Antar Yahia French Footballer From Mulhouse

Early life

Antar Yahia was born on 21 March 1982 in Mulhouse, in the Alsace region of France. His parents had come to Alsace from the village of Sedrata in the Aurès region of eastern Algeria. He first took an interest in football around the age of ten, when he went to watch his older brothers play, and he joined the junior side of Racing Club de Belfort, a club in his neighbourhood. He later moved to the youth academy of FC Sochaux-Montbéliard. In 2000 he wanted a professional contract, which Sochaux would not offer, so he left and joined the youth academy of Internazionale. He speaks several languages, including Arabic, French, German, Italian, English and Spanish.

Career

Inter loaned Yahia to the Corsican club SC Bastia in 2001. He made his senior debut on 16 January 2002 against Lyon, coming on in the 43rd minute for Cédric Uras, and he stayed on Corsica for about four years. After Bastia were relegated he signed a four-year contract with OGC Nice in the summer of 2005. He played most of the matches in his first season there but lost his place by the end of it.

Both Leeds United and VfL Bochum showed interest in him, and after training with each he chose the Bundesliga club. His first Bundesliga match, against Bayern Munich on 30 January 2007, came with Bochum. He quickly became a regular in central defence, and the club signed him permanently for 800,000 euros after his loan ended. In January 2010 he received the Algerian Player of the Year award for 2009. That same month, in Luanda, he was presented with the Arab Player of the Year award for 2009 after winning a poll run by the broadcaster MBC in which about one million people took part and he received 48 percent of the votes. Bochum were relegated at the end of the 2009-10 season, and he said he wanted to leave after the World Cup, but in October 2010 he signed a new contract running until June 2014.

In July 2011 he agreed to join the Saudi club Al-Nassr, signing a two-year deal in August, and in January 2012 both sides agreed to end it. He returned to Germany days later with 1. FC Kaiserslautern. In January 2013 he signed for Espérance Sportive de Tunis, was handed the captain's armband in his first league match there and played that season for them. In January 2014 he joined the Greek club Platanias on a four-month deal, and in June 2014 he signed a two-year contract with the Ligue 2 side Angers SCO. Later spells are listed at US Orléans and FC Sochaux-Montbéliard.

International career

Yahia played for France at under-16 level, making his debut on 7 October 1998 against Switzerland, and at under-18 level in 2000. He was the first player to benefit from a change in FIFA's eligibility rules in 2004, which allowed him to switch national allegiance to Algeria. He made his debut for the Algerian under-23 side in an Olympic qualifier against Ghana in Blida on 2 January 2004 and scored the only goal with a header. Coach Rabah Saâdane promoted him to the senior team, and he made his senior debut on 15 January 2004 in a friendly against Mali. At the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations in Tunisia he played in all of Algeria's group matches, and the team went out in the quarter-finals against Morocco.

He was in the squad for the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations in Angola, where Algeria finished fourth. His best-known moment came on 18 November 2009 in Omdurman, Sudan, where Algeria met Egypt in a play-off for a place at the World Cup. Yahia scored in the 40th minute, and the 1-0 win took Algeria to its first World Cup finals since 1986. At the 2010 finals in South Africa he captained the team, and he was sent off against the United States after a second yellow card. He kept the captaincy until May 2012. He announced his retirement from international football on 1 May 2012 after 53 appearances and six goals.

Public roles

After his playing career, Yahia moved into club administration. On 27 December 2016 it was confirmed that he would retire and stay at US Orléans as sporting director, and he left the club by mutual agreement on 22 November 2019. On 1 May 2020 he was appointed sporting director of USM Alger, a role that ended with his dismissal on 6 August 2021. In January 2022 he was introduced as technical director of the F.F. Cherenkov Academy in Russia, which is affiliated with FC Spartak Moscow, and he left that post in June 2022.

Recognition

Individual honours include the Algerian Player of the Year award for 2009 and the Arab Player of the Year award for the same year. With Algeria he finished fourth at the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations.