Habib Bellaïd

Habib Bellaïd
Personal information
Full nameHabib Mohamed Bellaïd[1]
Date of birth28 March 1986
Place of birthBobigny, France
Height1.89 m (6 ft 2 1⁄2 in)
Playing positionCentre back
Club information
Current team
CS Sfaxien
NumberTBA
Youth career
1994–2002Red Star 93
1999–2002INF Clairefontaine
2002–2005Strasbourg
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
2005–2008Strasbourg78(2)
2008–2012Eintracht Frankfurt23(0)
2009→ Strasbourg (loan)13(0)
2010→ Boulogne (loan)9(0)
2010–2011→ Sedan (loan)22(0)
2012–2013Sedan28(0)
2013–2014MC Alger15(0)
2014–CS Sfaxien0(0)
National team‡
2001–2002France U1615(1)
2002–2003France U1714(0)
2003–2004France U184(0)
2004–2005France U192(0)
2006–2008France U2116(2)
2010–Algeria1(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 00:00, 25 July 2014 (EST).

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 00:00, 25 July 2014 (EST)

Habib Mohamed Bellaïd (born 28 March 1986) is an Algerian footballer who is currently playing for Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 club CS Sfaxien. He plays primarily as a centre back.

An Algerian international, Bellaïd was part of the Algeria squad at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. As of June 2013, he has one cap.

Personal

Bellaïd was born in Bobigny, France, to a Tunisian father and an Algerian mother.[2]

Career

Early life

Bellaïd began his career playing for his local side Red Star Saint-Ouen. During his time as a youth player there, he was teammates with Abou Diaby. In 1999, he was selected to attend the Clairefontaine academy. There, he trained alongside Diaby, Hatem Ben Arfa, and Ricardo Faty and often spent the week training there, while playing with Red Star on the weekends. Following his stint at Clairefontaine, he joined RC Strasbourg.

Strasbourg

Bellaïd joined Strasbourg in 2002 and quickly asserted himself into the youth academy. He was a part of the Strasbourg youth squad that made it to the finals of the Coupe Gambardella in 2003, before losing to 4–1 to Rennes. He made his professional debut on 9 November 2004 in a Coupe de la Ligue match against Troyes AC starting the match in the left back position. Strasbourg won the match 3–1 and eventually went on to win the cup. That league cup appearance was his only appearance that season.

Bellaïd was subsequently promoted to the senior squad for the 2005–06 season. He proceeded to make his Ligue 1 debut on 17 September 2005 in a match against RC Lens coming on as a substitute in the 70th minute. The match ended in a 1–1 draw.[3] He appeared consistently as a starter for the rest of the season. He scored his first professional goal and only goal that season in the UEFA Cup against Roma at the Stadio Olimpico.[4] Unfortunately for Bellaïd, due to primarily focusing on their European aspirations, Strasbourg finished 2nd from bottom, thus being relegated to Ligue 2. The following season, Strasbourg achieved promotion back to Ligue 1 with Bellaïd playing in 31 matches and scoring two goals. His return to Ligue 1 was both positive and negative as Bellaïd's performances gained the attention of several clubs, most notably Italian side Roma and Spanish giants Real Madrid,[5] but the club still suffered relegation, which led the player to ponder his future.

Move to Germany

On 4 July 2008, it was announced that Bellaïd and Strasbourg had agreed to a move to German club Eintracht Frankfurt. The player agreed to a four-year contract, while the transfer fee was priced at €2.5 million.[6] He was given the number 19 shirt and made his Bundesliga debut in their opening league match against Hertha Berlin. Eintracht would lose the match 0–2.[7] Bellaïd has since made 21 more appearances in the league.

Back to Strasbourg

On 31 August 2009, the French defender left Eintracht Frankfurt and signed for RC Strasbourg on loan until the end of the season.[8]

Loan to Bolougne

After a half-year with his former club RC Strasbourg the club loaned him out to US Boulogne without consulting Eintracht Frankfurt, but at the request of the player Eintracht approved the transfer.[9]

International career

Bellaïd has been a France youth international since childhood receiving caps with all of France's youth teams beginning with the U-15s all the way to the U-21s.[10] He was also eligible to play for Tunisia and Algeria, subject to FIFA approval.[11]

On 4 May 2010, Bellaïd was called up to the Algeria preliminary World Cup 2010 squad. He made his debut on 28 May 2010 as a starter in a friendly against the Republic of Ireland,[12] but did not play in the tournament.

References

  1. ↑ "List of Players" (PDF). FIFA. Retrieved 13 July 2010.
  2. ↑ "Habib Bellaïd : Défenseur de l’US Boulogne : « Je ne crains pas la concurrence »" (in French). afrik11.com. 30 March 2010. Retrieved 21 May 2011.
  3. ↑ "Feuille de match RC Strasbourg – RC Lens" [Strasbourg v. Lens Match Report] (in French). lfp.fr. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
  4. ↑ "Roma draw with Strasbourg, Tromso beat Red Star". soccerway.com. 24 November 2005. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
  5. ↑ Subhankar Mondal (11 December 2007). "Transfer Gossip". soccerlens.com. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
  6. ↑ "Frankfurt land Bellaid". Sky Sports. 5 July 2008. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
  7. ↑ "Frankfurt v. Hertha Berlin Match Report".
  8. ↑ "Habib Bellaid an U.S. Boulogne ausgeliehen" [Habib Bellaid loaned to U.S. Boulogne] (in German). sport-finden.de. 19 January 2010. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
  9. ↑ "Habib Bellaid von Racing Straßbourg an U.S. Boulogne ausgeliehen" [Habib Bellaid loaned from Racing Strasbourg to U.S. Boulogne] (in German). Eintracht Frankfurt.
  10. ↑ "Habib BELLAID Profile" (in French). rlfoot.fr. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
  11. ↑ Frédéric Sergeur (30 January 2010). "Bellaïd: "Nous n'avons rien à perdre"" [Bellaïd: "We have nothing to lose"] (in French). football.fr. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
  12. ↑ Paul Doyle (28 May 2010). "England's World Cup opponents Algeria struggle against Ireland". guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 26 June 2010.

External links