Algerians In Europe

[TonyStarks]

Karim Bridji scored his sixth goal of the season when his team, Helmond Sport, defeated Fortuna Sittard 3-0, in the Dutch 2nd division. Bridji is second in league scoring with 6 goals in 7 games, a great accomplishement considering he plays in the midfield.

Karim Ziani, Mansour Boutabout and Nassim Akrour all scored goals in the French 2nd division over the weekend. Ziani scored in his teams 3-0 win. Boutabout and Akrour scored in the same game as their teams faced each other; CS Sedan beat Grenoble 2-1.

[TonyStarks]

24-year old midfielder Mehdi Guerrouad is on trial with Scottish 2nd division side Dundee, indicated their head coach Alan Kernaghan. Guerrouad last played for Danish side Viborg FF but rarely featured for the team. He signed with Belgian club La Louviere after signing his first professional contract with French side Lille. Guerrouad has played a number of games for Algeria's U23 national team but has faded to obscurity in recent years. If he does sign, he will join fellow Algerian Brahim Hemdani, who plays for defending champions Rangers, as the only other player in Scotland.

[TonyStarks]

Former La Louviere striker Rafik Djebbour has taken the Greek 2nd division by storm topping the league with 7 goals after 7 games. Djebbour's play with Ethnikos has already attracted interest from top level Greek clubs. The team is first in the standings and have a good chance of climbing back to the Greek top division. Djebbour has stated that he is using his chance with Ethnikos to rebound back to a bigger club. The 22-year old started his career alongside Djibril Cisse at Auxerre.

[TonyStarks]

In the French second division, leaders CS Sedan defeated Istres 3-1 thanks to a goal and an assist by Algerian Mansour Boutabout. Boutabout leads his team with 8 goals. More importantly, Sedan have asserted themselves in the top spot in the division and are looking at a probable return to the top flight. Defender Nadir Belhadj played the entire game for Sedan as well. On the other side of the pitch, two other Algerians saw action: Ahmed Yahiaoui played the entire game, while Salah Bakour came in for the last 5 minutes. Sedan have 44 points after 22 games while Istres are one spot out of a relegation spot with 23 points.

[TonyStarks]

FC Lorient have signed 21-year old Algerian striker Youssef Sofiane to a six month contract that will see him finish off the season alongside Karim Ziani. Sofiane has more recently played for English side Coventry City, featuring 3 times in a short spell with the club. He has previously played for West Ham, Notts County, Roda JC (Holland), Lille and Auxerre (France). He is just one of many Algerian players that have passed through the club as of late. The list includes Kamel Larbi, Carl Medjani and Djamel Mesbah.

[TonyStarks]

Striker Rafik Djebbour has continued to impress in the Greek 2nd division with his club Ethnikos Asteras. The 21-year old has scored 12 goals for the club, topping the charts and, more importantly, giving his club the top spot in the league and an excellent chance to win promotion. However, its uncertain that Djebbour will be around to see his team move up as a number of teams from Greeks top division have considered his services. Giants Olympiakos and Panathinaikos have expressed an interest in the player, as well as smaller clubs such as Panionos and Aigaleo. Djebbour played last season with La Louviere (Belgium) and was formed at French club AJ Auxerre.

[TonyStarks]

La Louviere's Algerian defender Mohamed Brahami has attracted heavy interest from a number of Turkish clubs among others as his team continues to train in the Eastern European nation. Gençlerbirligi, Trabzonspor and Besiktas have all expressed a desire to enroll the services of the versatile back. A number of Premiership and French clubs (Rennes and Bastia) are also in the hunt. The 26-year old has featured 14 times for the Algerian national team, most recently in a 0-0 qualifier against Gabon.