Rabah Mustapha Madjer ( ar, رابح مصطفى ماجر; born 15 December 1958) is an Algerian 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 as a striker. He reached stardom as a

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

player during the 1980s, being widely regarded as one of the best Algerian football players of all time.African legends: Rabah Madjer

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC television, radio and online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadcasting the sport live or alongside flag ...

, 1 September 2003 With that club he won nine major titles during his six-year spell, including three

national championships A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, indi ...

and the 1987 European Cup. One of the most prolific Algeria internationals in number of games and goals, Madjer played in two

World Cups A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

with his national team, helping it to its first ever participation in

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

. Having taken up coaching immediately after retiring, he managed several clubs, and also had several spells with the Algeria national team.

Club career

Born in the

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 ...

district of

Hussein Dey Hussein Dey (real name Hüseyin bin Hüseyin; 1765 – 1838; ar, حسين داي) was the last Dey of the Deylik of Algiers. Early life He was born either in İzmir or Urla in the Ottoman Empire. He went to Istanbul and joined the Canoneers ( ...

of Kabyle origin (

Tigzirt Tigzirt, the classical Iomnium, is a small town on the coast of northeast Algeria in Tizi Ouzou Province. It has a sleepy demeanor and attracts many tourists especially in summer from all over the country. Name Tigzirt's name derives from the ...

), Madjer started his European career in 1983, moving to

Racing Club de France football Colombes 92 Racing Club de France Football (, also known as Racing Paris, RCF Paris, Matra Racing, Racing Club, or Racing) is a French association football club based in Colombes, a suburb of Paris. Racing was founded in 1882 as a multi-discipline spor ...

from local

NA Hussein Dey Nasr Athlétique de Hussein Dey ( ar, نصر حسين داي), known as NA Hussein Dey or NAHD for short, is an Algerian football club based in Hussein Dey, Algiers. The club was founded in 1947 and its colours are red and yellow. Their home sta ...

. He stayed there during one and a half seasons, finishing 1984–85 with another French side,

Tours FC Tours Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tours (), is a French association football club based in Tours, the capital city of the Indre-et-Loire department. The club was formed in 1919 and currently play at the fifth level of French ...

. Madjer arrived at

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, MHIH, OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portu ...

in 1985–86 and, the following campaign, entered the club's history books in

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

of the

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

against

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...

, scoring the 1–1 equalizer in a memorable final, which eventually ended 2–1 to the Portuguese, and also setting up the winner of

Juary Juary Jorge dos Santos Filho (; born 16 June 1959), known simply as Juary, is a Brazilian retired footballer who played as a striker, and a manager. Club career Born in São João de Meriti, Rio de Janeiro, Juary started his career at Santos ...

Pelé Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; born 23 October 1940), known as Pelé (), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and labelled "the greatest" by FIFA, ...

is believed to have said of this goal: "It would have been the greatest goal I have ever seen, if he had not looked back at it." He also netted in the club's Intercontinental Cup conquest the same year.Intercontinental Club Cup 1987
at

RSSSF The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) is an international organization dedicated to collecting statistics about association football. The foundation aims to build an exhaustive archive of football-related information from around the ...

After that stellar 1987, Madjer won the Ballon d'or Africain, but was not allowed to compete for the European Golden Ball as he was not born in the region. In the first part of 1987–88 he scored ten times from only 11 appearances. In the summer 1988 he moved to

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Football in Italy, Italian professional Association football, football ...

but the medical exams detected a serious thigh muscle injury that the player had in the past and the contract was never officially signed (despite the initial announcement and the official photos already taken). After being close to transferring to Bayern Munich, Madjer signed for

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol (, ca-valencia, València Club de Futbol ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF (or simply Valencia) is a professional football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top flight of the Spa ...

in January 1988, returning to his previous team after only a few months for a further three seasons.

Johan Cruyff Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (, internationally known as Johan Cruyff; 25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016) was a Dutch professional football player and manager. As a player, he won the Ballon d'Or three times, in 1971, 1973 and 1974. Cruyff was a ...

had also attempted to sign Madjer for

AFC Ajax Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or simply Ajax, is a Dutch professional football club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. Historically, Ajax (named after the l ...

at the time the clubs met in the 1987 European Super Cup. Cruyff was unhappy with his own club's board, believing that they leaked details of the transfer which caused Porto to pull out of the deal. Madjer retired from the game in 1992 at the age of nearly 34, after a brief stint with

Qatar SC Qatar Sports Club ( ar, نادي قطر الرياضي) is a sports club based in Doha, Qatar. It is best known for its football team which competes in the Qatar Stars League. The club was founded in 1961 as a merger of two Qatari football club ...

International career

Madjer played for the Algeria national team for 19 years, and was present at the

and

1986 FIFA World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia ha ...

finals. He retired as the nation's top goalscorer at 28, in 87

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

, having also won the

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internati ...

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

as the hosts incidentally beat

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

twice, in the opening match 5–1 and the final 1–0. Madjer's most famous goal came in Algeria's 2–1 win over

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in the 1982 World Cup, when he opened the scoring in the 53rd minute.

Post-playing career

In 1993, Madjer began coaching the Algeria national team but after failing to qualify for two 1994 major competitions, the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

and the

CAN Can may refer to: Containers * Aluminum can * Drink can * Oil can * Steel and tin cans * Trash can * Petrol can * Metal can (disambiguation) Music * Can (band), West Germany, 1968 ** ''Can'' (album), 1979 * Can (South Korean band) Other * C ...

