Antar Yahia

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Antar Yahia
Personal information
Full nameAntar Yahia
Date of birth (1982-03-28) 28 March 1982
Place of birthMulhouse, France
Height1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing positionCentre back
Club information
Current clubPlatanias
Youth career
1993–1996Racing Club de Belfort
1996–2000Sochaux
2000–2001Inter Milan
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
2000–2002Inter Milan0(0)
2001–2002→ SC Bastia (loan)6(0)
2002–2005SC Bastia72(2)
2005–2007Nice30(0)
2006–2007→ VfL Bochum (loan)16(1)
2007–2011VfL Bochum103(6)
2011–2012Al Nassr13(1)
2012–20131. FC Kaiserslautern11(0)
2013Espérance de Tunis12(0)
2014–Platanias1(0)
National team‡
1998France U161(0)
2000France U182(0)
2004Algeria U231(1)
2004–2012Algeria53(6)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17:00, 28 January 2014 (UTC).

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 17:00, 9 May 2013 (UTC)

Antar Yahia (Arabic: عنتر يحيى‎, born 21 March 1982) is an Algerian professional footballer who currently plays for Platanias in the Superleague Greece.

Yahia began playing football for the Racing Club de Belfort youth team before joining the Sochaux youth academy at the age of fourteen. However in 2000, at the age of eighteen Yahia wanted to sign a professional contract, but his wish was denied by the then Sochaux leaders.[1] He decided to leave Sochaux opting to join Internazionale's youth academy, having failed to break into the senior squad line-up, he was loaned to Bastia, in which he made his senior debut on 16 January 2002. Having had a successful loan spell Bastia signed him permanently.[2]

Yahia is a former French youth international having earned caps for both the under-16 and under-18 youth teams for a brief period of time. Yahia was the first footballer to profit from the 2004 change in FIFA eligibility rules as he had played as a French youth international. After his switch of national allegiance he was called up to the Algeria Under-23 side, scoring on his debut in a 1–0 win against Ghana in an Olympic Games qualifier on 2 January 2004.[3][4] A few days later he was called up to a training camp held in Algiers in preparation of the 2004 African Nations Cup.

At international level, Yahia played for the Algeria national team prior to his retirement from international football on 1 May 2012.[5] He is considered to be a national hero by many Algerians, as he was the scorer of the goal that put them into their first World Cup finals since 1986, at the expense of bitter rivals Egypt. He struck in the fortieth minute of the play-off by scoring a Marco van Basten-esque goal.[6][7][8] Whilst representing Algeria, he participated in two continental tournaments 2004 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, the latter in which Algeria finished fourth, and the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Overall he had participated in fifty-three official games for the Algerian national team, in which he had scored six goals. He captained the Algeria national football team during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, holding the position from June 2010 to May 2012.

Early life

Yahia was born in Mulhouse, France, to Fatima Zohra and Boussaha Yahia, a welder by profession, both of Algerian, Chaoui descent. His parents emigrated to Alsace from the village of Sedrata in the Aurès region in eastern Algeria. In 1985, Yahia's parents decided to move the family back to Algeria as they found it difficult to cope with life in France. They lived in Algeria briefly before again returning to France. Yahia is married to Karima Ziani who is the twin sister of fellow Algerian football player Karim Ziani[9][10]

He was introduced to the game at the age of 10, when he decided to visit his elder brothers who were playing football. He fell in love with the game and the rest was history. Yahia joined the junior team of Racing Club de Belfort, a club in his neighbourhood. He later joined FC Sochaux training centre three years later.[10]

He is Muslim and observes fasting during the Islamic month of Ramadan.[11]

Club career

At the age of 14 Yahia joined the football boarding school of FC Sochaux.

SC Bastia

Yahia started his professional career when he was loaned out by Internazionale in 2001 to Corsican side SC Bastia. He made his senior debut on 16 January 2002 against Olympique Lyon, replacing Cédric Uras in the forty-third minute.[12] After four successful years on Corsica, Yahia was transferred to OGC Nice.[13]

OGC Nice

Yahia signed a four-year contract in the summer of 2005 with Nice after the relegation of SC Bastia. In the first season he played most of the games but at the end he became a substitute. So he decided to move on to another club.

