Habib Mohamed Bellaïd (born 28 March 1986) 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 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 ...

. Born in France, he has represented France at youth level and Algeria at senior level. He was part of the

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

national squad at the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

in South Africa.

Club career

Early life

Bellaïd began his career playing for his local side Red Star Saint-Ouen. During his time as a youth player there, he was teammates with Abou Diaby. In 1999, he was selected to attend the Clairefontaine academy. There, he trained alongside Diaby, Hatem Ben Arfa, and

Ricardo Faty Ricardo William Faty (born 4 August 1986) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder. Born in France, he represents the Senegal national team. Career Faty was born in Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, France. His football career began wit ...

and often spent the week training there, while playing with Red Star on the weekends. Following his stint at Clairefontaine, he joined

RC Strasbourg Racing Club de Strasbourg Alsace (commonly known as RC Strasbourg, Racing Straßburg, RCSA, RCS, or simply Strasbourg; Alsatian: ''Füeßbàllmànnschàft Vu Stroßburri'') is a French association football club founded in 1906, based in the c ...

Strasbourg

Bellaïd joined Strasbourg in 2002 and quickly asserted himself into the youth academy. He was a part of the Strasbourg youth squad that made it to the finals of the Coupe Gambardella in 2003, before losing to 4–1 to

Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...

. He made his professional debut on 9 November 2004 in a

Coupe de la Ligue The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in Football in France, French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was est ...

match against Troyes AC starting the match in the

left 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 ...

position. Strasbourg won the match 3–1 and eventually went on to win the cup. That league cup appearance was his only appearance that season. Bellaïd was subsequently promoted to the senior squad for the 2005–06 season. He proceeded to make his

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

debut on 17 September 2005 in a match against RC Lens coming on as a substitute in the 70th minute. The match ended in a 1–1 draw. He appeared consistently as a starter for the rest of the season. He scored his first professional goal and only goal that season in the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

against

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

at the

Stadio Olimpico The Stadio Olimpico (English: ''Olympic Stadium'') is the largest sports facility in Rome, Italy, seating over 70,000 spectators. It is located within the Foro Italico sports complex, north of the city. The structure is owned by the Italian Na ...

. Unfortunately for Bellaïd, due to primarily focusing on their European aspirations, Strasbourg finished 2nd from bottom, thus being relegated to

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by Balkrishna Industries, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions ...

. The following season, Strasbourg achieved promotion back to Ligue 1 with Bellaïd playing in 31 matches and scoring two goals. His return to Ligue 1 was both positive and negative as Bellaïd's performances gained the attention of several clubs, most notably Italian side Roma and Spanish giants

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

, but the club still suffered relegation, which led the player to ponder his future.

Move to Germany

On 4 July 2008, it was announced that Bellaïd and Strasbourg had agreed to a move to German club

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The team is currently playing in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the Germa ...

. The player agreed to a four-year contract, while the transfer fee was priced at €2.5 million. He was given the number 19 shirt and made his Bundesliga debut in their opening league match against Hertha Berlin. Eintracht would lose the match 2–0. Bellaïd has since made 21 more appearances in the league.

Back to Strasbourg

On 31 August 2009, the French defender left

and signed for

on loan until the end of the season.

Loan to Boulogne

After a half-year with his former club

the club loaned him out to US Boulogne without consulting

, but at the request of the player Eintracht approved the transfer.

International career

Bellaïd has been a France youth international since childhood receiving caps with all of France's youth teams beginning with the U-15s all the way to the U-21s. He was also eligible to play for

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

and

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

, subject to

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

approval. On 4 May 2010, Bellaïd was called up to the Algeria preliminary

World Cup 2010 , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

squad. He made his debut on 28 May 2010 as a starter in a friendly against the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

, but did not play in the tournament.

Personal life

Bellaïd was born in Bobigny, France, to a Tunisian father and an Algerian mother. He holds French and Algerian nationalities.

References

External links

* *
Habib Bellaïd Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bellaid, Habib Living people 1986 births People from Bobigny Footballers from Seine-Saint-Denis Men's association football defenders Algerian men's footballers Algeria men's international footballers Algerian expatriate men's footballers France men's under-21 international footballers INF Clairefontaine players RC Strasbourg Alsace players Eintracht Frankfurt players US Boulogne players CS Sedan Ardennes players MC Alger players CS Sfaxien players RWS Bruxelles players Sarpsborg 08 FF players AC Amiens players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Regionalliga players Eliteserien players Challenger Pro League players Championnat National 2 players Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Algerian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Norway Algerian expatriate sportspeople in Norway Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Algerian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in France Algerian expatriate sportspeople in France French sportspeople of Algerian descent French sportspeople of Tunisian descent 2010 FIFA World Cup players France men's youth international footballers Algerian people of Tunisian descent Sportspeople of Tunisian descent Algerian expatriate sportspeople in Tunisia French men's footballers