Messaoud Aït Abderrahmane (born November 6, 1970) is a former

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 ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who spent the majority of his career with

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 ...

. He also played for

MC Alger Mouloudia Club d'Alger (), referred to as MC Alger or MCA for short, is an Algerian football club based in Algiers. The club was founded in 1921 and its colours are red, green and white. Their home stadium, Ali La Pointe Stadium, has a capacit ...

and

MO Constantine Mouloudia Olympic of Constantine (), known as MO Constantine or simply MOC for short, is an Algerian football club based in Constantine, founded in December 1939 by the reformer Abd al Hamid Ben Badis. The club colors are white and blue. Thei ...

before retiring. He played as a

right-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 ...

and 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 ...

. An Algerian international from 1990 to 1993, Aït Abderrahmane was a member of the Algeria national team that won the

1990 African Cup of Nations The 1990 African Cup of Nations was the 17th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa ( CAF). It was hosted by Algeria. Just like in 1988, the field of eight teams was split into two groups of four. Algeria won i ...

and the

1991 Afro-Asian Cup of Nations It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union collapsed, leaving fifteen sovereign republics and the CIS in its place. In July 1991, India abandoned its policies of dirigism, license r ...

Personal

Born in

Mostaganem Mostaganem () is a port city in and capital of Mostaganem (province), Mostaganem province, in the northwest of Algeria. The city, founded in the 11th century lies on the Gulf of Arzew, Mediterranean Sea and is 72 km ENE of Oran. It is consi ...

, Aït Abderrahmane grew up in the town of

Issers Isser, formerly spelled Issers (, ) is a town and Communes of Algeria, commune in Boumerdès Province, Algeria. According to the 1998 census it has a population of 27,990. As of the latest census it has 32,580 residents. Isser is located on the ...

Club career

Aït Abderrahmane started playing at age 12 for Issers' local club. At age 17, he joined the youth ranks of JS Kabylie. After two seasons with the junior team, he was promoted by Mahieddine Khalef and Stefan Żywotko to the senior team. During his time with

, he won a number of titles, most notably the

1990 African Cup of Champions Clubs The 1990 African Cup of Champions Clubs was the 26th edition of the annual international club football competition held in the Confederation of African Football, CAF region (Africa), the African Cup of Champions Clubs. It determined that year's cl ...

. At the end of the 1994–95 season, Aït Abderrahmane left JS Kabylie and joined

. He spent just one season there before moving to

, where he would spend the next three seasons before retiring.

International career

Aït Abderrahmane made his debut for the

Algeria national football team The Algeria national football team () represents Algeria in men's international Association football, football, and is governed by the Algerian Football Federation. The team plays their home matches at the Stade du 5 Juillet, 5 July Stadium in ...

at the

. Despite being included in the original squad for the tournament, he had to withdraw because of his studies. However, after Rachid Adghigh withdrew due to injury, Aït Abderrahmane was called up again. On March 8, 1990, he played his first game for the team, starting the last group stage game against

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. He played the entire match as Algeria won 2–0. In the semi-final against

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

, he started the game on the bench but was substituted on in the 69th minute, replacing Kamel Adjas. He started in the final against

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

, playing the entire match as Algeria won the game 1–0 to lift its first continental trophy.

Honours

Club

Algerian Championnat National The Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 (), known as Championnat National de Première Division or Ligue 1 for short, and formerly known as the Championnat National 1, is the Algerian professional league for association football clubs. It is the co ...

: 1988–89, 1989–90 **

African Cup of Champions Clubs The CAF Champions League, known for sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League and formerly the African Cup of Champions Clubs, is an annual club football competition organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) a ...

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

Algerian Cup The Algerian Cup () also known the Republic Cup (), is a football competition in Algeria, pitting regional teams against each other. It was established in October 1962, three months after independence, and has been played yearly since then apart ...

: 1991–92, 1993–94 **

Algerian Super Cup The Algerian Super Cup () is an Algerian football competition, held as a game between the reigning champions of the Algerian League and the Algerian Cup. The first edition was held in 1981 and then again in 1992, 1994 and 1995 before being scrapp ...

: 1992

Country

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...

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 repr ...

: 1991 **

Mediterranean Games The Mediterranean Games is a multi-sport event organised by the International Committee of Mediterranean Games (CIJM). It is held every four years among athletes from countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea in Africa, Asia and Europe. The fi ...

silver medal:

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ait Abderrahmane, Messaoud 1970 births People from Isser Sportspeople from Boumerdès Province 1990 African Cup of Nations players Algeria men's international footballers Algeria men's under-23 international footballers Algerian men's footballers JS Kabylie players Kabyle people Living people MC Alger players MO Constantine players Sportspeople from Mostaganem Africa Cup of Nations–winning players Mediterranean Games silver medalists for Algeria Competitors at the 1993 Mediterranean Games Men's association football defenders Mediterranean Games medalists in football 21st-century Algerian people 20th-century Algerian sportsmen