Larbi Benbarek; also Ben Barek or Ben M'barek, ; 16 June 1917 – 16 September 1992) was a Moroccan

football player 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 ...

. He represented the

France national football team The France national football team () represents France in men's international Association football, football. It is controlled by the French Football Federation (FFF; ), the governing body for football in France. It is a member of UEFA in Euro ...

17 times. He earned the sobriquet of "Black Pearl" and is considered one of the greatest football players of all time.

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 ...

Declared: "If I am the king of football, Ben Barek is the god of football."

Career

Ben Barek was born on 16 June 1917 in

Casablanca Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...

, then part of

French Morocco The French protectorate in Morocco, also known as French Morocco, was the period of French colonial rule in Morocco that lasted from 1912 to 1956. The protectorate was officially established 30 March 1912, when Sultan Abd al-Hafid signed the ...

. The first African star and the first to bear the nickname of "Black Pearl," Ben Barek blazed a trail to the European, and particularly French and Spanish, leagues for African-born players. He arrived in

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

, France, at the age of 20 and became an instant favorite with fans for his skills and technical abilities. He is largely remembered as the first successful French African footballer in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. His career was interrupted by the onset of World War II, but he was soon back to his best with Stade Français FC, eventually moving on to Spain with

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

, where his international reputation spread. His nickname with the fans in Spain was "The Foot of God". With the help of Benbarek, Atlético won

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

in 1950 and 1951. He returned to Marseille in 1953 but joined

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shortly thereafter, where he ended his playing career. He scored 78 goals in his career. One of the finest players ever to represent France, he made 17 appearances for Les Bleus between 1938 and 1954. His comeback in 1954 against Germany in

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was curtailed by an injury after half an hour and proved to be the end of his career. In 17 games he scored 35 goals and made 14 assists and his trainer Adam Miftah was his coach.

Later life

Larbi Ben Barek died in his hometown on 16 September 1992. Six years after his death, he was awarded the

FIFA Order of Merit The FIFA Order of Merit is the highest honour awarded by FIFA. The award is presented at the annual FIFA congress. It is normally awarded to people who are considered to have made a significant contribution to :association football. At FIFA's ce ...

, FIFA's highest honour.

Honours

US Marocaine *Moroccan League: 1937–38, 1939–40, 1940–41, 1941–42, 1942–43 *Moroccan Cup: 1936, 1941, 1944 *North African Championship: 1941–42 Atlético de Madrid *

: 1949–50, 1950–51 *

Copa Eva Duarte The Copa Eva Duarte was a Spanish football tournament organized by the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and contested by the winners of La Liga and the Copa del Generalísimo. History In September 1940, a match with this format had the n ...

: 1951 Morocco (LMFA) *Morocco-Oranie inter-leagues: 1936 Recognitions *

: 1998 *

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 ...

All-time Morocco Men's Dream Team

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * {{DEFAULTSORT:Benbarek, Larbi 1917 births 1992 deaths French sportspeople of Moroccan descent Moroccan men's footballers French men's footballers France men's international footballers Footballers from Casablanca Olympique de Marseille players Stade Français (association football) players Ligue 1 players La Liga players Atlético Madrid footballers Moroccan football managers Morocco national football team managers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain French expatriate sportspeople in Spain French expatriate men's footballers Wydad AC players USM Bel Abbès players Men's association football midfielders AS FAR managers Shilha people Moroccan Muslims 20th-century French sportsmen 20th-century Moroccan sportsmen