Jump to content

Riyad Mahrez

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Mattythewhite (talk | contribs) at 15:43, 2 March 2016 (Reverted to revision 707801883 by GiantSnowman (talk): Rvv. (TW)). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Riyad Mahrez
Mahrez representing Algeria in May 2014
Personal information
Full name Riyad Mahrez[1]
Date of birth (1991-02-21) 21 February 1991 (age 33)
Place of birth Sarcelles, France
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[2]
Position(s) Winger
Team information
Current team
 Leicester City
Number 26
Youth career
AAS Sarcelles
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009–2010 Quimper 27 (1)
2010–2013 Le Havre II 60 (24)
2011–2014 Le Havre 60 (6)
2014– Leicester City 76 (21)
International career‡
2014– Algeria 22 (4)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 21:45, 1 March 2016 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 16:57, 18 November 2015 (UTC)

Riyad Mahrez (Arabic: رياض محرز; born 21 February 1991) is a professional footballer who plays for English club Leicester City and the Algerian national team as a winger.

Mahrez began his career as a youth player for French club AAS Sarcelles. He turned professional in 2009 with Quimper, where he played for only one season before moving to Le Havre, spending a total of three years with them, initially playing for their reserve team and then becoming a first-team regular. In January 2014, Mahrez signed for English side Leicester City, helping them win the Football League Championship and promotion to the Premier League at the end of his first season.

Mahrez made his international debut for Algeria in 2014 and represented them at the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations.

Early and personal life

Mahrez was born in Sarcelles, France, to an Algerian father and a Moroccan mother. Growing up, he would regularly spend his holidays in Algeria.[3][4] His father was from Beni Snous, Tlemcen District.[5]

When Mahrez was fifteen, his father and mentor Ahmed died of a heart attack. He reflected that "I don’t know if I started to be more serious but after the death of my dad things started to go for me. Maybe in my head I wanted it more".[4]

Mahrez married his English girlfriend in 2015.[4]

Club career

Early career

Although often overlooked by teams due to his slender build, Mahrez's ball skills eventually found him suitors.[4]

In 2009, Mahrez joined CFA side Quimper from AAS Sarcelles, making 22 appearances and scoring 2 goals in his first season with the club.[6]

He joined Le Havre in 2010, turning down offers from leading French teams Paris Saint-Germain and Marseille to join them, being enticed by their youth system.[4] He initially played for their reserve team, Le Havre II, before going on to play 60 times and score 6 goals for the first team in the French Ligue 2 from 2011 until leaving in January 2014.[7][8] He criticised Ligue 2 for what he saw as a reliance on defence and teams aiming for a goalless draw in every match.[4]

Leicester City

Mahrez taking a free kick away to Arsenal in February 2015.

He moved to English Football League Championship club Leicester City on 11 January 2014, signing a three-and-a-half-year contract.[9][10] His friends and family were initially sceptical of a move to English football due to its physical nature, believing that his style of play would be more suited to Spain.[4] Mahrez made his debut on 25 January 2014, coming on in the 79th minute as a substitute replacing fellow winger Lloyd Dyer, in the 2–0 win against Middlesbrough.[11] After making four substitute appearances for Leicester, including scoring his first goal for the club, an 82nd-minute equaliser against local rivals Nottingham Forest, manager Nigel Pearson announced in February 2014 that he thought Mahrez was ready to start games.[12] Leicester ended the season as winners of the Championship, returning to the Premier League for the first time in ten years.[13]

Mahrez made his Premier League debut on 16 August 2014, and scored his first goal in the division on 4 October 2014 in a 2–2 draw with Burnley.[14][15] Mahrez was part of the Leicester team that won seven of its final nine matches of the season to avoid relegation to the Football League. He scored both goals in a 2–0 defeat of Southampton on 9 May[16] and ended the season with four goals and three assists from 30 appearances.[17]

He signed a new four-year contract with Leicester in August 2015.[18] On 8 August 2015, Mahrez scored two goals in the season opener against Sunderland in a 4–2 home win.[19] He was later described as the club's "match winner" by captain Wes Morgan, following "superb form" which saw him score four goals in the first three games of the season..[20]

After scoring four goals in the opening four games of the 2015–16 season, Mahrez was nominated for the Premier League Player of the Month award.[21] By 3 November 2015 he had scored seven goals in 10 Premier League games.[22] On 5 December, Mahrez scored a hat-trick as Leicester defeated Swansea City 3–0 to go top of the Premier League, putting him on ten league goals for the season and making him the first Algerian to score a Premier League hat-trick.[23] Mahrez and his midfield partners Marc Albrighton, N'Golo Kanté and Danny Drinkwater received plaudits for their part in Leicester's early season run of form,[24] and manager Claudio Ranieri described Mahrez and forward Jamie Vardy as "priceless" ahead of the January transfer window.[25]

In January 2016 Mahrez's transfer value was said to have risen from £4.5 million to £30.1 million, ranking him among the top 50 most valuable players in Europe.[26][27]

International career

Mahrez (right) playing for Algeria against Belgium at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

In November 2013 Mahrez expressed his desire to represent Algeria internationally.[28] He was called up to the provisional Algerian squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.[29] On 31 May 2014, Mahrez made his international debut for the Desert Foxes as a starter in a pre-World Cup friendly match against Armenia, and he was subsequently called up to the full squad for the tournament on 2 June.[30]

On 15 October 2014, Mahrez scored his first international goal, as well as setting up Islam Slimani in Algeria's 3–0, Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Malawi.[31] In December 2014 he was announced as a member of Algeria's squad for the final tournament in Equatorial Guinea.[32] He featured in every game as they reached the quarter-finals, and opened a 2–0 win over Senegal in the last group game to send his team through.[33]

