Nadir Belhadj

France

A left-back who can also operate as a winger, Belhadj began his career at Ligue 1 club Lens, where he failed to make the first-team. He joined Ligue 2 FC Gueugnon on loan in 2002 and after making 26 league appearances signed permanently in 2003. Belhadj played 36 more Ligue 2 games for Gueugnon before moving to CS Sedan in 2004. Making more than thirty appearances in each of his two full seasons with Sedan in Ligue 2, gaining promotion in the second. In January 2007, Belhadj signed for French champions Olympique Lyonnais for €3.24 million on a four-and-a-half-year contract. He was loaned back to CS Sedan until the end of the season and joined Lyon again in the summer of 2007. He made just nine appearances for the club, being blocked at the left-back position by World Cup champion Fabio Grosso, and left the club in January. On 7 January 2008, Belhadj signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with his former club Lens for a fee of €3.6 million. Six months after he left Lyon they won the 2007–08 Ligue 1 title, to which Belhadj had contributed 9 appearances.

Portsmouth

On 1 September 2008, Belhadj joined Portsmouth on a season-long loan with an option sign permanently. He made his Portsmouth debut on 13 September coming on as a substitute against Middlesbrough at Fratton Park where Portsmouth went from a goal down to come back and win 2–1, with Belhadj playing a key role on the left with Armand Traoré. He also started in Portsmouth's first ever European…

Belhadj began his international career in 2000 by representing France at the Under-18 level, making just two appearances for the team. On 30 March 2004, Belhadj made his unofficial debut for the Algerian national team in a 0–0 friendly against Belgian club R.A.A. Louviéroise. On 28 April 2004, he made his official debut for the team in a friendly against China. On 5 June 2007, Belhadj got his first international goal in a friendly 4–3 loss to Argentina. He scored two goals in that game beating goalkeeper Roberto Abbondanzieri twice from free kicks. At the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, he was sent off in the semi-final against Egypt with a straight card and received a two match competitive international suspension, ruling him out of the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualification match against Tanzania. Since the 2010 World Cup and signing with Al-Sadd in the Qatar Stars League, Belhadj has seen his place at left-back for the national side slip away to Djamel Mesbah, ever since his calamitous appearance against the Central African Republic. On 4 May 2012, Belhadj announced his international retirement.

Scores and results list Algeria's goal tally first. "Score" column indicates the score after the player's goal.

Belhadj was born in Saint-Claude, Jura, to Algerian parents, both from Oran. He started playing with Jura Sud Foot until 1997. He played after with Racing Besançon.