Ismaël Mickael Bouzid ( ar, إسماعيل بوزيد; born 21 July 1983) is a former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played mainly as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

but had also been used as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. Born in France, he represented

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

at international level.

Club career

Born in Nancy, France, Bouzid started his career with

FC Metz Football Club de Metz, commonly referred to as FC Metz or simply Metz (), is a French association football club based in Metz, Lorraine. The club was formed in 1932 and plays in Ligue 2, the second division in the French football league sys ...

. In July 2001, he had a trial with

English Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

side

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

and played in a pre-season match between Sunderland and

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...

. Bouzid then played in Germany, Algeria, Turkey and France, including spells at football clubs like 1. FC Kaiserslautern and

Troyes Troyes () is a commune and the capital of the department of Aube in the Grand Est region of north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about south-east of Paris. Troyes is situated within the Champagne wine region and is near to ...

. Bouzid joined

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other de ...

at the start of the 2007–08 season. He made ten league appearances for the side, helping them to win the

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

title in May 2008. In doing so, Bouzid became the first Algerian player to win a Süper Lig medal.

Heart of Midlothian

On 9 July 2009, Bouzid joined Hearts from Ankaragücü. Bouzid scored his first goal for Hearts at Tynecastle against

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

on 20 December 2009, which also proved to be the winning goal. In June 2011, after two years playing for the Edinburgh club, he was released alongside Rubén Palazuelos,

Dawid Kucharski Dawid Kucharski (; born 19 November 1984) is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a defender for Zamek Gołańcz. Career Early career in Poland Born in Kostrzyn nad Odrą, Kucharski began his playing career at Celuloza Kostrzyn. Befo ...

, Paul Mulrooney and

Jamie Mole Jamie Mole (born 1 June 1988) is an English former professional footballer who plays as a striker. Career Hearts Born in Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyn ...

After his release

In July 2011,

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The club was founded as Crawley Football Club in 1896, changed its name to Crawley Town Football Club in 1958. The team co ...

gave Bouzid a trial. However, manager Steve Evans decided against signing him after Bouzid played in a friendly match against

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...

PAS Giannina

Bouzid signed a two-year deal with newly promoted

Greek Superleague The Super League Greece 1 ( el, Ελληνική Σούπερ Λιγκ 1), or Super League 1, is the highest professional association football league in Greece. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and replaced ''Alpha Ethniki'' at the top of ...

team,

PAS Giannina PAS Giannina Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ ΠΑΣ Γιάννινα 1966), or with its full name Panepirotikos Athlitikos Syllogos Giannina ( el, Πανηπειρωτικός Αθλητικός Σύλλογος Γιάννινα, ''Panepirotic Athleti ...

in August 2011. Although several clubs around Europe were linked with Bouzid he chose the Greek side because of the 'team spirit'.

USM Alger

On 3 October 2012, Bouzid signed a two-year deal with

Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 The Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 ( ar, الرابطة الجزائرية المحترفة الأولى لكرة القدم); known as Championnat National de Première Division or Ligue 1 for short, and formerly known as the Championnat Natio ...

team

USM Alger Union Sportive de la Médina d'Alger ( ar, الإتحاد الرياضي لمدينة الجزائر); known as USM Alger or simply USMA for short, is a football club based in the inner suburbs of Algiers. The club was founded in 1937 and its co ...

. He made just three league appearances for reaching a mutual agreement with the club to terminate his contract at the end of the 2012–13 season.

Kilmarnock

In the summer of 2013, Bouzid went on trial with

Scottish Second Division The Scottish Football League Second Division was the third tier of the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. History The Second Division was created in 1975, as part of a wider reconstruction of the Scottish Football League (SFL ...

side East Fife and on 20 September 2013, signed with

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish ...

side

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

after impressing on trial. On 25 June Bouzid began a short-term trial at

Rangers A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

Personal life

Bouzid's younger brother, Adam Bouzid, is also a professional footballer and currently plays for the German side SVN Zweibrücken.

Honours

MC Alger *

Algerian Cup The Algerian Cup ( ar, كأس الجزائر) also known the Republic Cup ( ar, كأس الجمهورية), is a football competition in Algeria, pitting regional teams against each other. It was established in October 1962, three months after in ...

: 2005–06 Galatasaray *

: 2007–08

References

External links