Rabah Madjer (born February 15, 1958 in
Hussein DeyHussein-Dey is a suburb of the city of Algiers in northern Algeria, named after Hussein Dey....
) is a former
AlgeriaAlgeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country located in North Africa. It is the largest country on the Mediterranean sea, the second largest on the African continent and the eleventh-largest country in the world in terms of land area.It is bordered by Tunisia in...
n
footballerAssociation football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players using a spherical ball...
who played as a skilled
strikerForwards, also known as attackers and strikers, are the players on a team in association football who play nearest to the opposing team's goal, and are therefore principally responsible for scoring goals...
. He reached stardom as a FC Porto player during the 1980s, and is widely regarded as one of the best Algerian football players of all time.
Madjer started his
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
an career in 1983-84, moving to
RCF ParisRacing Club de France is a football club based in the north-west suburb of Paris. The team generally competes in the Championnat de France Amateurs, which is the fourth tier of the French football league system....
from
NA Hussein DeyNasr Athlétique de Hussein Dey is an Algerian football club based in Hussein Dey, a district of Algiers. It was founded in 1947...
. He stayed there during one 1/2 seasons, finishing the 1984-85 campaign with another
FrenchFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
side,
Tours FCTours Football Club is a French football club based in Tours. It was founded in 1919. They play at the Stade de la Vallée du Cher.The club had its best years in the eighties, playing four seasons in Ligue 1 ....
.
Madjer arrived at FC Porto in 1985-86, and the next season, scored the equalizer with a back-heel to help give Porto the
1986-87 European CupThe season 1986–87 of the European Cup football club tournament was won by Porto, coming from behind in the final against Bayern Munich.-First round:|}1 APOEL progressed to the Second round on away goals.-Second round:...
title over
FC Bayern MunichFC Bayern Munich is a German sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional football team, which is the most successful club in German football, having won 21 German titles and 14 cups....
in a memorable final.
Rabah Madjer (born February 15, 1958 in
Hussein DeyHussein-Dey is a suburb of the city of Algiers in northern Algeria, named after Hussein Dey....
) is a former
AlgeriaAlgeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country located in North Africa. It is the largest country on the Mediterranean sea, the second largest on the African continent and the eleventh-largest country in the world in terms of land area.It is bordered by Tunisia in...
n
footballerAssociation football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players using a spherical ball...
who played as a skilled
strikerForwards, also known as attackers and strikers, are the players on a team in association football who play nearest to the opposing team's goal, and are therefore principally responsible for scoring goals...
. He reached stardom as a FC Porto player during the 1980s, and is widely regarded as one of the best Algerian football players of all time.
Club career
Madjer started his
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
an career in 1983-84, moving to
RCF ParisRacing Club de France is a football club based in the north-west suburb of Paris. The team generally competes in the Championnat de France Amateurs, which is the fourth tier of the French football league system....
from
NA Hussein DeyNasr Athlétique de Hussein Dey is an Algerian football club based in Hussein Dey, a district of Algiers. It was founded in 1947...
. He stayed there during one 1/2 seasons, finishing the 1984-85 campaign with another
FrenchFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
side,
Tours FCTours Football Club is a French football club based in Tours. It was founded in 1919. They play at the Stade de la Vallée du Cher.The club had its best years in the eighties, playing four seasons in Ligue 1 ....
.
Madjer arrived at FC Porto in 1985-86, and the next season, scored the equalizer with a back-heel to help give Porto the
1986-87 European CupThe season 1986–87 of the European Cup football club tournament was won by Porto, coming from behind in the final against Bayern Munich.-First round:|}1 APOEL progressed to the Second round on away goals.-Second round:...
title over
FC Bayern MunichFC Bayern Munich is a German sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional football team, which is the most successful club in German football, having won 21 German titles and 14 cups....
in a memorable final. Pelé is believed to have said of this goal: "It would have been the greatest goal I have ever seen, if he had not looked back at it." He also scored in the club's
Intercontinental CupThe European/South American Cup, commonly referred to as the Intercontinental Cup or Toyota Cup, was a football competition endorsed by UEFA and CONMEBOL, contested between the winners of the European Cup and the South American Copa Libertadores...
conquest the same year, adding as an influential offensive element the
1988 national title-League standings:...
.although he won the "ballon
d'or africain 1987"(african golden ball)for best african
player of the year,he really should have been awarded the
european golden ball that year(ballon d'or)because noone
had done a more sensational season,if it wasn't for a
questionable rule(abrogated since 1995)that didn't allow
players from non european countries to contend for this
title,which did and still does crown the best player in the world for the year.
Signed with great expectations by
Spanish LeagueThe Primera División of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional , commonly known as La Liga or, in terms of sponsorship, Liga BBVA since 2008, is the top professional football league in Spain...
's Valencia C.F. in July 1988, Madjer lasted only a few months with the
Che, returning to F.C. Porto for a further two 1/2 seasons, and retiring in 1992 after a brief stint with Qatar SC.
International career
Madjer played for the
Algerian national teamThe Algeria national football team, nicknamed Les Fennecs and also moharibou essahra , is the national team of Algeria and is controlled by the Fédération Algérienne de Football...
for 14 years, and was present at the
1982The 1982 FIFA World Cup, the 12th FIFA World Cup, was held in Spain from 13 June to 11 July. Spain was chosen as hosts by FIFA in July 1966. This World Cup was won by Italy, who beat West Germany 3-1 in the final. With their third World Cup title , Italy drew level with Brazil as the most...
and
1986 FIFA World CupThe 1986 FIFA World Cup, the 13th staging of the FIFA World Cup, was held in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June. It was won by Argentina , who beat West Germany 3–2 in the final at Mexico City's Estadio Azteca.-Host selection:...
finals. He retired as the nation's top goalscorer at 40, in 87 caps. He also won the African Cup Of Nations in 1990 with Algeria as hosts beating a heavily favored young Nigerian team twice, in the opening match 5-1 and the final 1-0.
His most famous goal came in Algeria's 2-1 win over
GermanyThe German national football team is the football team representing the country of Germany in international competition since 1908. It is governed by the German Football Association DFB which was founded in 1900....
in the 1982 World Cup, when he opened the scoring in the 53rd minute.
Honours
Algerian Cup: 1979
Portugesse Superliga: 1985, 1986, 1990
African Cup of Nations: 1990
Portugesse Cup: 1991
UEFA Champions League: 1987
UEFA Supercup: 1987
Intercontiental Cup: 1987
ballon d'or africain 1987 (african golden ball):for
best african player
Post-retirement
After retiring, Madjer started a managerial career. He coached the Algerian national team, FC Porto's reserves and
QatarQatar , also known as the State of Qatar or locally ', is an Arab emirate in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the larger Arabian Peninsula...
clubs Al Saad, Al Wakrah and Al Rayyan. He was also the coach of an African all-star selection to play against a "Rest of the World" team.
Subsequently, Madjer started a career as a professional analyst in Qatar, for Al-Jazeera Sports.
External links