Lakhdar Belloumi is Algeria's greatest player, he played the majority of his professional career for his hometown Mascara a small club in Algeria its all about loyalty, he was a very consistent player always performed at a top level for the national team and outshone anyone when it mattered the most (West Germany and Brazil), a true inspiration when he got injured in such a crucial match against Austria they lost the game. Rabah Madjer is certainly followed very closely who earned this reputation mostly as the man of the match in Porto's win against Bayern (his famous backheel goal with as assist).
I never heard of him but I’m assuming you are Arab/Algerian? If so shouldn’t riyad mahrez PFA winner and 7th place ballon dor be considered the best ever? I only leaned towards madjer because of what he did in the European Cup final and scoring against West Germany which are two iconic big game moments that no other Algerian NT player has
Many great players being generally and continuously overlooked elsewhere and locally-based players doesn't make them less there's a lot of players that we don't know for obvious lack of deep knowledge in this particular subject. As great as he is, Salah arguably not as talented as Mahmoud El Khatib. El Khatib was naturally more complete in terms of technique and innate intelligence, gifted with both feet, strong with his head, he was renowned for his creativity, dribbling and goalscoring as well known for producing unexpected moments of magic, pure class with remarkable individual skill. Mohamed Aboutrika is another legend in Egyptian and African football, he's so widely appreciated, placed ahead of Salah even more a dynamic player than Salah, at his time the name that Africa feared most was Aboutrika and has been seen as an influential figure for Egypt won its 3 African Cups in a row. He played in Confed Cup interestingly having outperformed Kaka in midfield even though the Brazilian had a great game but the Egyptian midfielder was just phenomenal at almost every aspect of the game where Egypt totally dominated possession and outplayed Brazil, but the rivalry between Algeria and Egypt so intense will always runs deep knocked them out to get to the World Cup. In a historical context, Salah has already surpassed Mohamed Zidan or say the former Werder Bremen defender Hany Ramzy, but as the greatest Egyptian player ever its just going too far. Here a Youtube clip available El Khatib scores a legendary goal against Tunisia in a 1978 World Cup qualifier, picture quality is quite poor, this match were held in Cairo Egypt won 3-2. Unfortunately for him that he failed to go to the world Cup and showcasing his talent in a global audience. In 1978 three of the most powerful teams on the continent Egypt, Nigeria and Tunisia fighting for one spot! Tunisia went to the World Cup who had a great generation at the time have had tremendous individual talents led by technically naturally gifted attacking midfielder Tarak Dhiab a left footed playmaker known for his elegant style of play, so there is no shame in losing to such a great team. In Argentina, the Tunisia of 78 arguably one of the greatest African sides ever to have graced the World Cup finals, they were quite outstanding in every aspect, playing very enjoyable football just incredible balance in technical ball skills, tactical awareness with strength physical fitness, they were a better side in every single match but were massively unlucky and should've won the game throughout their dominant spell and knock West Germany out of the tournament if the referee weren't subconsciously favor the defending champions for a clear penalty not given in Tunisia's favour. In 1982 were beaten by an excellent Moroccan side, who in turn been beaten by a better side and more complete team led by a powerful and skilful Roger Milla. Milla fame was more established during the late 70s he was already well known to African audiences, then eventually produce it on the biggest stage and had a great individual tournament in Spain, only he became more successful in the 80s as a main figure for an exceptional Cameroonians side the illustrious years where Cameroon dominated African football over a decade, have reached 3 African Cup finals in a row and won it a couple of times, then it came the most memorable moment when he captivated football fans around the world in Italia 90. At this point, many top European clubs has shown signs of interest in players from Africa and finally has been recognized to be taken a lot more seriously of course Bosman law and the televised games overseas contributed greatly to change the european football as well. All to battle it out for two World Cup slots, Cameroon and Algeria qualified for the World Cup, Cameroon that went undefeated and Milla had a goal wrongly disallowed against Peru. Algeria has been knocked out after a very shameful act carried out by West Germany and Austria approach disgraceful to the true spirit of sportsmanship and fair play. Four years later Morocco and Egypt met again in their 2nd KO match and thus Morocco secured the ticket to Mexico alongside Algeria, they topped extremely difficult group before were knocked out of the World Cup at the round of 16 by West Germany.
Best ever? No, absolutely not. There have been so many great players in the past (aka the golden age of Algerian football) but he is definitely up there as a top player.
Thanks for sharing that clip. I put the play by play through Google Translator, and this is what came out. Egypt kick off. Ball is passed between defenders. It takes the captain like 5 minutes to tame the ball. In that time, the Tunisian attacker has almost reached him, so captain blasts a complete panic clearance. Ball reaches #15, who bounces it around like a basketball for a long time. 15 then puts a simple 1 meter pass right at the Tunisian defender. Tunisian guy is another technical wizard, though, so ball comes back to #15, who this time manages to find his own guy. Tricky winger runs past two red training cones. No folks, this isn't a slowed down instant replay. Winger passes ball back to #15, who this time succeeds in his simple 1 meter pass. Striker has ball. Striker strolls forward a bit in a straight line and it's a goal!