Ali Benarbia
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Ali Benarbia (Arabic: علي بن عربية) (born October 8, 1968 in Oran, Algeria) is an Algerian footballer, who came to France at a young age and began his career at FC Martigues in 1987. He was part of the side that was promoted to Ligue 1 in 1993, operating as a midfielder.
Benarbia joined AS Monaco FC in 1995, winning a championship in 1997, and then moved to FC Girondins de Bordeaux in 1998. At Bordeaux, Benarbia won it again (the championship) in the 1998-99 season and was crowned player of the year in France. Surprisingly he was sold to Paris Saint-Germain after this triumph, although he failed to capture the same form there.
Benarbia left France in 2001 and signed for Manchester City F.C. on a free transfer. He became a firm favourite amongst the supporters as City won the Football League First Division and promotion back to the Premiership, winning the club's player of the year award and being named in the select side for the Division. He was made captain the following season, although he found the pace of the Premier League harder and was much less influential in his second season. He played his final game in a City shirt in 2003 against FC Barcelona in a game to mark the opening of the City of Manchester Stadium, before announcing his retirement.
Only five days after this announcement, on July 27, Benarbia signed up to play for Al-Rayyan of Qatar. After two years with the club, he moved on to play for Nadi Qatar.[1].
Benarbia, a French citizen, had initially wanted to represent France internationally, although eventually he gave up and accepted the call up to the Algerian national side, making his debut at the 2002 African Cup of Nations in a Group 4 game against Burkina Faso. He has since represented his country a number of times.
[edit] External link
- (French) Unofficial site