Rabah Saâdane ( ar, رابح سعدان; born 3 May 1946) is an Algerian

football manager ''Football Manager'' (also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008) is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game be ...

and retired professional player whose playing career was abruptly interrupted at the age of 27 by a car accident. His last management job was of the Algerian national team before resigning in September 2010. It was his fifth separate spell in charge of the team after earlier stints between 1981 and 2004 and was arguably his most successful, given its arduous qualification process. He was in charge when the U-20s qualified for the

1979 FIFA World Youth Championship The 1979 FIFA World Youth Championship, the second staging of the FIFA World Youth Championship, was held in Japan from 26 August to 7 September 1979. It was the first FIFA tournament played in Asia. The tournament took place in four cities — K ...

, Algeria's first participation in a major tournament. He was also part of the

1982 FIFA 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 between 13 June and 11 July 1982. The tournament was won by Italy, who defeated West Germany 3–1 i ...

backroom staff and head coach in the

1986 FIFA World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia ha ...

. Saâdane was designated as Africa's best coach by the Africa International Sport Convention (CISA) during its 6th edition held in Bamako, Mali. He was described by the convention as being the only coach in the world to have qualified a team to four Fifa World Cup finals, including one in the junior level.

Playing career

Saâdane was born in

Batna Batna or BATNA may refer to: *Batna (city), Algeria *Batna Province, Algeria *Best alternative to a negotiated agreement In negotiation theory, the best alternative to a negotiated agreement or BATNA (no deal option) refers to the most advantageou ...

. In the mid-1960s, he was promoted to the senior team of the MSP Batna at the age of 16 when he was only a cadet at the time. He continued pursuing his education completing secondary school at the Lycée Ahmed Reda Houhou in

Constantine Constantine most often refers to: * Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I *Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria Constantine may also refer to: People * Constantine (name), a masculine given nam ...

where he had gained a certificate of baccalaureate. He then signed for

MO Constantine Mouloudia Olympic of Constantine ( ar, مولودية قسنطينة), known as MO Constantine or simply MOC for short, is an Algerian football club based in Constantine, founded in 1939 by the reformer Abd al Hamid Ben Badis. The club colors a ...

, he continued pursuing his education in Constantine and gained a Ph.D. He signed for

JS El Biar Jeunesse Sportive d'El Biar, referred to commonly as JS El Biar or JSEB for short, is an Algerian football club based in the El Biar district of Alger, Algeria. Founded in 1944, the team currently plays in the Régionale I in the Ligue Région ...

after his brief stint at

. He later signed for USM Blida. Saâdane had played for all the youth teams for

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , religi ...

, before receiving his first call-up to the senior team by coach

Rachid Mekhloufi Rachid Mekhloufi ( ar, رشيد مخلوفي; born 12 August 1936 in Sétif, French Algeria) is a French- Algerian former football striker. He later became a manager and coached the Algeria national football team. International career In the ...

, but he was forced to end his playing career at the age of 27 years because of an injury gained from a car accident. According to some sources, he would have played for

Stade Rennais Stade Rennais Football Club (), commonly referred to as Stade Rennais FC, Stade Rennais, Rennes, or simply SRFC, is a French professional football club based in Rennes, Brittany. They compete in Ligue 1, the top tier of French football, and p ...

. However, Saâdane personally confirmed he never played in France, where he attended coaching lessons given by Georges Boulogne.

Managerial career

He was an assistant coach next to Abdelhamid Kermali who led the Algerian under-20 youth team in 1978, to the

. Which in turn was the country's first participation in a major tournament, since gaining its independence from France. He was replaced by Rachid Hanifi for the

, where they managed to reach the quarter-finals of the tournament with whom they eventually met Argentina with the young Diego Armando Maradona who played remarkably in the competition showing truly what an exceptional talent he was at the time. He also coached

Raja Casablanca Raja Club Athletic ( ar, نادي الرجاء الرياضي, Nādī ar-Rajāʾ ar-Riyāḍī, zgh, ⴰⵙⵔⵉⵔ ⵏ ⵕⴰⵊⴰ ⴰⵎⴰⵏⵓⵏ), commonly referred to as Raja CA, Raja Casablanca or simply RCA is a professional footb ...

, with whom he won the

1989 African Cup of Champions Clubs The 1989 African Cup of Champions Clubs was the 25th edition of the annual international club football competition held in the CAF region (Africa), the African Cup of Champions Clubs The CAF Champions League, known for sponsorship purposes as ...

Étoile Sportive du Sahel Étoile may refer to: Places ;France * Charles de Gaulle – Étoile, station of the Paris Métro * Étoile-Saint-Cyrice, commune in the Hautes-Alpes department in France * Étoile-sur-Rhône, commune in the Drôme department in France * L'Éto ...

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the north and Oman to the northeast an ...

and

ES Sétif Entente Sportive Sétifienne ( ar, الوفاق الرياضي السطايفي), known as Entente de Sétif, commonly referred to as ES Sétif or ESS for short, is an Algerian professional association football, football club based in Sétif. Th ...

. On 4 September 2010, the

Algerian Football Federation The Algerian Football Federation (AFF); ( ar, الاتحادية الجزائرية لكرة القدم) is the governing body of football in Algeria. It was formed in 1962 and was based in the capital Algiers. It has jurisdiction on the Algeria ...

announced on their official website that Rabah Saâdane had resigned, a day after the team's disappointing 1-1 home draw against Tanzania in a 2012 African Cup of Nations qualifier. The

had said that Saâdane had tendered his resignation and that it had been accepted. Saâdane had ended his fifth spell with the national team having steered them to the semi-finals of the

2010 African Cup of Nations The 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 27th Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial football championship of Africa ( CAF). It was held in Angola, where it began on 10 January 2 ...

, for the first time since 1990, and the

2010 World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

in South Africa, ending a 24-year wait. On 1 January 2011, Saadane was appointed as manager of the

Yemen national football team The Yemen national football team ( ar, منتخب اليمن الوطني لكرة القدم), is the national team of Yemen and is controlled by the Yemen Football Association. When the nation was split into North Yemen and South Yemen bef ...

until 2014. However, 10 days later, it was announced that he would not become the manager because the Yemen Football Association could not meet his financial demands.Etranger : Saâdane n'entrainera pas le Yémen

References

External links

Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saadane, Rabah 1946 births Living people Algerian footballers Algerian football managers Yemen national football team managers Algeria national football team managers 1986 FIFA World Cup managers 2010 FIFA World Cup managers Étoile Sportive du Sahel managers Algerian expatriates in Tunisia MSP Batna players MO Constantine players Expatriate football managers in Tunisia Expatriate football managers in Morocco JS El Biar players Expatriate football managers in Saudi Arabia ES Sétif managers USM Alger managers Raja CA managers Al Shabab Al Arabi Club managers 1986 African Cup of Nations managers 2004 African Cup of Nations managers 2010 Africa Cup of Nations managers People from Batna, Algeria Association football defenders Expatriate football managers in Yemen Algerian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Algerian expatriate sportspeople in Tunisia Algerian expatriate sportspeople in Yemen Algerian expatriate sportspeople in Morocco 21st-century Algerian people Botola managers