Ali Benarbia

Ali Benarbia

Personal information
Full name	Ali Benarbia
Date of birth	(1968-10-08)8 October 1968
Place of birth	Oran,Algeria
Height	1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1985–1995	Martigues	201	(23)
1995–1998	Monaco	90	(8)
1998–1999	Bordeaux	25	(3)
1999–2001	Paris Saint-Germain	42	(0)
2001–2003	Manchester City	71	(11)
2003–2005	Al-Rayyan	19	(8)
2005–2006	Qatar SC	6	(1)
Total		454	(54)
International career
2000–2001	Algeria	7	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Ali Benarbia(Arabic:علي بن عربية;born 8 October 1968) is an Algerian former professionalfootballerwho played as amidfielder.He is a TV presenter forAl JazeeraSports inDoha.

As a player he was amidfielderwho notably spent time playing inLigue 1and thePremier Leaguebetween 1995 and 2003 playing withMonaco,Bordeaux,Paris Saint-GermainandManchester City.He also had spells withMartigues,Al-RayyanandQatar SC.He was capped seven times byAlgeriabetween 2000 and 2001.

Benarbia is fondly remembered for his time at Manchester City and was nicknamed "The Algerian Magician".

Early life

Ali Benarbia was born inOran,Algeria, with his family originating fromSidi Bel Abbès.When he was only a year old, the family settled in south of France. It was not long before the young Ali started kicking a ball around on the streets.

Club career

Benarbia grabbed the attention of district sideROC Narbonneat only 10 years and seven years later he signed forFC Martigues.Encouraged by his father, Benarbia wanted to have a professional career in the game but knew that it would only come through hard-work. Playing in the youth team, Benarbia was quickly promoted to the first team in 1987 and went on to help the club into the French first division after winning the second division title in 1993. He was part of the side that was promoted toLigue 1in 1993, operating as amidfielder.

Monaco

After Martigues were relegated in 1995, Benarbia was signed byAS Monacoand two seasons later he helped the club to a league title. In season 1997–98, he was named Player of the Year in the France but still no call came from the French coach. Bénarbia had turned down several offers to play for his home country of Algeria, as he had always hoped to play for France. Benarbia also played inJean Tigana's talented Monaco side which famously putManchester Unitedout of theChampions Leaguein 1998 on away goals after a 1–1 draw atOld Trafford.

Bordeaux

After three seasons with AS Monaco, Benarbia moved toBordeauxfor £1 million and helped the club, whereZinedine Zidanemade his name to the league title. With Benarbia playing the best football of his career,Paris Saint-Germaintabled an offer of £2 million for the Algerian player only a month before the end of the season, the club accepted but the deal was kept quiet until Bordeaux had clinched the title.

Paris Saint-Germain

Benarbia was named captain of the PSG side, which featured NigerianJay-Jay Okochaand laterNicolas Anelka.The team failed to win anything, though they did manage to qualify for the second round of the2000–01 UEFA Champions League,finishing last in their group withDeportivo de La Coruña,Galatasaray S.K.andA.C. Milan.

Manchester City

Benarbia left France in 2001 and was signed on a free transfer byManchester City,whose managerKevin Keeganwas familiar with him from when he scored two goals for Monaco against Keegan'sNewcastle United.He became a firm favourite amongst the supporters as City won theFirst Divisionand promotion back to thePremier League,winning the club's player of the year award and being named in the select side for the Division. He was made captain the following season, although he found the pace of the Premier League harder and was much less influential in his second season. He played his final game in a City shirt in 2003 againstFC Barcelonain a game to mark the opening of theCity of Manchester Stadium,before announcing his retirement.

Al-Rayyan

Only five days after this announcement, on 27 July 2003, Benarbia signed up to play forAl-Rayyanof Qatar. After two years with the club, he moved on to play forNadi Qatarbefore announcing his retirement a year later.

International career

Benarbia was first approached by the Algerian Football Federation in 1986.In a rare interview with French website LeButeur published in 2009, Benarbia said that he never refused to play for Algeria.He stated that he was unhappy with the lack of professionalism within the national team and wanted the Federation to provide assurances for professional footballers' safety. During the time of Benarbia's playing career, Algeria struggled with political situations such as the 1986 oil price collapse,Black Octoberand theAlgerian Civil War.

He made his début in a2002 African Cup of NationsGroup 4 qualifying game againstBurkina Fasoin September 2000.He represented Algeria a total of seven times, participating in; three World Cup qualifying games, two Africa Cup of Nations Cup qualifiers and two friendlies.

Honours

FC Martigues

• Division 2:1992–93

Monaco

• Division 1:1996–97
• Trophée des Champions:1997

Bordeaux

• Division 1:1998–99

Paris Saint-Germain

• UEFA Intertoto Cup:2001

Manchester City

• Football League First Division:2001–02

Individual

• French Division 1Player of the Year:1998–99
• PFA Team of the Year First Division:2001–02
• Manchester CityPlayer of the Year: 2001–02

External links

• Ali Benarbia– French league stats atLFP– also availablein French(archived)