VfL Bochum

In 2007 English club Leeds United and German side VfL Bochum were interested in Yahia. He did some training exercises at both clubs and both wanted to buy him. Yahia decided to move to the club from the Bundesliga.[14] On 30 January 2007 he played his first Bundesliga match for VfL Bochum against Bayern Munich[15] In a short period he became an important player at the club and had a safe place in the central defense. When the loan contract was expired VfL Bochum bought Yahia for 800.000 Euro. He has got a contract until 2011 at the club and earned on 4 January 2010 the Algerian Player of the Year 2009 award.[16]

When VfL Bochum were relegated at the end of the 2009–10 season, Yahia revealed that he would like to leave the club during the summer transfer window, following the World Cup declaring "Indeed, I have decided to leave Bochum" as "I can't play at a lower level". He mentioned that he was aware of interest from clubs in France, but would make his decision after the World Cup.[17][18]

On 13 October 2010, Yahia agreed a new contract with VfL Bochum that would keep him at the club until 30 June 2014.[19]

Al Nassr

On 17 July 2011, despite still having three years remaining on his contract with Bochum, Yahia agreed to join Saudi club Al Nassr.[20] On 1 August 2011, the move was made official with Yahia signing a two-year contract with the club.[21] On 21 January 2012, Yahia and Al-Nassr reached a mutual agreement to terminate his contract.[22]

1. FC Kaiserslautern

On 25 January 2012, Yahia returned to Germany and signed and a two-year and a half contract with Bundesliga side 1. FC Kaiserslautern.[23]

Esperance de Tunis

On 14 January 2013, Yahia signed a one year and a half contract with Tunisian club Espérance de Tunis.[24] A month later, he made his official debut for the club as a starter in a league match against Olympique Béja and was handed the captain's armband.[25]

Platanias

On 28 January 2014, Yahia joined the Greek side Platanias F.C. on a four-month deal.[26]

Statistics

As of 31 December 2013
Club performance League Cup League Cup Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
France League Coupe de France Coupe de la Ligue Total
2001–02BastiaLigue 160201090
2002–03230—10240
2003–041801010200
2004–053121010332
2005–06Nice2101030250
2006–07901010110
Germany League DFB-Pokal Other Total
2006–07BochumBundesliga16100—161
2007–0833220—352
2008–0924120—261
2008–09Bochum IIRegionalliga West10——10
2009–1010——10
2009–10BochumBundesliga18120—201
2010–112. Bundesliga28200—282
Saudi Arabia League Crown Prince Cup Other Total
2011–12Al NassrSaudi Professional League131——131
Germany League DFB-Pokal Other Total
2011–12KaiserslauternBundesliga110——110
2012–132. Bundesliga2000—20
Tunisia League Tunisian Cup Other Total
2012–13EspéranceCLP-1110——110
2013–1410——10
Total France 108260801222
Germany 134760001407
Saudi Arabia 1310000131
Tunisia 1200000120
Career total 267101208028710

International career

Yahia began his youth international career with France in 1998 as he was called up to participate in the UEFA European Under-16 Championship (Qualifying round).[27] He made his debut on 7 October 1998 against Switzerland, with the final result being 3–3. This was his only appearance for the France-Under 16 as they were eliminated from the competition as they failed to qualify to the final tournament (group stage).[28]

Yahia was called up to play for the France-Under 18 squad in 2000, a time when the team was trying to qualify for the 2001 European Championship to be held in Finland in July 2001. Yahia played his first game alongside Nadir Belhadj against Germany which they won 4–2.[29] In his second game the team had to win if they had any chance of qualifying for the European Championship, they failed to beat the Netherlands and by doing so they were unable to qualify, the final score against the Netherlands was 2–1. The France-Under 18 side finished bottom of Group 9, which consisted of France, Germany and the Netherlands.[30][31]

Yahia was the first footballer to profit from the change in FIFA's rules on international eligibility when he made his debut for Algeria in an Olympic Games qualifier against Ghana. He managed to score the only goal of the 1–0 win over Ghana with a 19th minute header for the Algerian under-23 side in Blida.[32] Saâdane promoted Yahia to the senior national team after his impressive performance on his debut for Algeria's under-23 side in the Olympic qualifier against Ghana for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.[3]

Yahia started his senior international career on 15 January 2004 against Mali in a friendly in preparation for the 2004 African Cup of Nations hosted in Tunisia. During this continental competition Yahia played a part in all the group games including the 2–1 victory over Egypt and the 1–1 draw against Cameroon, the team progressed from group C alongside Cameroon to the quarter final where Algeria lost to Morocco 3–1 in extra time.

