloumi always claimed his innocence and teammates present at the incident had also testified before the Algerian justice that it was goalkeeper Kamel Kadri responsible for inflicting the injury. The warrant was finally rescinded in April 2009 and Belloumi was cleared of all legal proceedings at the initiative of Algerian president

Abdelaziz Bouteflika Abdelaziz Bouteflika (; ; 2 March 1937 – 17 September 2021) was an Algerian politician and diplomat who served as the seventh president of Algeria from 1999 to his resignation in 2019. Before his stint as an Algerian politician, Bouteflika s ...

in collaboration of the Algerian and Egyptian authorities. Seven months before the

1982 World Cup The 1982 FIFA World Cup was the 12th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Spain from 13 June to 11 July 1982. The tournament was won by Italy, who defeated West Germany 3–1 in th ...

, it was reported in European newspapers that Belloumi had died from a heart attack. After a few days, it turned out that it was his team-mate Hocine Benmiloudi who died.

Career statistics

Club

International

Lakhdar Belloumi scored 28 goals in 100 capes with the national team. He scored too six more goals with 47 more caps that are not recognized by

because matches played and goals scored against clubs or against not a full national teams. He scored against

Bałtyk Gdynia Bałtyk Gdynia is a Polish football club from Gdynia. The club is named after the Baltic Sea. They currently compete in the IV liga Pomerania, the fifth tier of Polish league competition. History The club was established in 1930 by football e ...

in 1979, Stade Brestois and

Olympique Lyonnais Olympique Lyonnais (), commonly referred to as simply Lyon () or OL, is a French professional association football, football club based in Lyon, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France. With origins dating back to 1899, they were founded in 1950 and p ...

in 1982,

Racing Paris Racing Club de France Football, commonly known as Racing Club de France (), is a French Association football, football club based in the Paris suburb of Colombes. The club was founded in 1882 as a multi-discipline sports club, and is one of ...

in 1983,

FC Carl Zeiss Jena FC Carl Zeiss Jena () is a German football club based in Jena, Thuringia. Founded in 1903, it was initially associated with the optics manufacturer Carl Zeiss. From the 1960s to the 1980s it was one of the top-ranked clubs in East Germany, won ...

in 1984 and

Videoton FC Videoton may refer to: *Videoton (company) Videoton, officially VIDEOTON HOLDING Ltd., is a privately owned company group based out of Székesfehérvár, Hungary, and specializing in contract manufacturing, mainly electronics manufacturing servic ...

in 1987. :''Scores and results list Algeria's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Belloumi goal.''

Honours

Player

;GC Mascara * Algerian Championship: 1983–84 ;MC Oran * Algerian Championship: 1987–88; Runner-up 1989–90 *

African Cup of Champions Clubs The CAF Champions League, known for sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League and formerly the African Cup of Champions Clubs, is an annual club football competition organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) a ...

: Runner-up

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

Arab Club Champions Cup The Arab Club Champions Cup (, ) is a club football competition organised by the Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA) and contested by top clubs from the Arab world. The tournament is contested by a total of 37 teams from Asia and Africa. F ...

: Runner-up

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

''(as a manager)'' Algeria *

: Bronze medal 1979 *

: Runner-up 1980; Third 1984, 1988 *

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

: Quarter final 1980 *

: Participation 1982, 1986

Individual

;Awards *

3rd best player: 1979 *

best forward: 1980 *

: 1981; Third 1982 *

Team of the Tournament:

* African Footballer of the 20th century: Fourth place * IFFHS World Player of the Century #62: 2000 * CAF Merit Award: 2008 (to his career excellence) * Algerian Footballer of the 20th century: 2009 (with

Rabah Madjer Rabah Mustapha Madjer (; born 15 December 1958) is an Algerian former professional footballer who played as a striker. He reached stardom as a Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Po ...

) * Algerian Footballer of the Year: Several awards ;Performances * Algerian League goalscorer: 1978–79 with 11 goals *

goalscorer: 1988 (with R. Milla, A. Traoré & G. Abdelhamid) with 2 goals

Personal life

Belloumi's son, Mohamed El Bachir, is also a professional footballer.

References

External links

* * *
Profile
at kazeo.com (MC Alger fansite) *
Lakhdar Belloumi: The Wizard of Maghreb
at A Halftime Report {{DEFAULTSORT:Belloumi, Lakhdar 1958 births Living people People from Mascara, Algeria Sportspeople from Mascara Province Algerian men's footballers Algerian expatriate men's footballers Algeria men's international footballers Olympic footballers for Algeria Qatar Stars League players Men's association football midfielders FIFA Men's Century Club Footballers at the 1980 Summer Olympics 1982 FIFA World Cup players 1986 FIFA World Cup players 1980 African Cup of Nations players 1982 African Cup of Nations players 1984 African Cup of Nations players 1988 African Cup of Nations players Mediterranean Games bronze medalists for Algeria Competitors at the 1979 Mediterranean Games Competitors at the 1983 Mediterranean Games GC Mascara players MC Oran players MC Alger players USM Bel Abbès players ASM Oran players Al-Arabi SC (Qatar) players Algerian football managers Algeria national football team managers MC Oran managers Umm Salal SC managers Expatriate men's footballers in Qatar Expatriate football managers in Qatar Algerian expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Algeria men's youth international footballers African Footballer of the Year winners Mediterranean Games medalists in football 21st-century Algerian people 20th-century Algerian sportsmen