Mehdi Cerbah (3 April 1953 – 29 October 2021) was an Algerian

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 ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

Career

Cerbah spent most of his career playing for Algerian sides

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 ...

JS Kabylie Jeunesse Sportive de Kabylie (in ar, شبيبة القبائل), ( Kabyle: Ilemẓiyen inaddalen n leqbayel, In Tamazight: ⵉⵍⵎⵣⵢⵏ ⵉⵏⴰⴷⴰⵍⴻⵏ ⵏ ⵍⵇⵠⴰⵢⵍ), known as JS Kabylie or JSK, is an Algerian professi ...

and RC Kouba. He played one season of indoor football in Canada, after signing in January 1983 with NASL side Montreal Manic. He returned to Algeria and finished his career in RC Kouba until 1986. Cerbah won 57 caps for the Algeria national team, including three appearances at the 1982 FIFA World Cup finals, which included a famous victory over

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

. He also played in several African Cup of Nations finals, including the 1980 finals where Algeria finished runners-up, losing to

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 ...

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 con ...

3–0.

Honours

Club

* Algerian League Champion in 1973, 1974, 1977, 1980 with

and in 1981 with RC Kouba ** 2nd in the Algerian League in 1978, 1979 with

* Algerian Cup winner in 1977 with

** 2nd in Algerian Cup in 1979 with

* 2nd in Maghreb Champions Cup with

* 2nd in

1983 NASL Grand Prix of Indoor Soccer The 1983 NASL Grand Prix of Indoor Soccer was an indoor soccer tournament staged by four franchises of the North American Soccer League. Overview The NASL franchises from Fort Lauderdale, Tampa Bay, Montreal, and Tulsa opted to play the Grand ...

with Montreal Manic

Country

* Gold medal in the

1975 Mediterranean Games The 1975 Mediterranean Games, officially known as the VII Mediterranean Games, and commonly known as Algiers 1975, were the 7th Mediterranean Games. The Games were held in Algiers, Algeria, from 23 August to 6 September 1975, where 2,444 athletes ...

in Algiers * Gold medal in the

1978 All-Africa Games The 3rd All-Africa Games – Algiers 1978 was a multi-sport event played from July 13, 1978, to July 28, 1978, in Algiers, Algeria. 45 countries from 49 independent African countries participated in twelve sports. At the closing ceremonies the t ...

in Algiers * Bronze medal in the

1979 Mediterranean Games The 1979 Mediterranean Games, officially known as the VIII Mediterranean Games, and commonly known as Split 1979, were the 8th Mediterranean Games. The Games were held in Split, Yugoslavia, from 15 to 29 September 1979, where 2,408 athletes (2,00 ...

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, entertai ...

* 2nd in the final of the 1980 African Cup of Nations in

* Participation in

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

of 1982 in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

Individual

* Best Algerian goalkeeper of the 20th Century * Defensive MVP of

with Montreal Manic

References

External links

*
Mehdi Cerbah statistics - ''dzfootball''
1953 births 2021 deaths Footballers from Algiers Algerian footballers Algerian expatriate footballers Algeria international footballers 1982 FIFA World Cup players 1980 African Cup of Nations players 1982 African Cup of Nations players 1984 African Cup of Nations players USM Alger players JS Kabylie players Montreal Manic players RC Kouba players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players Expatriate soccer players in Canada Algerian expatriate sportspeople in Canada Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Algeria Mediterranean Games bronze medalists for Algeria Competitors at the 1975 Mediterranean Games Competitors at the 1979 Mediterranean Games African Games gold medalists for Algeria African Games medalists in football Association football goalkeepers Mediterranean Games medalists in football Competitors at the 1978 All-Africa Games 21st-century Algerian people {{Algeria-footy-bio-stub