Rafik Halliche ( ar, رفيق حليش; born 2 September 1986) is an Algerian 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 ...

who played as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. He started playing in 2005 with

Hussein Dey Hussein Dey (real name Hüseyin bin Hüseyin; 1765 – 1838; ar, حسين داي) was the last Dey of the Deylik of Algiers. Early life He was born either in İzmir or Urla in the Ottoman Empire. He went to Istanbul and joined the Canoneers ...

, going on to spend the vast majority of his career in Portugal. He also had abroad spells in England with

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandswo ...

and in Qatar. An Algerian international since 2008, Halliche represented the nation in two

World Cups 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 concept i ...

and four

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internati ...

, winning the 2019 edition of the latter tournament.

Club career

Early years

Born in Algiers, Halliche began playing football at the age of seven with CREPS Ben Aknoun. After seven years with the club he joined the junior ranks of

NA Hussein Dey Nasr Athlétique de Hussein Dey ( ar, نصر حسين داي), known as NA Hussein Dey or NAHD for short, is an Algerian football club based in Hussein Dey, Algiers. The club was founded in 1947 and its colours are red and yellow. Their home ...

, making his senior debut on 30 January 2006 in a league match against

Paradou AC Paradou Athletic Club ( ar, نادي أتليتيك بارادو), known as Paradou AC or simply PAC for short, is an Algerian football (soccer), football club based in Algiers. The club was founded in 1994 by members of the Hydra AC junior team, ...

, coming on as a substitute in the 74th minute.

Nacional

In the January 2008

transfer window A transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other playing staff into their playing staff. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new club through FIFA. "Transfer ...

, Halliche received interest from several French sides, including

AJ Auxerre Association de la Jeunesse Auxerroise (), commonly known as AJ Auxerre or simply Auxerre (), is a French football club based in the commune of Auxerre in Burgundy. The club was founded in 1905 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the first division ...

and

Valenciennes FC Valenciennes Football Club (; commonly known as Valenciennes or USVA) is a French association football club based in Valenciennes. The club was founded in 1913 and currently play in Ligue 2, the second tier of French football. Valenciennes p ...

. However, on 30 January, he signed a four-year contract with Portugal's

S.L. Benfica Sport Lisboa e Benfica (), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. Founded on 28 February 1904 as ''Sport Lisboa'', B ...

, which immediately loaned him to fellow

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal ...

team C.D. Nacional until the end of the season. On 30 March 2008, Halliche made his debut for Nacional, coming on at

half-time In several team sports, matches are played in two halves. Half-time (also written halftime or half time) is the name given to the interval between the two halves of the match. Typically, after half-time, teams swap ends of the field of play in or ...

in a 2–0 home league win against U.D. Leiria. He would go on to make two more appearances as a starter before going back to Benfica at the end of the loan, which was then extended for the entirety of 2008–09 and also the following campaign.

Fulham

On 16 August 2010, Halliche was reported to be linked with a move to

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club

, for £1.3 million. The following week, Benfica confirmed the sale of the player, who signed a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee. Halliche made his official début 8 January 2011, replacing

Brede Hangeland Brede Paulsen Hangeland (born 20 June 1981) is a Norwegian former professional footballer who played as a central defender. He began his career with Viking, where he won the Norwegian Cup in 2001. In 2006, he moved to Copenhagen, and went on to ...

in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competit ...

's third round tie against

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standin ...

: he conceded a

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalt ...

in the 85th minute for tripping

Craig Mackail-Smith Craig Anthony Robert Mackail-Smith (born 25 February 1984) is a retired professional footballer who played as a striker. He played in the English Football League for Brighton & Hove Albion, Luton Town, Peterborough United, Wycombe Wanderer ...

, in an eventual 6–2 win. His first league appearance came on the 22nd, again from the bench (for

Aaron Hughes Aaron William Hughes (born 8 November 1979) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer who played as a defender. Hughes played mainly at centre back, but was also used at right back or left back, as well as anywhere in midfield. He i ...

), in a 2–0 home victory over

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Sto ...

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ...

made a successful loan bid for Halliche during the 2011 summer transfer window, but several weeks after the deadline, FIFA denied international clearance to Swansea for both his move and

Darnel Situ Darnel Situ Buyente (born 18 March 1992) is a French footballer. He is a French youth international and has captained at all levels of youth he has played at. Situ primarily plays as a centre back or a holding midfielder. Football career Earl ...

's move from

RC Lens Racing Club de Lens (, commonly referred to as RC Lens or simply Lens) is a French professional football club based in the northern city of Lens in the Pas-de-Calais department. Its nickname, ''les sang et or'' (''the blood and gold''), come ...

, leaving the defender as a Fulham player subject to an appeal by the Welsh side. On 6 December 2011, Halliche went on a week-long trial with Celtic in the

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Football League (SFL). It was abolished in 2013, when t ...

, but nothing came of it. On 31 August of the following year, Fulham confirmed that the player's contract had been terminated by mutual consent.

Académica

Halliche returned to Portugal on 31 August 2012, signing a two-year deal with Académica de Coimbra. During his spell, he battled for first-choice status with

Aníbal Capela Aníbal Araújo Capela (born 8 May 1991) is a Portuguese 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, Ameri ...

and João Real.

Qatar SC

On 13 July 2014, Halliche signed for

Qatar SC Qatar Sports Club ( ar, نادي قطر الرياضي) is a sports club based in Doha, Qatar. It is best known for its football team which competes in the Qatar Stars League. The club was founded in 1961 as a merger of two Qatari football clubs ...

International career

Halliche made his debut for

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

on 31 May 2008 against

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣� ...

, replacing

Anthar Yahia Antar Yahia ( ar, عنتر يحيى; born 21 March 1982) is a retired professional footballer who played as a centre-back. Yahia is a former French youth international having earned caps for both the under-16 and under-18 youth teams for a bri ...

in the 75th minute. On 18 November 2009 he started in the decisive tie-breaker against

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...

for the

2010 FIFA 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 ...

qualifiers, as the national side won 1–0 in Sudan and returned to the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the ' (FIFA), the ...

24 years after their last presence. Halliche was also summoned for the

2010 Africa 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 20 ...

in Angola: he kept the national side's qualification hopes alive after scoring the only goal in a win against

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Ma ...

, after a loss to

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northe ...

in the opener. In the semi-finals he was

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

in the first half after being given two yellow cards, the last one also resulting in a

, in a 0–4 loss to Egypt. Halliche was picked to represent Algeria in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, playing all the matches and minutes as the national side only conceded two goals in the group stage, but finished last in their group after failing to score once. He was also selected to the following edition by coach

Vahid Halilhodžić Vahid Halilhodžić (; born 15 October 1952) is a Bosnian professional football manager and former player. He is regarded as one of the most controversially successful Bosnian football managers, due to his successful tenure in coaching various n ...

, as

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

, and contributed decisively to a 4–2 group victory over

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

on 22 June, heading home from a

corner kick A corner kick is the method of restarting play in a game of association football when the ball goes out of play over the goal line, without a goal being scored and having last been touched by a member of the defending team. The kick is taken ...

for his country's second goal.

Career statistics

International

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

Honours

Algeria *

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Halliche, Rafik 1986 births Living people Kabyle people Footballers from Algiers Algerian footballers Association football defenders Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 players NA Hussein Dey players Primeira Liga players S.L. Benfica footballers C.D. Nacional players Associação Académica de Coimbra – O.A.F. players G.D. Estoril Praia players Moreirense F.C. players Premier League players Fulham F.C. players Qatar Stars League players Qatari Second Division players Qatar SC players Algeria youth international footballers Algeria under-23 international footballers Algeria international footballers 2010 Africa Cup of Nations players 2010 FIFA World Cup players 2013 Africa Cup of Nations players 2014 FIFA World Cup players 2015 Africa Cup of Nations players 2019 Africa Cup of Nations players Algerian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Portugal Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Qatar Algerian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Algerian expatriate sportspeople in England Algerian expatriate sportspeople in Qatar 21st-century Algerian people