- Abderrahmane Mahjoub
Football player infobox
playername =Abderrahmane Mahjoub
fullname =
height =
nickname =
dateofbirth = Birth date and age|1929|4|25|mf=y
cityofbirth =Casablanca
countryofbirth =French Morocco
currentclub =
clubnumber =
position = Midfielder
youthyears =
youthclubs = US Marocaine
years = 1951–53
1953–54
1954–60
1960–63
1963–64
clubs =RC Paris OGC Nice RC Paris SO Montpellier RC Paris Wydad Casablanca
caps(goals) =
nationalyears = 1953–55
nationalteam = France
nationalcaps(goals) = 07 0(0)
manageryears =
managerclubs =Abderrahmane Mahjoub or Abderrahmane Belmahjoub (born
April 25 ,1929 inCasablanca ) is a former French and Moroccan internationalfootball (soccer) midfielder.Known as Prince du Parc (Prince of the Park) in his playing days for his dominant control of the midfield, was one of the best Arab players of his generation, and one of the few who graced the sports fields of Europe in the 50s and 60s.
Born in
Casablanca , the young Mahjoub began playing on the streets of his home city with his brother Mohamed, who later played forOlympique Marseille in the late 40s. Abderrahmane started his career with the Union Sportive Athlétique Casablanca in 1948, where he spent three seasons before moving to Europe to joinRC Paris of the French first division, but it was his performances forOGC Nice in 1953 that caught the eye of French selectors making his international debut against Luxembourg in a World Cup Qualifier. He stepped out at theParc de Princes stadium in Paris in the blue of France alongside his Nice teammate Moroccan-bornJust Fontaine . The midfielder was an instant success on his first appearance, assisting in the first goal in a 8-0 rout in only the second minute of the game, Mahjoub went onto play six other occasions for France including a 3-2 win over Mexico at the1954 FIFA World Cup inSwitzerland along with another Arab, AlgerianAbdelaziz Bentifour .After a season with Nice, where he was part of a French Cup winning side beating
Larbi Ben Barek ’s Olympique Marseille in the final, he rejoined Racing Club spending six successful seasons at the Paris club, reaching high as third place in the French first division in two consecutive seasons in 1958 and 1959. At the age 31, the club thought the Moroccan’s best years were behind him, and let him go but he proved all his critics wrong by guidingSO Montpellier to the 1961 French Second Division title, and promotion to the top flight. Racing Club eventually bought back the player for a final season in 1963, before he returned to play forWydad Casablanca , where he was later coach.One of the greatest moments in his career came in a memorable 1962 World Cup Qualifier; when Abderrahman captained his native country Morocco against the star-studded Spanish national team of
Alfredo Di Stefano ,Ferenc Puskas , andFrancisco Gento , before stepping onto the pitch he told his teammates to look at the flags of the two nations, planted in the ground at the same height “I want you to be like these flags, on the same level as the Spaniards”. Spain knocked out the Moroccan side but everyone at the time admired the Moroccan side for their style of play and how they had humbled the Spaniards. Abderrahman would later go onto coach the Moroccan national team.Clubs
*Union Sportive Athlétique Casablanca (1948-1951)
*Racing Club de Paris, France (1951-1953)
*Olympique Gymnaste Club de Nice, France (1953-1954)
*Racing Club de Paris, France (1954-1960)
*SO Montpellier, France (1960-1963)
*Racing Club de Paris, France (1963-1964)
*Wydad Athletic Casablanca (1964-1968)External links
* [http://www.fff.fr/servfff/historique/historique.php?id=MAHJOUB%20Abderrahman Profile on French federation official site]
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