Date of birth 12 January 1992 (age 21)
Place of birth Mostaganem, Algeria
Height 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Weight 86 kg
Playing position Striker
Ishak Belfodil (born 12 January 1992 in Mostaganem)[1] is an Algerian football player who currently plays for Italian club Parma in the Serie A.
A former France youth international, he was called up to the Algeria national team for the first time in August 2012.
Football career
Early career
Belfodil began his football career at OSC Élancourt, a club located in the western suburbs of Paris, and spent his formative years at the club. He later joined nearby club Trappes FC. While at Trappes, Belfodil passed the entrance tests required to attend the Clairefontaine academy, but was not selected following failure of the final test.[2] As a result, he moved to Paris Saint-Germain spending only a year at the Camp des Loges, the club's training center. Belfodil attributed only one year there primarily due to not focusing on his studies and not receiving enough playing time with his youth section. In 2004, he joined AC Boulogne Billencourt, a sports club that also trained international players Hatem Ben Arfa and Issiar Dia. In 2007, Belfodil secured a move to Ligue 2 club Clermont Foot.[2]
Belfodil spent only a year at Clermont and, while playing with the club under-16 team, scored nine of the team's first 15 goals in the Championnat National under-16 league becoming the top scorer of the league.[3] His play sparked the interest of several clubs, most notably French club Lyon and English clubs Chelsea and Manchester United.[4] On 13 November 2008, Lyon announced that they had acquired Belfodil and he had signed an aspirant (youth) contract with the club until June 2011.[5]
Lyon
For the duration of the 2008–09 season, Belfodil played on the club's under-18 team. He was a member of the team that reached the 2008–09 Coupe Gambardella semi-finals appearing in six matches scoring two goals. Belfodil also made one appearance on the club's Championnat de France amateur team. In just the third week of the 2009–10 season, he was called up to the senior team for the club's match against Auxerre on 22 August and made his debut in that match coming on as a substitute for Jean-Alain Boumsong in the 85th minute. Lyon won the match 3–0.[6] Belfodil made his UEFA Champions League debut, just three days later, in the second leg of the club's playoff round match against Anderlecht appearing as a substitute in the 60th minute for Lisandro López.[7] On 16 July 2010, he signed his first professional contract agreeing to a three-year deal until 2014. Due to still having another year left on his aspirant (youth) contract, the contract will take effect beginning 1 July 2011.
Parma
After having been in Bologna on loan in the spring of 2012, Belfodil signed with Serie A club Parma 30 June 2012 for a fee of 2,5 million Euros.
International career
Belfodil is eligible for both France and Algeria. As a youth, he considered Algeria as he was ineligible to represent France as he had not received a passport. Belfodil asked his father to inform Algeria of his intention to play for them; however, his inquiries went unnoticed. Following his move to Lyon, the Algerian Football Federation sent an invitation, but Belfodil informed them that it was too late.[2] In 2009, Belfodil was awarded his French passport and was subsequently called up to the under-17 team to participate in the 2009 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship. He appeared in all three of the team's matches as they suffered group stage elimination.
Belfodil returned to international duty for the 2009–10 season under coach Philippe Bergeroo with the under-18 team. He made his debut for the team on 27 October 2009 in a friendly match against Denmark.[8] On 8 December, Belfodil scored his first international youth goal in a 1–1 draw against the Ukraine.[9] In 2010, Belfodil finished the campaign by scored against Germany at the Cloppenburg Arena in another 1–1 draw.[10] Belfodil remained a cog in the team under coach Bergeroo for under-19 team duty. On 12 September 2010, Belfodil scored his first goal with the team in a 2–2 draw with Brazil in the 2010 edition of the Sendai Cup.[11] In first round qualification for the 2011 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship, he scored the only goal in the team's final group stage match win over Austria.[12]
On August 25, 2012, Belfodil was called up by Vahid Halilhodžić to the Algeria national team for the first time for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Libya.[13] However, FIFA had not yet processed his allegiance switch to Algeria and his club refused to release him for the game.[14] He was replaced by Mohamed Seguer. On September 26, FIFA announced that Belfodil's application was processed and he was eligible to represent Algeria.[15]
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would love to see him at Juve next year.
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