Djamel Belmadi

Djamel Belmadi (جَمَال بَلمَاضِيّ; born 25 March 1976) is a professional football coach and former player who last managed the Algeria national team.

Born in Champigny-sur-Marne, France, Belmadi started his career at Paris Saint-Germain, making his debut in January 1996 against Gueugnon before spending a season at Martigues.

He spent the 1997–98 season at Marseille, and then moved to Cannes for the 1998–99 season.

In August 1999, he was signed again by Marseille, but immediately went on loan to Spanish club Celta Vigo.

Born in France, he represented Algeria internationally between 2000 and 2004.

As a player he was midfielder who had spells in Ligue 1 with Paris Saint-Germain, Marseille, Cannes and Valenciennes.

He also briefly played in La Liga for Celta Vigo and in the Premier League for Manchester City.

Later on in his career he returned to England and played several seasons at Southampton whilst the club were in the Football League.

He also played for Martigues, Al-Ittihad and Al-Kharitiyath.

Born in France, he played internationally for Algeria and was capped 20 times.

As a coach he has managed Lekhwiya, Qatar B, Qatar, Al-Duhail and recently Algeria.

In January 2000, Belmadi returned to Marseille, eventually securing a regular place in the first team's midfield in 2000–01.

Belmadi made his debut for Algeria on 9 July 2000 against Morocco.

In January 2001, he made good use of a rare opportunity presented him to play in Marseille's attack, when Liberian maestro George Weah—who had been the main attacker—was away on international duty with the Lone Stars of Liberia.

Belmadi seized the opportunity to score a vital goal for Marseille against fellow strugglers Toulouse to keep Marseille just outside the relegation zone.

On 14 April 2001, he scored the winning goal in Marseille's 2–1 victory over Sedan, before a near–60,000 crowd, giving Bernard Tapie's team a much needed lifeline out of relegation.

In January 2003, Belmadi had fallen out of favour at Marseille, now managed by Alain Perrin, who agreed to loan him to Kevin Keegan’s Manchester City after a successful trial.

He joined ranks with fellow Algerian, Ali Benarbia.

He made his full debut for Manchester City on 29 January 2003 at Maine Road in a 4–1 victory against Fulham (alongside another recruit from the French league – David Sommeil).

In Belmadi's brief time at Manchester City, he only made 2 starts and 6 substitute appearances, the last of which was in a 1–0 defeat against Southampton on 11 May 2003 in the final league game at Maine Road.

The only goal was scored by Michael Svensson.

Although Kevin Keegan liked Belmadi's style of play, he conceded that he could not afford another free spirit in a side already containing Eyal Berkovic and Ali Bernabia, so Belmadi returned to Marseille.

In August 2003, he was released by Marseille and played the 2003–04 and 2004–05 seasons in Qatar with Al-Ittihad and Al-Kharitiyath.

He was part of the Algerian 2004 African Nations Cup team, who finished second in their group in the first round of competition before being defeated by Morocco in the quarter-finals.

Belmadi last played for Algeria in a World Cup qualifier against Zimbabwe on 20 June 2004, having made 20 appearances and scoring 5 goals.

In July 2005, after trials at Celtic, Wigan Athletic and Sunderland, Belmadi joined Southampton (then playing in the Football League Championship) for their pre-season tour of Scotland.

Harry Redknapp initially gave Belmadi a one-month contract, and he made his debut on 6 August 2005 in a 0–0 draw against Wolverhampton Wanderers.

His contract was extended until the end of the 2005–06 season after impressive performances in his early games, including a goal against Crewe Alexandra on 27 August 2005.

In January 2006, he picked up a thigh injury, which put him out of the team until April.

Belmadi had, however, done enough to persuade Southampton, now managed by George Burley, to re-sign him for the 2006–07 season.

This was again blighted by injury problems, including a knee injury picked up in September, which put him out until February.

He picked up several other niggling injuries putting him out for long periods.

When fit, there was no doubting Belmadi's ability and quality on the ball whether playing on the left or right of midfield.

At his best, he could unpick defenses with his passing and kept the ball well.

Unfortunately, his injuries restricted him to 40 appearances in his two years at St Mary's.

His contract with the Saints expired on 30 June 2007 and was not renewed as Southampton faced up to the financial realities of a third season in the Championship.

After being released by Southampton, Belmadi returned to France and joined Valenciennes.

He retired from football in 2009.

In the summer of 2010, Belmadi was appointed as the head coach of newly promoted Qatar Stars League club Lekhwiya.

In his first season with the club, he led them to the 2010–11 Qatar Stars League title for the first time in the club's history.