BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY Adi Raïs Cobos Adrien M'Bolhi (born 25 April 1986), more commonly known as Raïs M'Bolhi, is an Algerian footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for the Bulgarian A Professional Football Group club CSKA Sofia, and the Algeria national team.
Early life
M'Bolhi was born in Paris, France to a Congolese father and Algerian mother. However, his parents divorced at an early age and he grew up with his mother, who is originally from Bordj Bou Arreridj, Algeria. He is a Muslim.[2]
Club career
M'Bolhi started playing football for RCF Paris. Then, he joined Olympique de Marseille, though he never made a league appearance before his release in January 2006.
After his release from Marseille, M'Bolhi was promptly recruited by Heart of Midlothian, one of 11 signings in the Januarytransfer window.[3] However, along with fellow new buys with Luděk Stracený and Martin Petras, he was not retained for the2006–07 season and left the club without having made a first team appearance.
Prior to the 2006–07 season M'Bolhi signed with Greek club Ethnikos Piraeus, then competing in Beta Ethniki. M'Bolhi made 5 appearances for Ethnikos before leaving in the winter transfer period for Greek club Panetolikos, then competing inGamma Ethniki.
In 2008 M'Bolhi played 22 matches for F.C. Ryūkyū in Japan Football League.
Slavia Sofia
In May 2009, Bulgarian Slavia Sofia signed M'Bolhi to a two-year deal. He made his competitive debut for Slavia on 14 June 2009 against Lokomotiv Sofia. In January 2010, M'Bohli was named the 2009 Best Goalkeeper of A PFG. The fans organization of Slavia named him the best player of the 2009–2010 season.
On 6 May 2010, M'Bohli joined on a two-day trial with English champions Manchester United, but was ultimately not selected to play on the squad.[4] On 23 June 2010, English club Newcastle United reportedly put in a bid for him for £1million.[5] On 22 July he was training with West Ham in their summer training camp in Germany.[6][7]
CSKA Sofia loan
He was loaned out to CSKA Sofia on 30 August 2010, until the end of the year. After some unstable performance from Ivan Karadzhov and Zdravko Chavdarov, M'Bolhi was expected to be the first choice goalkeeper for the rest of the first half of the season and the group stage of UEFA Europa League and he indeed established himself as the main goalkeeper for the "redmen". M'Bolhi did not play against his parent team Slavia Sofia in the seventh round of the Bulgaria A PFG.
Krylia Sovetov
On 16 December 2010, M'Bolhi was transferred to Russian side Krylia Sovetov Samara, signing a three-and-half-year contract. His debut came on 12 March 2011, in the 0:1 away loss against Spartak Nalchik, with the only goal being scored from the penalty spot. After the signing of Sergey Veremko, M'Bolhi found himself out of the first team.[8]
CSKA Sofia loan
He was loaned out to CSKA Sofia on 2 August 2011, for a year, and was first choice for the team, but was then recalled by the Russian club. During the summer of 2012, M'Bolhi briefly returned to CSKA Sofia with the intention of signing a permanent contract with the team. However, he was deemed surplus to the requirements by the manager following the team's elimination from the UEFA Europa League by Slovenian club Mura 05 in late July 2012 (despite the Algerian not participating in these matches).[9]
Gazélec Ajaccio loan
In mid January 2013, M'Bolhi was loaned out to Ligue 2 club Gazélec Ajaccio.[10] He made his debut on 1 February 2013, in the 0:2 away loss against RC Lens.[11] His team was relegated to the Championnat National at the end of the season and he rejoined CSKA Sofia in the summer of 2013.
CSKA Sofia (third spell)
M'Bolhi was initially the third choice goalkeeper for the "Armymen",[12] but started to feature more often towards the end of 2013 after Tomáš Černý fell into disfavour.[13] He continues to be a regular for Algeria.
Career statistics
- As of 4 October 2010.
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Europe | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Hearts | 2006–07 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ethnikos Piraeus | 2006–07 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Panetolikos | 2007–08 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| Ryūkyū | 2008–09 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 0 |
| Slavia Sofia | 2008–09 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2009–10 | 25 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 0 | |
| 2010–11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| CSKA Sofia | 2010–11 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 16 | 0 |
| Career totals | 65 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 70 | 0 | |
International career
He earned his first call-up to France U17 national team in November 2002 for a friendly match against England.[14] In 2003 he was called up for friendlies against Portugal and Czech Republic.[15][16]
In June 2004 he received his first and only call-up to France U18 national team for the tournament in Salerno.[17]
Subsequently, he was called up by the Algerian Under-17 National Team but was not released by his club Olympique de Marseille.[2] On 4 May 2010 Rabah Saadane announced the list of 25 players who will intern in Crans Montana in Switzerland from 13 to 27 May; M'Bohli was on the list.[18][19]
On 28 May 2010, M'Bohli made his debut for Algeria in a 3–0 loss against Ireland after coming on as a second half substitute. He conceded one goal, a penalty kick scored by Robbie Keane.[20] He made his second appearance for Algeria in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, keeping a clean sheet and impressing in the goalless draw against England.[21]
Landon Donovan's goal off of M'Bolhi's rebound in the 91st minute of Algeria's 23 June match-up against the United States in the 2010 World Cup was the only goal he conceded in the tournament, but the 1–0 loss knocked Algeria out of the tournament in the opening round.[22]
On 11 August 2010, M'Bolhi earned his fourth cap in the 1-2 loss against Gabon in a friendly match.[23]
He was also chosen as the starting goalkeeper for the first two games of the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualification and featured in 2014 World Cup qualification matches.[24]
On 9 September 2012, M'Bolhi was a key player for Algeria in a 1-0 away win over Libya in a 2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualification match.[25] He was the first choice custodian for the country during the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations.[26]
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