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 lea ...

who played as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

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

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 ...

national squad at the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

in South Africa.

Club career

Early life

Bellaïd began his career playing for his local side

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

. During his time as a youth player there, he was teammates with

Abou Diaby Vassiriki Abou Diaby (born 11 May 1986), known as Abou Diaby, is a French former professional footballer. He played primarily in a box to box role, adept at both attacking and defending, and was described as a player who was "languid, elusiv ...

. In 1999, he was selected to attend the Clairefontaine academy. There, he trained alongside Diaby,

Hatem Ben Arfa Hatem Ben Arfa (, ; born 7 March 1987) is a French former professional association football, footballer who played as a Midfielder#Winger, winger and attacking midfielder. Known for his flair and Dribbling#Association football, dribbling ability, ...

, and

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

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 (, ; RCS) or simply just Racing, is a French professional association football club founded in 1906 and based in the city of Strasbourg, Alsace. It became a professional club in ...

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 The Coupe Gambardella is a French football cup competition held between the under-18s of the French football clubs, organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). The cup is regarded as an opportunity for young hopefuls to showcase their s ...

in 2003, before losing to 4–1 to

Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...

. 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 knockout cup competition in French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was established in 1993 and, unlike the Coupe de France ...

match against

Troyes AC Espérance Sportive Troyes Aube Champagne (ESTAC), commonly known as Troyes, is a football in France, French professional association football club based in Troyes that competes in Ligue 2. It plays its home matches at the Stade de l'Aube. Foun ...

starting the match in the

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

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 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

debut on 17 September 2005 in a match against

RC Lens Racing Club de Lens (), commonly referred to as RC Lens or simply as Lens, is a French professional football club based in the northern city of Lens in the department of Pas-de-Calais. The club's nickname, ''Les Sang et Or'' (), comes from i ...

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 The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

against

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

at the

Stadio Olimpico Stadio Olimpico (; ), colloquially known as l'Olimpico (The Olympic), is an Italian multi-purpose sports venue located in Rome. Seating over 70,000 spectators, it is the largest sports facility in Rome and the second-largest in Italy, after ...

. 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 sponsorship reasons, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Prof ...

. 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 (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

, 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 German professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The club currently plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German footb ...

. 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 Hertha, Berliner Sport-Club e. V., commonly known as Hertha BSC () or Hertha Berlin, is a German professional football club based in Berlin. Hertha BSC plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of German football, following relegation from t ...

. 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 Union Sportive de Boulogne-sur-Mer Côte d'Opale (commonly referred to as US Boulogne, USBCO or frequently, simply Boulogne) is a French association football club based in the commune of Boulogne-sur-Mer. The club was founded in 1898 and cur ...

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 Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

and

, subject to

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

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

World Cup 2010 The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

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

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

, but did not play in the tournament.

Personal life

Bellaïd was born in

Bobigny Bobigny () is a commune, or town, in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, Île-de-France, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. Bobigny is the prefecture (capital city) of the Seine-Saint-Denis department, as well as the seat of the ...

, 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 French men's footballers 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 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 21st-century French sportsmen 21st-century Algerian sportsmen