Nadir Belhadj

Nadir Belhadj was born on the 18^th June 1982. He is a professional football player from Algeria. He is presently playing the role of a left wingback or a left winger for the club Qatar Stars League club, Al-Sadd. He is popular with his stamina and pace while he is on the pitch.

source of picture: www.telegraph.co.uk

He has played for the French Youth international team at the U-18 level for some matches in the year 2000. He was among the first football playes to gain from the 2004 change in FIFA eligibility rule as he had played for the youth team of France in an international competition. After he has moved to Algerian national team, he was called up to take part in an unofficial friendly match that was played on the 30^th March 2004 against Belgian Club R.A.A. Louvieroise. He played his first game for the senior national team of Algeria in the match that was played against China on the 28^th April 2004. Heb played for the national team in the 2010 African Cup of nations and they got to the semi-finals of the competition and he was among the national team that participated in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. He announced his retirement from international football on the 4^th May 2012, finishing his career with the total of 54 matches and 4 goals for the country.

Club Career

Nadir started his career with the Ligue 1 club, Lens in France and there he failed to make the first team of the club. He joined Ligue 2 club FC Gueugnon on loan in the year 2002 and after playing the total of 26 league matches for the club, he permanently signed with the club in the year 2003. He played the total of 36 more games for the club before he left the club to CS Sedan in the year 2004. He played more than 30 matches for the club in each of the 2 seasons he spent with the club and the club gained promotion in the second. In January 2007, Nadir was purchased by the French champions, Olympique Lyonnais for the sum of €3.24 million and he signed a lucrative 4 ½ -year contract with the club. He was sent on a loan to another club, CS Sedan, where he played till the end of the season and he joined Lyon again in the summer of the year 2007. He played the total of 9 matches for the club, being blocked at the left back position by the World Cup champion Fabio Grosso and he left the club in January of the following year. On the 7^th January 2008, he was confirmed to have signed a 3 ½ -year contract with his former club Lens for a fee of €3.6 million. On the 1^st September 2008, it was announced that Portsmouth had bought the player on a season-long loan with an option to make it a permanent contract. He played his first match for the club on the 13^th September 2008, as he was brought into the match as a sub in a match that was played against Middlesbrough at Fratton Park where Portsmouth won the game 2-1, with Nadir playing a key role on the left side of the pitch with Armand Traore.

During the summer of the year 2011, when the transfer market was open, many clubs wanted to land the player to their team, like Celtic, Wigan as well as Wolves and Al Sadd refused all the proposals as they saw the player as a crucial part of the team. He assisted the club to the 2011 AFC Champions League title winning Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors in the finals where he scored the penalty that won the game for the club in the shootout.

In January 2013, Nadir was given an invitation to play for Lekhwiya in a friendly match that was played against Paris Saint-Germain.

International Career

Nadir started his international career in the year 2000 by playing for the youth team of the France at the U-18 level; he played just two matches for the team. On the 30^th march 2004, he played his unofficial first match for the national team of Algeria in a match that finished 0-0 against Belgian club R.A.A. Louviéroise. On the 28^th April 2004, he played his first official match for the Algerian national team in a friendly match that was played against China. On the 5^th June 2007, Nadir got his first international goal for the national team of his country in a friendly match that finished 4-3 in favor of Argentina he scored two goals in that match beating the Argentine goalkeeper twice from free kicks. Since he was called to be part of the national team of the country, he has been a constant starter in the left back role for the team and sometimes he played the role of a left winger on the pitch. He was sent off the pitch in the match that was played against Egypt with a straight Red card and he got two international match ban at the time of the 2010 African Cup of Nation, and that made him to miss the matches that was played against Tanzania in the 2012 African Cup of Nations qualifiers.

Since the world cup and the signing with the club Al-Saad in the Qatar Star League, Nadir has not been able to maintain his position as a left back player in the national team of the country as he was always benched by Djamel Mesbah.

Honours

Personal

Ø  Best left defender of Ligue 2 in 2005, 2006

Ø  Best African left defender in 2009

Clubs

Ø  CS Sedan

·         Runner-up of Coupe de France 2005

Ø  Olympique Lyonnais

·         Winner of the Ligue 1 2006–07

·         Winner of the 2007 Trophée des Champions

Ø  RC Lens

·         Runner-up of the Coupe de la Ligue 2008

Ø  Portsmouth FC

·         Runner-up of the FA Cup 2010

Ø  Al-Sadd SC

·         Winner of the 2010 Qatari Stars Cup

·         Winner of the 2011 AFC Champions League

·         Winner of the 2012–13 Qatar Stars League

·         Runner-up of the 2012 Qatar Crown Prince Cup

·         Third place at the 2011 FIFA Club World Cup