In November 2009, the Algerian team flew out to Cairo for the final world cup qualifier game, when travelling from the airport to the hotel the coach came under attack as Egyptians hurled rocks at the bus, shattering windows and showering the players and staff with broken glass several players were reported to be injured Yahia was understandably furious when they finally arrived to the hotel and said the following “They struck our bus with large bricks,” said a distraught Antar Yahia. "Players have open head wounds with blood. We were lying down in the bus. All the windows were broken. It makes you fear for your life. As long as our lives are not assured we’re afraid to play this match." Yahia then went on to say that the security guards dispatched for the team did nothing in response to the attacks. “They let them do it. You can’t launch five kilo rocks from 50 meters. They let them do it and watched. It’s shameful. In our home game we welcomed them with flowers,” he continued.[33]

The game was not cancelled and went a head as planned, Yahia had played the whole game but it just wasn't meant to be as Egypt scored a second goal in the final minutes of the game the final result was 2–0 to Egypt which meant they had the same goal difference and points. So a tie-breaker had to be played in Omdurman, Sudan. On 18 November 2009 Yahia scored in the 40th minute giving Algeria a 1–0 lead against the Pharaohs, in the 67th minute Yahia went off injured but the only goal scored in the play off by Yahia against Egypt was enough to secure Algeria's place in the 2010 World Cup.[34]

In December 2009, Yahia was selected by Saâdane to play in the 2010 African Cup of Nations hosted in Angola, but due to an injury Yahia did not play any of the group games.

During Algeria's 2010 FIFA World Cup first round match against the United States, Yahia was ejected in the final minutes of the game after receiving his second yellow card of the match.[35]

On 1 May 2012, Yahia announced his international retirement.[36]

National team statistics

Algeria national team
YearAppsGoals
2004130
200532
200640
200761
200881
200961
201090
201130
201211
Total536

International goals

Scores and results list Algeria's goal tally first. "Score" column indicates the score after the player's goal.
Goal # Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 19 June 2005 Stade Ahmed Zabana, Oran (Algeria)  Zimbabwe 1–0 2–2 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)
2 5 June 2007 Camp Nou, Barcelona (Spain)  Argentina 1–1 3–4 Friendly match
3 20 June 2008 Stade Mustapha Tchaker, Blida (Algeria)  Gambia 1–0 1–0 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)
4 5 September 2008 Stade Mustapha Tchaker, Blida (Algeria)  Senegal 3–1 3–2 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)
5 18 November 2009 Al Merreikh Stadium, Omdurman (Sudan)  Egypt 1–0 1–0 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)
6 29 February 2012 Independence Stadium, Bakau (Gambia)  Gambia 1–1 2–1 2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualification (Preliminary round)

Famous quotes

Commenting on his goal against Essam El-Hadary in his famous game in Sudan; Algeria – Egypt: " I aimed low, he caught it, I shot it up high, he caught it... I hit it where the devil couldn't catch it."