Career statistics

Club

As of 1 March 2016[6][7][14]
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Quimper 2009–10 CFA 27 1 – – – – – – 27 1
Le Havre II 2010–11 32 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 32 13
2011–12 25 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 25 11
2012–13 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
Total 60 24 0 0 0 0 0 0 60 24
Le Havre 2011–12 Ligue 2 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 0
2012–13 34 4 4 1 1 0 0 0 39 5
2013–14 17 2 0 0 2 3 0 0 19 5
Total 60 6 4 1 3 3 0 0 67 10
Leicester City 2013–14 Championship 19 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 19 3
2014–15 Premier League 30 4 1 0 1 0 0 0 32 4
2015–16 27 14 0 0 2 1 0 0 29 15
Total 76 21 1 0 3 1 0 0 80 22
Career total 223 52 5 1 6 4 0 0 234 56

International

As of match played 17 November 2015[2]
Algeria
Year Apps Goals
2014 9 2
2015 13 2
Total 22 4

International goals

As of 17 November 2015[34]
Goal Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 15 October 2014 Stade Mustapha Tchaker, Blida, Algeria  Malawi 2–0 3–0 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
2 15 November 2014 Stade Mustapha Tchaker, Blida, Algeria  Ethiopia 2–1 3–1 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
3 27 January 2015 Nuevo Estadio, Malabo, Equatorial Guinea  Senegal 1–0 2–0 2015 Africa Cup of Nations
4 17 November 2015 Stade Mustapha Tchaker, Blida, Algeria  Tanzania 3–0 7–0 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Club

Leicester City

Individual

References

  1. ^ "Barclays Premier League: notification of shirt numbers" (PDF). Premier League. p. 10. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
  2. ^ a b "Riyad Mahrez". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  3. ^ "Comment la FAF a chipé Mahrez au Maroc" (in French). Le Buteur. 9 May 2014. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Paul Doyle (12 September 2015). "Leicester City's Riyad Mahrez is fast fulfilling his late father's dreams". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  5. ^ "Mahrez honoré à Tlemcen" (in French). El Heddaf. 4 June 2015. Retrieved 28 January 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ a b "QUIMPER 17e CFA Groupe D" (in French). Stat2foot.com. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
  7. ^ a b Riyad Mahrez at Soccerway
  8. ^ Riyad Mahrez – French league stats at LFP – also available in French (archived)
  9. ^ "Riyad Mahrez Signs For Leicester City". Leicester City F.C. 11 January 2014. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
  10. ^ "Transfer window: Riyad Mahrez joins Leicester from Le Havre". BBC Sport. 11 January 2014. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
  11. ^ "Leicester 2 – 0 Middlesbrough". BBC Sport. 25 January 2014. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  12. ^ "Riyad Mahrez: Nigel Pearson says winger ready to start games". BBC Sport. 21 February 2014. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
  13. ^ a b "Leicester City promoted to Premier League after 10-year absence". BBC Sport. 5 April 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  14. ^ a b Riyad Mahrez at Soccerbase
  15. ^ "'Unknown' Riyad Mahrez making impressive strides, says Nigel Pearson". Leicester Mercury. 8 October 2014. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  16. ^ "Leicester 2-0 Southampton".
  17. ^ "Riyad Mahrez". Premier League. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  18. ^ "Riyad Mahrez: Leicester City winger signs new contract". BBC Sport. 5 August 2015. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
  19. ^ "Leicester City 4–2 Sunderland". Soccerway. 8 August 2015. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  20. ^ "We can't rely on Riyad Mahrez all the time, says Wes Morgan". Leicester Mercury. 9 September 2015. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
  21. ^ "Andre Ayew & Manuel Pellegrini win Premier League awards". BBC Sport. 11 September 2015. Retrieved 13 September 2015.
  22. ^ "Riyad Mahrez wary of Leicester City's rising expectations". BBC Sport. 3 November 2015. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
  23. ^ Pritchard, Dafydd (5 December 2015). "Swansea 0-3 Leicester". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  24. ^ Laurence, Martin (8 December 2015). "Why Riyad Mahrez, and not Jamie Vardy, has been the player of the season so far". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  25. ^ "Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez priceless - Claudio Ranieri". BBC Sport. 15 December 2015. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  26. ^ "Leicester City winger Riyad Mahrez ranked in top 50 most valuable players in Europe at nearly £30m". Leicester Mercury. 6 January 2016. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
  27. ^ "Leicester City: Why we are all rooting for the Foxes". BBC Sport. 3 February 2016. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
  28. ^ "Riyad Mahrez "Je sais que je peux jouer en EN"" (in French). DZFoot. 11 November 2013. Retrieved 11 January 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  29. ^ "World Cup 2014: Nabil Bentaleb in Algeria's 30-man squad". BBC Sport. 12 May 2014. Retrieved 12 May 2014.
  30. ^ "World Cup Beckons For Mahrez". Leicester City F.C. 2 June 2014. Retrieved 2 June 2014.
  31. ^ "Mahrez Stars In Algeria Win". Leicester City F.C. 15 October 2014. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  32. ^ "Nations Cup 2015: Newcastle's Mehdi Abeid in Algeria squad". BBC Sport. 15 December 2014. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
  33. ^ Hughes, Ian (27 January 2015). "Senegal 0-2 Algeria". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  34. ^ "La fiche de Riyad Mahrez". DZFoot. Retrieved May 9, 2015.
  35. ^ "Riyad Mahrez Named Algerian Footballer of the Year". Leicester City Football Club. 25 January 2016. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Riyad Mahrez.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Riyad_Mahrez&oldid=707918803"