, he resigned, returning to Porto as a youth coordinator. He subsequently managed Qatari clubs

Al Sadd SC Al Sadd Sports Club ( ar, نادي السد الرياضي, lit=Dam Sports Club) is a Qatari sports club based in the Al Sadd district of the city of Doha. It is best known for its association football team, which competes in the ...

(1997–1998) and

Al-Wakrah Sport Club Al-Wakrah Sport Club ( ar, نادي الوكرة الرياضي) is a Qatari professional sports club based in Al Wakrah. Their professional football team competes in the Qatar Stars League and play their home games at the Al-Haribo Stadiu ...

(1998–1999). After a quick spell with the Algeria national team in 1999, Madjer returned two years later, only to resign with aggravation in the 2002 summer. In 2005 he was appointed coach of Qatari club

Al Rayyan SC Al-Rayyan Sports Club () is a Qatari multi-sports club fielding teams in a number of sports such as football, futsal, basketball, volleyball, handball, athletics, table tennis, and swimming. It is based at the Ahmed bin Ali Stadium in Umm ...

. He controversially returned to the post of Algeria national team coach in October 2017, his first managerial work for over a decade, after

Lucas Alcaraz Luis Lucas Alcaraz González (born 21 June 1966) is a Spanish retired footballer, currently manager of UD Ibiza. In a managerial career of over two decades, he competed in ten La Liga seasons at the helm of Recreativo, Racing de Santander, Gra ...

failed to take the team to the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...

. The following June he was dismissed, having won twice in seven games of which six were friendlies. After his coaching spells, Madjer started a career as a professional analyst in Qatar, for

Al-Jazeera Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazeera ...

Sports (

beIN Sports beIN Sports ( ) is a global network of sports channels owned and operated by the Qatari media group beIN. It has played a major role in the increased commercialization of Qatari sports. Its chairman is Nasser Al-Khelaifi, and its CEO is Yousef O ...

now). In 2011 he became a

UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador is an official postnominal honorific title, title of authority, legal status and job description assigned to those goodwill ambassadors and advocates who are designated by the United Nations. UNESCO goodwill ambassad ...

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Algeria's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Madjer goal.''

Honours

Hussein Dey *

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 ...

: 1978–79 *

African Cup Winners' Cup The African Cup Winners' Cup was a football competition that started in 1975 and merged with the CAF Cup in 2004 to form the CAF Confederation Cup. It was a competition between the winning clubs of domestic cups in CAF-affiliated nations and was ...

: Runner-up

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

Porto *

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

: 1985–86, 1987–88, 1989–90 *

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; "Cup of Portugal") is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Placard since the 2015–16 seaso ...

: 1987–88, 1990–91 *

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira The Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (; English: Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup, or simply Portuguese Super Cup) is an annual Portuguese football match played since 1979 between the winners of the Portuguese League (Primeira Liga) and Portuguese ...

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

: 1986–87 * Intercontinental Cup:

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

International *

Afro-Asian Cup of Nations The Afro-Asian Cup of Nations, also called the AFC Asia/Africa Challenge Cup, was an intercontinental football competition endorsed by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), contested between re ...

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

African Games The African Games, formally known as the All-Africa Games or the Pan African Games, are a continental multi-sport event held every four years, organized by the African Union (AU) with the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (AN ...

Individual *

Team of the Tournament:

African Footballer of the Year African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...

: 1987 * Intercontinental Cup: Most Valuable Player of the Match Award

* European Cup top scorer: 1987–88 *Best player of the

* IFFHS World Player of the Century #62: 2000 * Arab Footballer of the 20th century: 2004 * Algerian Footballer of the 20th century: 2009 (with

Lakhdar Belloumi Lakhdar Belloumi ( ar, لخضر بلومي; born on 29 December 1958) is an Algerian former association football, football player and manager. He is widely considered as the best Algerian player of all time and one of the best players in Africa. ...

) *Algerian Footballer of the Year: Several awards * African Footballer of the 20th century: Fifth place * Golden Foot Legends Award: 2011 * IFFHS Legends: 2016

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Madjer, Rabah 1958 births Living people People from Hussein Dey (commune) Algerian footballers Association football forwards Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 players NA Hussein Dey players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Racing Club de France Football players Tours FC players Primeira Liga players FC Porto players La Liga players Valencia CF players Qatar Stars League players Qatar SC players Algeria youth international footballers Algeria international footballers 1982 FIFA World Cup players 1986 FIFA World Cup players 1980 African Cup of Nations players 1982 African Cup of Nations players 1984 African Cup of Nations players 1986 African Cup of Nations players 1990 African Cup of Nations players 1992 African Cup of Nations players Africa Cup of Nations-winning players Olympic footballers of Algeria Footballers at the 1980 Summer Olympics African Games gold medalists for Algeria African Games medalists in football Algerian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in Portugal Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Qatar Algerian expatriate sportspeople in France Algerian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Algerian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Algerian expatriate sportspeople in Qatar African Footballer of the Year winners Algerian football managers Algeria national football team managers 2002 African Cup of Nations managers Expatriate football managers in Qatar Competitors at the 1978 All-Africa Games 21st-century Algerian people UEFA Champions League top scorers 20th-century Algerian people