Mahdi Ben Slimane (; born 1 January 1974) is a Tunisian 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 lea ...

who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

. Having begun his career at

AS Marsa Avenir Sportif de La Marsa (), known as AS Marsa or simply ASM for short, is a Tunisian football club based in Tunis. The club was founded in 1939 Club Musulman and its colours are green and yellow. Their home stadium, Abdelaziz Chtioui Stadium, ...

in his native country he moved to France in 1996 to play for

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 ...

. After just one season at the club, he joined 2. Bundesliga side

SC Freiburg Sport-Club Freiburg e.V., commonly known as SC Freiburg (), is a Football in Germany, German professional football club, based in the city of Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg. It plays in the Bundesliga, having been promoted as champions ...

whom helped to promotion to the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

. He spent half a season on loan each at

Borussia Mönchengladbach Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e.V. Mönchengladbach, better known as Borussia Mönchengladbach () and colloquially known as just Gladbach, is a professional Association football, football club based in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-W ...

(in 2000) and club

Al-Nassr Al-Nassr Football Club () is a professional football club based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The club competes in the Saudi Pro League, the top tier of the Saudi football league system. Al-Nassr is one of only three clubs to have participated ...

(in 2001) before leaving Freiburg and returning to Tunisia, where he spent a season and half at

Club Africain Club Africain (), known as CA for short, is a Tunisian professional football club based in Tunis. The club was founded in 1920 and its colours are red and white. Their home stadium, Hammadi Agrebi Stadium, has a capacity of 60,000 spectators. ...

. At international level, he played for the Tunisia national team and was a member of squad at the

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 1 ...

, the

1996 African Cup of Nations The 1996 African Cup of Nations, also known as the Coca-Cola 1996 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 20th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa ( CAF). It was hosted by South Africa, who rep ...

, and the

1998 African Cup of Nations The 1998 African Cup of Nations in Burkina Faso was the 21st edition of the Africa Cup of Nations (ACN), the national Association football, football championship of Africa, administered by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). Just like in ...

Club career

In February 2000, Ben Slimane scored a brace for

contributing to 2–0 win against

SSV Ulm SSV Ulm 1846 FUSSBALL e.V., commonly known as SSV Ulm 1846 or SSV Ulm, is a German football club based in Ulm, Baden-Württemberg. SSV Ulm 1846 FUSSBALL was formed on 7 March 2009 as new independent club through the separation of the football ...

International career

Ben Slimane participated at the

scoring twice for the Tunisia national team, one goal each against

DR Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

on 12 February and against

Togo Togo, officially the Togolese Republic, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to Ghana–Togo border, the west, Benin to Benin–Togo border, the east and Burkina Faso to Burkina Faso–Togo border, the north. It is one of the le ...

on 16 February. Together with Freiburg teammate

Zoubeir Baya Zoubeir Baya (; born 15 May 1971) is a Tunisian former professional Association football, footballer with a distinguished career as one of his country's most accomplished football exports. Baya, an attacking midfielder, displayed considerable ski ...

, he represented his country at the

Career statistics

:''Scores and results list Tunisia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Ben Slimane goal.''

References

1974 births Living people Men's association football forwards Tunisian men's footballers Tunisian expatriate men's footballers AS Marsa players Olympique de Marseille players SC Freiburg players Borussia Mönchengladbach players Al-Nassr FC players Club Africain players Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 players Ligue 1 players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Saudi Pro League players Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for Tunisia Tunisia men's international footballers 1998 FIFA World Cup players 1996 African Cup of Nations players 1998 African Cup of Nations players Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia Tunisian expatriate sportspeople in France Tunisian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Tunisian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia {{Tunisia-footy-forward-stub