Abdelaziz Ben Tifour (; – ) was a professional-

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

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 lea ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

Life and career

He was a pioneer of Algerian football playing in Tunisia and France in the 40s and 50s as well as establishing the first Algerian national team with two other FLN activists featuring ten players in France's provisional World Cup squad on the eve of the finals in Sweden. One of those players was Ben Tifour, who had played for the

France national team France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

on four occasions including one appearance at the 1954 World Cup. Born in Hussein-Dey. In the summer of 1948, he moved to Europe to play for French first division club

OGC Nice Olympique Gymnaste Club de Nice (), commonly referred to as OGC Nice or simply Nice, is a French professional association football, football club based in Nice. The club was founded in 1904 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the top tier of Footb ...

, making his debut in a 1–1 draw with

Red Star Paris Red Star Football Club (), known as Red Star FC or simply Red Star, is a French professional football club founded in Paris in 1897, and is the fourth oldest French football club, after Standard AC of Paris, Le Havre AC and Girondins de Bord ...

and by the time Ben Tifour played at the

1954 FIFA World Cup The 1954 FIFA World Cup was the 5th edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football tournament for senior men's national teams of the nations affiliated to FIFA. It was held in Switzerland from 16 June ...

in Switzerland in a 3–2 win over

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

; he had already won two league titles and a

French Cup The Coupe de France (), also known in English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is ...

with

. He moved to

AS Troyes-Savinienne Association Sportive Troyenne et Savinienne, also known as AS Troyes-Savinienne, was a French football club based in Troyes. History The club was formed in 1931 from the merger of Troyes club Union Sportive Troyenne and AS Savinienne, a club fro ...

after six seasons with Nice in 1954 and then signed for

AS Monaco Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club, commonly referred to as AS Monaco (), is a professional football club based in Fontvieille, Monaco. Although not in France, they are a member of the French Football Federation (FFF) and currently ...

in 1956, which would be his last club in Europe. In total, he made 280 appearances in the French top division, scoring 62 goals. He returned to

Tunis Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...

in 1958 to form the FLN Algerian national team. When Algeria was granted independence in 1962, the 33-year-old Ben Tifour unlike Mekloufi and

Ahmed Oudjani Ahmed Oudjani (19 March 1937 – 15 January 1998) was an Algerian football striker. Biography Oudjani was a member of the Algerian FLN team before the country gained its independence. He is also the all-time top scorer in RC Lens history, havi ...

who moved back to play in Europe, returned to his homeland to take up a player-coach role at

USM Alger Union Sportive de la Médina d'Alger (); known as USM Alger or simply USMA for short, is a Association football, football club based in the inner suburbs of Algiers. The club was founded in 1937 and its colours are red and black. Their home sta ...

leading them to the first Algerian championship in 1963. Ben Tifour died at the age of 43 while he was coach at

JS Kabylie Jeunesse Sportive de Kabylie (Kabyle grammar, Kabyle: Ilemẓiyen inaddalen n leqvayel; Berber languages, Tamazight: ⵉⵍⵎⵣⵢⵏ ⵉⵏⴰⴷⴰⵍⵏ ⵏ ⵍⵇⵠⴰⵢⵍ; ), known as JS Kabylie or simply JSK, is an Algerian profession ...

during the 1970–1971 season.

Clubs

Espérance Sportive de Tunis Espérance Sportive de Tunis (), known as ES Tunis or simply EST for short, is a Tunisian professional sports club founded on 15 January 1919 in the Bab Souika neighborhood of Tunis. Its football (soccer), football section has competed in th ...

(1945–1946) *Club Sportif de Hammam Lif (1946–1948) *

(1948–1954) *

(1954–1956) *

(1956–1958) *FLN Equipe (1958–1962) *USMA, Union Sportive de la Medina d'Alger (1962–1963)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ben Tifour, Abdelaziz 1927 births 1970 deaths Algerian emigrants to France French men's footballers Algerian men's footballers Algeria men's international footballers France men's international footballers Dual internationalists (men's football) French people of Kabyle descent 1954 FIFA World Cup players OGC Nice players AS Troyes-Savinienne players AS Monaco FC players Ligue 1 players Footballers from Algiers Kabyle people USM Alger players Algerian football managers Algeria national football team managers Espérance Sportive de Tunis players Expatriate football managers in Tunisia JS Kabylie managers USM Alger managers FLN men's international footballers Men's association football midfielders 20th-century French sportsmen 20th-century Algerian sportsmen