Ali Benarbia

Ali Benarbia was born on the 8^th October 1968 in Oran, Algeria. He is a retired Algerian football player. As of the year 2009, he was a consultant and the presenter for Al-Jazeera Sport in Doha.

source of picture: www.mcfc.co.uk

Early Life

Ali Benarbia was born in Oran and his family originated to Sidi Bel Abbes. He was a year old when his family relocated to southern part of France. It was not long before he began to kick the football on the streets.

Club Career

Benarbia captured the attention of a club in his district, ROC Narbonne when he was 10 years of age and he later signed to play for FC Martigues. As he was encouraged by his father, he desired to play professional football, though he understood that it will come through hard work and focus on the game. Playing in the youth team of the club, he was quickly promoted to the senior team of the club in the year 1987 and he assisted the club to win the second division title in the year 1993. He was part of the team that was promotion to the Ligue 1 in the year 1993. He played the role of a midfielder for the club.

After his club was relegated in the year 1995, Benarbia signed a deal with AS Monaco for two league seasons and he went on to help the club lift the title. He was named the player of the year in France in the 1997/98 season and still he was not called up to play for the French national team. He turned many offers to play for the Algerian national team as he was hoping that France is going to call him to be a part of the national team of the country.

After spending three seasons with the club, AS Monaco, Benarbia made a move to Bordeaux for the sum of £1m and he assisted the club, and it was in the club that Zinedine Zidane made his name to the title of that season. With the player being at his best he was offered a contract to play for Paris Saint-Germain of £2m for just a month before the season comes to an end. The deal was accepted but the club Bordeaux silenced the deal until they lifted the title.

On getting to PSG, he was selected to be the captain of the team that had the like of Jay-Jay Okocha of Nigerian and the French Star, Nicolas Anelka. The team failed to win any trophy in that season, but they managed to qualify for the second round of the 2000/01 UEFA Champions League and they finished last in the group stage of the competition under the following teams; Deportivo de La Coruña, Galatasaray S.K. and A.C. Milan.

Benarbia left France in the year 2001 and signed for Manchester City on a free transfer. He became the firm favorite among the supporters of the club as Manchester City won the title of the first division football and gained promotion back into the Premier league, winning the player of the year for the club and was named in the select side for the Division. The next season, he was made the captain of the team, though he found the pace of football in the premier league to be harder and was much less influential in the second season he spent with the club he played his final match for Manchester City in the year 2003, and that was the match that played against FC Barcelona in a match to mark the opening of the City of Manchester Stadium, before he publicized his retirement. Five days after his retirement from football, he was signed by Al-Rayyan of Qatar. He played two with the club and moved to Nadi Qatar to play before he announced his retirement from active football after a year with the club.

International Career

Benarbia was first handed an offer by the Algerian Football Federation in the year 1986. In an ordinary interview with a French Website in the year 2009, he said that he never refused the offer of his country. He stated that he was not happy with the lack of professionalism that existed within the Algerian national tean and desired the Federation to give him assurance for the safety of professional footballers of the nation. At the time of his career, Algeria struggled with political issues like the oil price collapse of the year 1986, Black October and also the civil war of the country.

He played his first match for the Algerian national team in the 2002 African Cup of Nations Group 4 qualifying match that was played against Burkina Faso in September 2000. He played the total of 7 games for the national team of the country; he played three World Cup Qualifying matches for the Algerian national team, two African Cup of Nations qualifying matches and two friendly matches for the country.

Honours

Club

FC Martigues

Ø  Ligue 2: 1992/93

AS Monaco

Ø  Ligue 1: 1996/97

FC Bordeaux

Ø  Ligue 1: 1998/99

Manchester City

Ø  Division 1: 2001/02

Individual

Ø  Ligue 1 Player of the Year: 1998–99

Ø  Manchester City Player of the Year: 2001–02