Honours

On Saturday, 16 January 2010 in Luanda, Angola Yahia was presented the award of best Arab player of 2009 by winning a poll created by the Arab television channel MBC. One million people participated in the poll, Yahia gained the majority of the votes due to his astonishing performance and goal against Egypt in the World Cup play-off match with 48% outperforming his competitors respectively, Egyptian Mohamed Aboutrika came second, with 20.25% of votes while Algerian Rafik Saifi gained 11% and was placed third overall in the poll. The award handing over ceremony was held in the place of the Algerian delegation residence; in Continental Hotel, in the presence of all players and staff.[37]

Individual

  • Arab player of the Year: 2009

References

  1. ↑ http://www.stadefoot.com/2010/07/antar-yahia-sochaux-compte-faire-une.html
  2. ↑ http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/southafrica2010/players/player=212808/profile.html
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Algeria edge closer". BBC News. 8 January 2004. Retrieved 2010-04-25. 
  4. ↑ http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/19052010/2/soccer-world-yahia-makes-waves-algeria-abroad.html
  5. ↑ "Anther Yahia prend sa retraite internationale" (in French). FAF. 1 May 2012. Retrieved 4 May 2012. 
  6. ↑ http://www.wsn.com/2010/01/05/football/news/africa/yahia-achieves-hero-status-in-algeria_27107/
  7. ↑ http://www.footballfancast.com/football-blogs/banana-men-capello-england-watch
  8. ↑ http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/newsid=1136508.html
  9. ↑ http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3j14k_anthar-yahia-a-msiladzcom_sport
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 http://www.dzfoot.com/news.php?hot_id=1066
  11. ↑
  12. ↑ http://www.transfermarkt.de/en/olympique-lyon-sc-bastia/index/spielbericht_1002626.html
  13. ↑ Vaduz promotion bid denied
  14. ↑ http://www.dzfoot.com/news.php?hot_id=2215
  15. ↑ "Tactical Formation". Football-Lineups.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2007. Retrieved 6 February 2007. 
  16. ↑ Yahia geehrt
  17. ↑ http://www.goal.com/en/news/15/germany/2010/06/10/1969822/antar-yahia-reveals-he-will-leave-bochum
  18. ↑ http://www.goal.com/fr/news/33/transferts/2010/07/09/2018302/transferts-a-yahia-proche-de-sochaux
  19. ↑ http://www.vfl-bochum.de/site/en/_home/aktuelles/8551_vflverlaengertmitantharyahiap.htm
  20. ↑ Algeria’s Yahia joins Saudi’s Al Nasr
  21. ↑ Transferts : Antar Yahia officiellement à Al-Nasr
  22. ↑ Transferts : Al-Nasr résilie le contrat de Antar Yahia; DZFoot, 22 January 2012.
  23. ↑ FCK verpflichtet Anthar Yahia; FCK.de, 25 January 2012.
  24. ↑ Toufik O. (14 January 2013). "Antar Yahia officiellement à l'Espérance de Tunis" (in French). DZFoot. Retrieved 16 January 2013. 
  25. ↑ Toufik O. (13 February 2013). "Yahia capitaine pour ses débuts avec l'Espérance" (in French). DZFoot. Retrieved 15 February 2013. 
  26. ↑ Walid Z. (28 January 2014). "Antar Yahia joins Greek side Platanias FC until end of season". DZFoot. Retrieved 28 January 2014. 
  27. ↑ http://www.uefa.com/worldcup/teams/player=46907/profile/index.html
  28. ↑ http://en.archive.uefa.com/competitions/under17/history/season=1999/round=1170/group=928.html
  29. ↑ http://www.fff.fr/selections/m19ans/1068.shtml
  30. ↑ http://www.fff.fr/selections/m19ans/989.shtml
  31. ↑ http://en.archive.uefa.com/competitions/under19/history/season=2001/round=1313/group=1132.html
  32. ↑ http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/SportsArchive/artikel.php?ID=49215
  33. ↑ http://goal.com/en-us/news/84/africa/2009/11/12/1621092/algerian-team-bus-attacked-with-rocks-in-egypt-three-players
  34. ↑ "Yahia cracker seals play-off win". ESPN. 18 November 2009. Archived from the original on 23 November 2009. Retrieved 2009-11-19. 
  35. ↑ Richards, Steve (24 June 2010). "Donovan's last-minute strike sends US through". The Independent (London). 
  36. ↑ "Anther Yahia prend sa retraite internationale" (in French). FAF. 1 April 2012. Retrieved 1 April 2012. 
  37. ↑ "Antar Yahia receives award for best Arab player of 2009". 'Ennahar (daily newspaper). 16 January 2010. Retrieved 2010-01-16. 

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