Lakhdar Belloumi

Belloumi spent almost his entire career at home (apart from a brief spell in Qatar late in his career), most notably with his hometown club GC Mascara, as well as MC Oran. He played also with MC Alger for two years during his military service in Algiers. He won two domestic championships during his career in 1984 with GC Mascara and in 1988 with MC Oran. After returning for another spell in Mascara in 1994, he continued playing until retirement in 1999. Belloumi had contact with various European clubs, including Barcelona, before Spain '82, but "the law did not allow us to leave the country before the age of 27". In 1985, he caught the eye of Juventus after shining in a friendly against them, only to miss out on a dream transfer after breaking his leg in the African Champions' Cup in Libya against Al-Ittihad. He was understandably disappointed "It was a real shame for me that I couldn't go". Often overlooked for international recognition due to not joining a major European club, despite the interest of major European clubs (Juventus were reportedly very keen to acquire his services despite the performances of Michel Platini). Belloumi was recognised as a fantastic player by anyone who watched him play, including the great Pelé.

Belloumi has a total of 147 caps and 34 goals for the Algeria national team but only 100 caps and 28 goals are recognized by FIFA. He participated in the 1980 Summer Olympics, in two editions of FIFA World Cup (1982 and 1986), in four editions of Africa Cup of Nations (1980, 1982, 1984 and 1988) and two editions of Mediterranean Games (1979 and 1983). In 1981, he was awarded African Footballer of the Year. Belloumi scored the winning goal in the 2–1 win over West Germany in the 1982 World Cup, and was a pivotal player in the Algerian national team throughout the 1980s. His last game for Algeria came in 1989.

Club

International

Lakhdar Belloumi scored 28 goals in 100 games with the national team. He scored too six more goals with 47 more caps that are not recognized by FIFA because matches played and goals scored against clubs or against not a full national teams. He scored against Bałtyk Gdynia in 1979, Stade Brestois and Olympique Lyonnais in 1982, Racing Paris in 1983, FC Carl Zeiss Jena in 1984 and Videoton FC in 1987.

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

Player

GC Mascara Algerian Championship: 1983–84 MC Oran Algerian Championship: 1987–88; Runner-up 1989–90 African Cup of Champions Clubs: Runner-up 1989 Arab Club Champions Cup: Runner-up 2001 (as a manager) Algeria

Mediterranean Games: Bronze medal 1979 Africa Cup of Nations: Runner-up 1980; Third 1984, 1988 Summer Olympics: Quarter final 1980 FIFA World Cup: Participation 1982, 1986

Individual

Awards Mediterranean Games 3rd best player: 1979 Africa Cup of Nations best forward: 1980 African Footballer of the Year: 1981; Third 1982 Africa Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament: 1980, 1984 African Footballer of the 20th century: Fourth place IFFHS World Player of the Century: 62nd CAF Merit Award: 2008 (to his career excellence) Algerian Footballer of the 20th century: 2009 (with Rabah Madjer) Algerian Footballer of the Year: Several awards Performances Algerian League goalscorer: 1978–79 with 11 goals Africa Cup of Nations goalscorer: 1988 (with R. Milla, A. Traoré & G. Abdelhamid) with 2 goals