FLN football team
The FLN football team (in Arabic: فريق جبهة التحرير الوطني لكرة القدم,[1] in French: Équipe du FLN de football), also known as Le onze de l'indépendance (English: The eleven of the Independence) was a team made up mainly of professional players in France, who then joined the Algerian independence movement of the National Liberation Front (FLN), and assisted in organizing football matches against national football teams. The FLN linked African football to anti-colonial resistance using the idea of "Pan-Africanism" as a legitimizing tool and symbol of national identity.
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Home stadium | Various | ||
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First international | |||
![]() ![]() (Tunis, Tunisia; June 1, 1957) Last International ![]() ![]() (Belgrade, Yugoslavia; March 29, 1961) | |||
Biggest win | |||
![]() ![]() (Tunis, Tunisia; April 15, 1958) ![]() ![]() (Casablanca, Morocco; October 8, 1959) | |||
Biggest defeat | |||
![]() ![]() (Tianjin, China; October 25, 1959) |
History
The team was founded on 13 April 1958 during the war of independence against France. The role of this team was primarily psychological, in order to show the French metropolitans that even professional footballers were involved in the cause, even to the extent of renouncing their status. Evidently so, in 1958 ten of Algeria’s professional football (soccer) players based in France fled the country, traveling through Switzerland and Italy, to Tunis home of the Provisional Government of the republic of Algeria (GPRA). There was one setback at the Franco-Swiss border with the arrest of Mohamed Maouche of Stade Reims. The departure of the ten players made news all around the world through mainstream media, though their successes were not acknowledged particularly in the United States.
The French authorities easily obtained the non-recognition of the team by FIFA. Despite the prohibition on play, the FLN team engaged in a world tour of about eighty meetings, including Europe, Middle East, Asia and Africa. Of these meetings, the FLN won 55 matches. As Algeria remained one of France’s oldest colonies in Africa since the 1830s, these football (soccer) games were widely used by pro-independence propaganda. The objective of the FLN football team was to deny France the service of key players, heightening international awareness of the Algerian fight for independence and to demonstrate that the FLN had the support of both Algerians at home and those abroad.[2]
The team existed from 1958 to June 6, 1962 when the "national" team was officially disbanded1962, bequeathing its place in 1963 to its legitimate successor, the Algeria national football team. The overall idea of a national team in exile had its origins in the politicization of football (soccer), with the intention to create an arena for the anti-colonial resistance and road to liberation during the war of independence against France. Shortly after, Algeria gained its independence on July 5th, 1962.
FLN Team's Unique Playing Style:
The FLN was a unique soccer team because of their playing style, which was fluid and based on finesse. This approach to the game of football was very different from the norm. The most common form of playing football is based on a very complicated and scientific approach, while the FLN rather focused on fluidity. The FLN football team as stated by Rachid Mekhloufi who was a French football team manager, noted that the FLN used a 4-2-4 system of offense. This system gave players a great amount of flexibility in movement while playing a football game, which proved to be very effective. This offensive style of play used by the FLN team was also seen as entertainment and honorable by spectators. The usual football playing mechanics focus on defensive playing in order to lower the risk of the opposing team scoring a goal. This playing style was the normal way to play football in the 1970s, but not for the FLN team. The FLN team's unique playing style could be noted to lead to the FLN team's popularity and importance in the African struggle for freedom and equality.
Player selection
Name | Birth date | Club prior to FLN | Club after FLN |
---|---|---|---|
Goalkeepers | |||
Abderrahmane Boubekeur | 13 March 1931 (aged 27) | AS Monaco | MC Alger |
Ali Doudou | 5 January 1927 (aged 31) | USM Bône | USM Annaba |
Abderrahman Ibrir | 10 November 1919 (aged 38) | Olympique de Marseille | End of career |
Defenders | |||
Mustapha Zitouni | 19 October 1928 (aged 29) | AS Monaco | RC Kouba |
Dahmane Defnoun | 8 May 1936 (aged 21) | SCO Angers | SCO Angers |
Mohamed Soukhane | 12 October 1931 (aged 26) | Le Havre AC | Le Havre AC |
Chérif Bouchache | Le Havre AC | ||
Smaïn Ibrir | 28 February 1933 (aged 25) | Le Havre AC | End of career |
Abdallah Settati | Girondins de Bordeaux | ||
Khaldi Hammadi | Stade Tunisien | ||
Midfielders | |||
Mokhtar Arribi | 24 February 1924 (aged 34) | RC Lens | End of career |
Kaddour Bekhloufi | 7 June 1934 (aged 23) | AS Monaco | USM Bel Abbès |
Saïd Haddad | 30 August 1922 (aged 35) | Toulouse FC | End of career |
Ali Benfadah | 10 January 1935 (aged 23) | SCO Angers | SCO Angers |
Rachid Mekhloufi | 12 August 1936 (aged 21) | AS Saint-Étienne | Servette FC |
Mohamed Boumezrag[note 1] | 13 June 1921 (aged 36) | US Mans | End of career |
Boudjemaa Bourtal | 22 August 1933 (aged 24) | AS Béziers | End of career |
Amar Rouaï | 9 March 1932 (aged 26) | SCO Angers | SCO Angers |
Hassen Chabri | 25 April 1931 (aged 26) | AS Monaco | CS Hammam Lif |
Abdelaziz Ben Tifour | 25 July 1927 (aged 30) | AS Monaco | USM Alger |
Attackers | |||
Abdelhamid Kermali | 24 April 1931 (aged 26) | Olympique lyonnais | End of career |
Abdelhamid Bouchouk | 14 April 1927 (aged 30) | Toulouse FC | End of career |
Saïd Brahimi | 17 March 1931 (aged 27) | Toulouse FC | End of career |
Mohamed Maouche | 24 April 1936 (aged 21) | Stade de Reims | FC Martigny |
Ahmed Oudjani | 19 March 1937 (aged 21) | RC Lens | RC Lens |
Amokrane Oualiken | 6 April 1933 (aged 25) | Nîmes Olympique | MC Alger |
Abderrahmane Soukhane | 13 November 1936 (aged 21) | Le Havre AC | Le Havre AC |
Abdelkader Mazouz | 6 August 1932 (aged 25) | Nîmes Olympique | FC La Chaux-de-Fonds |
Mohamed Bourricha | Nîmes Olympique | ||
Abdelkrim Kerroum | 25 March 1936 (aged 22) | AS Troyes et Savinienne | MC Saïda |
Hocine Bouchache | 20 April 1932 (aged 25) | Le Havre AC | Le Havre AC |
Saïd Amara | 11 March 1933 (aged 25) | AS Béziers | Girondins de Bordeaux |
Abdelhamid Zouba | 8 June 1930 (aged 27) | Chamois Niortais | Chamois Niortais |
Notes
- Mohamed Boumezrag Trained the team from 1957 to 1962, also played for the team between 1957 and 1959.
References
- Pronunciation in Arabic is
fariq jabhate al-taḥrir al-watani
- Alegi, Peter (2010). African Soccerscapes: How a Continent Changed the World's Game. Ohio University Press. ISBN 978-0-89680-278-0.
- Peter, Alegi "How a Continent Changed the World's Game", 2010, Ohio University Press, Chapter 3 (Page 48)