USM Alger Under-23s are the reserve team of

USM Alger Union Sportive de la Médina d'Alger (); known as USM Alger or simply USMA for short, is a Association football, football club based in the inner suburbs of Algiers. The club was founded in 1937 and its colours are red and black. Their home sta ...

. The team mainly consists of Under-23 players at the club, although senior players occasionally play in the reserve side, for instance when they are recovering from injury.

History

USM Alger is one of the clubs that owns a well-known football school in Algeria. In the seventies the club relied on players who graduated from the club most notably

Djamel Zidane Djamel Zidane (born 28 April 1955) is an Algerian former professional footballer who played as a forward. He appeared for the Algeria national team at the 1982 World Cup and the 1986 World Cup, in which he scored one goal, a free kick against N ...

and Djamel Keddou who spent all his football career with USM Alger. In the eighties, ninety percent of the squad was from the team, especially in the winning season of the Algerian Cup in

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 ...

. Where was the majority of the players from the club, where coach Djamel Keddou put his trust in the colleagues of Farid Bengana, Amirouche Lalili, Farid Mouaci, Salim Boutamine, Athmane Nourine and

Tarek Hadj Adlane Tarek Hadj Adlane (born 11 December 1965) is a retired Algerian football player who played as a striker. Hadj Adlane played in his career with USM Alger and JS Kabylie as well as in Saudi Arabia with Al-Wehda. Club career International car ...

. On July 4, 2023 USM Alger announced the arrival of five elements for the youth squad Kamil Mohamed Ramzy from JS Djijel, Sid Amhend Ameziane from

JS Bordj Ménaïel Jeunesse Sportive de Bordj Ménaïel, (), known as JS Bordj Ménaïel or simply JSBM for short, is an Algerian football club based in the city of Bordj Ménaïel, Algeria. The club was founded in 1932 and its colours are red and black. Their hom ...

, Bastani Aymen from

Paradou AC Paradou Athletic Club (), known as Paradou AC or simply PAC for short, is an Algerian football club based in Algiers. The club was founded in 1994 by members of the Hydra AC junior team, the club colours are blue and yellow. Their home stadium, A ...

, Mihoubi Rabeh from E Sour El Ghozlane and Hemlaoui Ishak from

ASO Chlef Association Sportive Olympique de Chlef (), known as ASO Chlef or simply ASO for short, is an Algerian professional football club based in Chlef, founded in 1947. The club colours are red and white. Their home stadium, Mohamed Boumezrag Stadium, ...

. On 20 February 2024, the Russian club

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow () is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was the central part of the Armed Forces (sports ...

signed a contract with the under-21 team's player Sid Ahmed Aissaoui for two-year until the end of 2026, with an additional two-year option. The two clubs agreed a transfer fee of $250,000, USM Alger also negotiated a percentage on resale. Aissaoui became the first Algerian player who did not play any minutes with the senior team to join a European club. On August 5, 2024, USM Alger appointed former player Rabie Meftah as coach of the under-21 team. Meftah expressed his happiness to return to a club dear to him and start his new mission with the young players. On August 31, 2024, midfielder Sid mohand Ameziane joined the reserve team of

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew are an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team began play in 1996 as one of the 10 cha ...

, a club that plays in

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

(MLS), in the United States. Ameziane who recently played for the youth teams of USM Alger, is now part of the

squad for a period of one year. A week after defender Riad Belhadj Kacem joined Bulgarian club

CSKA Sofia CSKA Sofia () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia and currently competing in the country's premier football competition, the First League. ''CSKA'' is an abbreviation for ''Central Sports Club of the Army'' ...

for three seasons on a free transfer.

Players

Ligue Professionnelle 1

Current squad

''These players can also play with the senior squad and are all Young Professionals.''

Notable graduates

Current USM Alger players in bold.

USM Alger U21 to Outside

Honours

Domestic Ligue

* Ligue Professionnelle 1 U21 **Winners: 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16. * Ligue Professionnelle 1 U19 **Winners: 2022–23. * Ligue Professionnelle 1 U18 **Winners: 2011–12.

Domestic Cup

* Algerian Cup Junior **Winners: 1972, 1973, 1975, 1989, 1998, 2000. **Runners Up: 1970. * Algerian U21 Cup **Winners: 2018 * Algerian Cup Under-19s **Winners: 2018, 2023. * Algerian Cup Under-18s **Winners: 2017. **Runners Up: 2016. * Algerian Cup Under-17s **Winners: 2011. **Runners Up: 2007, 2015. * Algerian Cup Under-15s **Runners Up: 2008, 2011, 2015.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:USM Alger Development Squad and Academy Reserves and Academy