Nassim Akrour ( ar, نسيم أكرور; born July 10, 1974) is an

Algerian Algerian may refer to: * Something of, or related to Algeria * Algerian people This article is about the demographic features of the population of Algeria, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, econo ...

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 ...

and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

who currently plays for

Chambéry Chambéry (, , ; Arpitan: ''Chambèri'') is the prefecture of the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of eastern France. The population of the commune of Chambéry was 58,917 as of 2019, while the population of the Chambér ...

and coaches the youth team at

Annecy Annecy ( , ; frp, Èneci or ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. It lies on the northern tip of Lake Annecy, south of Geneva, Switzerland. Nicknamed ...

, whom he represented as a player between 2016 and 2019. At international level, he has represented

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

, earning 18 caps and scoring six goals between 2001 and 2004. Akrour is the all-time leading scorer of French club

Grenoble Foot 38 Grenoble Foot 38, commonly referred to as simply Grenoble or GF38, is a French association football club based in Grenoble. The club plays its home matches at the Stade des Alpes, a sports complex based in the heart of the city, and wears white ...

with 94 league goals.

Club career

Akrour was born in

Courbevoie Courbevoie () is a commune located in the Hauts-de-Seine Department of the Île-de-France region of France. It is in the suburbs of the city of Paris, from the center of Paris. The centre of Courbevoie is situated from the city limits of Par ...

, France. He began his career with

Olympique Noisy-le-Sec Olympique Noisy-le-Sec Banlieue 93 is a French association football team founded in 1943. They are based in Noisy-le-Sec, France and are currently playing in Regional 1, Paris Île-de-France, the sixth tier in the French football league system, ...

, moving to England in 1997 to join

Sutton United Sutton United Football Club is a professional football club in Sutton, South London, England, who play in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They play home games at Gander Green Lane in Sutton about 11 miles so ...

, where he scored 19 goals in 41 appearances during the 1998-99 season as the club won promotion to the

Football Conference The National League (named Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons) is an association football league in England consisting of three divisions, the National League, National League North, and National League South. It was called the ...

. He left Sutton in 1999, joining new divisional rivals

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...

; he was a fixture of the team throughout the 1999-2000 season, scoring twelve league goals as Woking finished in mid-table. Akrour returned to his native France in the summer of 2000 to join

FC Istres Football Club Istres Ouest Provence (; commonly referred to as simply Istres) is a French association football club based in Istres. The club was formed in 1920 and currently play their home matches at the Stade Parsemain in Fos-sur-Mer, a com ...

, where he scored sixteen goals in his first season as the team earned promotion to Division 2, and matched that tally in his second season. This good form prompted

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 ...

to sign Akrour in 2002, but he struggled to adapt to Ligue 1, managing only 13 appearances and one goal. He stayed with the club following their relegation, and again proved a regular scorer at Ligue 2 level, this time scoring 9 times in 31 games. He moved to

Grenoble lat, Gratianopolis , commune status = Prefecture and commune , image = Panorama grenoble.png , image size = , caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...

in 2004, beginning a six-year association with the club; scoring at least ten goals a season for three consecutive seasons between 2005 and 2008, he reached his peak in his early thirties, helping the team to promotion to Ligue 1 in 2008, and survival the following year. In July 2010, Akrour returned to FC Istres, signing a one-year contract with an option for a second year. He remained with Istres until the summer of 2013, when he rejoined Grenoble, who were now playing in the fourth tier of French football. Akrour scored regularly for Grenoble in the fourth division, registering twelve in 25 appearances as they missed out on promotion by four points in 2013-14, then 16 in 29 appearances as they missed out by one point the following season, and 12 in 29 appearances as they missed out by three points in 2015-16. Now aged 42, Akrour moved to

in 2016; he initially announced his retirement from playing in July 2019 aged 45, in order to take up a role as a youth coach with the club, but reversed this decision six months later when he signed as a player for

. He scored on his début for Chambéry in a friendly match, and followed this with good performances in the league, managing two goals in six appearances before the end of the 2019-20 season. Akrour remained with the club into his 48th year and the 2021-22 season, continuing to score with some regularity.

International career

On December 5, 2001, Akrour made his debut for the Algerian national team as a 60th-minute substitute in a 1–1 friendly with

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...

. Akrour was a member of the Algerian

2002 African Nations Cup The 2002 African Cup of Nations was the 23rd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the association football championship of Africa ( CAF). It was hosted by Mali. Just like in 2000, the field of sixteen teams was split into four groups of four. Ca ...

team, who were eliminated in the first round after finishing last in their group. He played in all three of Algeria's games, starting in one, and scored one goal in the second group game against

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

. He was also part of the Algerian

2004 African Nations Cup The 2004 African Cup of Nations, known as the NOKIA African Cup of Nations, Tunisia 2004 for sponsorship reasons (also referred to as AFCON 2004 or CAN 2004) is the 24th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's footb ...

team, who finished second in their group in the first round of competition before being defeated by

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

in the quarter-finals.

National team statistics

International goals

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Akrour, Nassim 1974 births Living people Kabyle people French sportspeople of Algerian descent French people of Kabyle descent People from Courbevoie Association football forwards Algerian footballers French footballers Olympique Noisy-le-Sec players Sutton United F.C. players Woking F.C. players FC Istres players ES Troyes AC players Le Havre AC players Grenoble Foot 38 players FC Annecy players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Championnat National players Championnat National 2 players Algeria international footballers Algerian expatriate footballers Algerian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate footballers in England French expatriate footballers French expatriate sportspeople in England 2002 African Cup of Nations players 2004 African Cup of Nations players Footballers from Hauts-de-Seine Chambéry SF players