Hocine Achiou

Achiou started his playing career with ES Ben Aknoun before joining the junior ranks of USM Alger. He would eventually sign his first professional contract with the club. Achiou was an important member of the team's African Champions League run in 2003 and 2004. USM Alger made the final eight (group stage) in both those years and even made it to the semi-final in 2003 when they lost 3–2 on aggregate to eventual champions Enyimba FC. He had numerous opportunities to join European clubs but the player could not agree on financial terms with the clubs. He had trials with Premiership-sides Fulham FC and Portsmouth FC and French clubs CS Sedan and FC Lorient. Hocine finally signed a one-year deal with Swiss club FC Aarau in the summer of 2006. He scored a goal in his first league game against FC St. Gallen. In the summer of 2007, he left FC Aarau after just one season and immediately joined his former team USM Alger. In January 2009, he joined JS Kabylie. َAfter six successful months, he returned to his former team USM Alger. In the summer of 2011, he left USM Alger definitively to join ASO Chlef. In January 2013, he joined MC Oran. In the summer of 2013, he joined USM Bel-Abbès and he led him to return to the Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1. In January 2016, he joined RC Arbaâ. In January 2017, he joined WA Boufarik.

FC Aarau

Hocine Achiou stated that he received several offers to play abroad during his career. Among the most notable was an offer from French club…

Achiou was part of the Algerian team that finished second in their group in the first round of the 2004 African Nations Cup behind Cameroon before being defeated by Morocco in the quarter-finals. Achiou had scored an important goal against Egypt in one of the group stage matches that was instrumental in helping Algeria reach the quarterfinals. Achiou also scored a goal against Zimbabwe which would be the difference in the tie-breaker against Egypt, and ultimately qualify Algeria to the quarter-finals. Achiou has 25 caps for the Algerian national team and has scored 3 goals.

Club

On 16 November 2017, Hocine Achiou was appointed assistant coach of the Algeria national under-20 football team (U20), marking his first experience as a coach. Before his appointment, Achiou met with Boualem Charef, the national teams director, at the Centre technique national in Sidi Moussa to discuss the terms of his appointment. He was expected to officially sign his contract following Kheïreddine Zetchi’s return from Morocco. Having obtained the required coaching qualifications through a training programme organised by the Algerian Football Federation (FAF) towards the end of his playing career. In 2019, former Algeria U20 assistant coach Achiou accused FAF president Zetchi of interfering in player selection and allegedly requesting the inclusion of a player to grant him international status. Achiou claimed that the coaching staff's refusal contributed to their dismissal, officially attributed to their failure to qualify for the Africa U-20 Cup of Nations. On 22 February 2019, the FAF denied his allegations, accused him of making false statements, and threatened possible legal action. On 1 September 2021, Hocine Achiou was appointed sporting director of USM Alger. The former USMA player was chosen by club chairman Achour Djelloul after the supporters called for a former club player to take over the position. Achiou reached an agreement with Djelloul after a meeting at the Groupe SERPORT headquarters and officially signed his contract. Achiou began his duties the…