Habib Mohamed Bellaïd (born 28 March 1986) is an Algerian former professional footballer. He played primarily as a centre back.[2]
An Algerian international, Bellaïd was part of the Algeria squad at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
. . . Habib Bellaïd . . .
Bellaïd was born in Bobigny, France, to a Tunisian father and an Algerian mother.[3]
Bellaïd began his career playing for his local side Red Star Saint-Ouen. During his time as a youth player there, he was teammates with Abou Diaby. In 1999, he was selected to attend the Clairefontaine academy. There, he trained alongside Diaby, Hatem Ben Arfa, and Ricardo Faty and often spent the week training there, while playing with Red Star on the weekends. Following his stint at Clairefontaine, he joined RC Strasbourg.
Bellaïd joined Strasbourg in 2002 and quickly asserted himself into the youth academy. He was a part of the Strasbourg youth squad that made it to the finals of the Coupe Gambardella in 2003, before losing to 4–1 to Rennes. He made his professional debut on 9 November 2004 in a Coupe de la Ligue match against Troyes AC starting the match in the left back position. Strasbourg won the match 3–1 and eventually went on to win the cup. That league cup appearance was his only appearance that season.
Bellaïd was subsequently promoted to the senior squad for the 2005–06 season. He proceeded to make his Ligue 1 debut on 17 September 2005 in a match against RC Lens coming on as a substitute in the 70th minute. The match ended in a 1–1 draw.[4] He appeared consistently as a starter for the rest of the season. He scored his first professional goal and only goal that season in the UEFA Cup against Roma at the Stadio Olimpico.[5] Unfortunately for Bellaïd, due to primarily focusing on their European aspirations, Strasbourg finished 2nd from bottom, thus being relegated to Ligue 2. The following season, Strasbourg achieved promotion back to Ligue 1 with Bellaïd playing in 31 matches and scoring two goals. His return to Ligue 1 was both positive and negative as Bellaïd’s performances gained the attention of several clubs, most notably Italian side Roma and Spanish giants Real Madrid,[6] but the club still suffered relegation, which led the player to ponder his future.
. . . Habib Bellaïd . . .