Abderrahmane Mahjoub
This article needs additional citations for verification. (August 2011) |
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Date of birth | April 25, 1929 | ||
Place of birth | Casablanca, French Morocco | ||
Date of death | August 31, 2011 | (aged 82)||
Place of death | Casablanca, Morocco | ||
Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
Youth career | |||
US Marocaine | |||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1948–1951 | US Athlétique Casablanca | ||
1951–1953 | RC Paris | ||
1953–1954 | Nice | ||
1954–1960 | RC Paris | ||
1960–1963 | Montpellier | ||
1963–1964 | RC Paris | ||
1964–1968 | Wydad Casablanca | ||
International career | |||
1953–1955 | France | 7 | (0) |
1961 | Morocco | ||
Managerial career | |||
1963–1967 | Morocco | ||
1972–1973 | Morocco | ||
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Abderrahmane Mahjoub or Abderrahmane Belmahjoub (April 25, 1929 – August 31, 2011) was a French and Moroccan international football midfielder.
Known as Prince du Parc (Prince of the Park) in his playing days for his dominant control of the midfield, he was one of the best Arab players of his generation, and one of the few who graced the sports fields of Europe in the 1950s and 1960s.[1]
Career
Born in Casablanca, the young Mahjoub began playing on the streets of his home city with his brother Mohamed, who later played for Olympique Marseille in the late 1940s. Abderrahmane started his career with the Union Sportive Athlétique Casablanca in 1948, where he spent three seasons before moving to Europe to join RC Paris of the French first division, but it was his performances for OGC Nice in 1953 that caught the eye of French selectors making his international debut against Luxembourg in a World Cup Qualifier. He stepped out at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris in the blue of France alongside his Nice teammate Moroccan-born Just Fontaine. The midfielder was an instant success on his first appearance, assisting in the first goal in an 8-0 rout in only the second minute of the game, Mahjoub went on to play six other occasions for France including a 3–2 win over Mexico at the 1954 FIFA World Cup in Switzerland along with another Arab, Algerian Abdelaziz Bentifour.
After a season with Nice, where he was part of a French Cup winning side beating Larbi Ben Barek’s Olympique Marseille in the final, he rejoined Racing Club spending six successful seasons at the Paris club, reaching high as third place in the French first division in two consecutive seasons in 1958 and 1959. At the age 31, the club thought the Moroccan’s best years were behind him, and let him go but he proved all his critics wrong by guiding SO Montpellier to the 1961 French Second Division title, and promotion to the top flight. Racing Club eventually bought back the player for a final season in 1963, before he returned to play for Wydad Casablanca, where he was later coach.
One of the greatest moments in his career came in a memorable 1962 World Cup Qualifier; when Abderrahman captained his native country Morocco against the star-studded Spanish national team of Alfredo Di Stefano, Ferenc Puskás, and Francisco Gento, before stepping onto the pitch he told his teammates to look at the flags of the two nations, planted in the ground at the same height “I want you to be like these flags, on the same level as the Spaniards”. Spain knocked out the Moroccan side but everyone at the time admired the Moroccan side for their style of play and their effort against the Spaniards. Abderrahman would later go on to coach the Moroccan national team.
In 2006, he was selected by CAF as one of the best 200 African football players of the last 50 years.[2] He died on August 31, 2011.[3]
References
- ^ "Décès du Prince du parc, Abderrahman Belmahjoub" [Death of Prince of the Park, Abderrahman Belmahjoub] (in French). Bladi.net. 2 September 2011.
- ^ "Meilleur joueur des 50 dernières années 14 Marocains en lice" (in French). Le Matin. 2006-10-13. Archived from the original on 2011-07-16. Retrieved 2009-08-29.
{{cite web}}
: Unknown parameter|deadurl=
ignored (|url-status=
suggested) (help) - ^ FIFA.com. "Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) - FIFA.com". www.fifa.com. Retrieved 2018-05-14.
External links
- 1929 births
- 2011 deaths
- Sportspeople from Casablanca
- Association football midfielders
- French footballers
- Moroccan footballers
- France international footballers
- Morocco international footballers
- Dual internationalists (football)
- 1954 FIFA World Cup players
- Racing Club de France football Colombes 92 players
- OGC Nice players
- Montpellier HSC players
- Ligue 1 players
- Moroccan football managers
- Morocco national football team managers
- 1972 African Cup of Nations managers