Rafik Saïfi

Rafik Saïfi (Arabic: رفيق صايفي; born 7 February 1975) is an Algerian football coach and former player who is the head coach of the Algeria under-23 national team. A forward and an attacking midfielder, he spent most of his playing career in France. He scored 18 goals in 64 appearances for Algeria national team.

Club career

Saifi began his football career at CM Bordj El Kifane. It was there where he got a name for himself as a goal scorer at the age of 17. He went on to represent two other small teams, IRB Sougueur and IB Khémis El Khechna, before making his big move to MC Alger in his home city.^[1] There he helped the team win the Algerian league title before moving to France in 1999 at the age of 24 to join Troyes AC. He stayed with Troyes for five seasons, including the 2003–04 season after their relegation to Ligue 2.^[2]

Moving back into Ligue 1 with a transfer to newly promoted FC Istres in 2004, Saïfi played 35 matches before leaving following the club's relegation. In 2005, he joined AC Ajaccio, also newly promoted, and suffered a third relegation in four years. ^{[citation needed]}

Saïfi moved to FC Lorient, yet another newly promoted club, in the summer of 2006. He started the 2007–08 campaign quickly scoring 4 goals in 4 games. ^{[citation needed]}

Al Khor

On 9 August 2009, Saïfi joined Al-Khor on a one-year contract with the club paying a transfer fee of €500,000 to FC Lorient.^[3][4] Saïfi scored his first goal for the club on his league debut in a match against Al-Gharafa on 12 September 2009.^[5] On 22 October 2009, he scored his second league goal, this time against Al-Kharitiyath.^{[citation needed]}

Istres

On 23 January 2010, it was announced that Saïfi would be loaned out to Ligue 2 side FC Istres until the end of the season.^[6] The move was made official on 2 February 2010.^[7]

On 4 November 2010, Saïfi signed a contract with Amiens SC.^[8]

International career

Saïfi made his debut for the Algeria national team on 5 June 1998, in a friendly against Bulgaria, coming on as a substitute in the 65th minute.^[9] On 28 February 1999, he scored his first international goal in the 2000 African Cup of Nations qualifier against Liberia which ended as 1–1 draw.^[10] He scored his second goal in the following game, a 4–1 win in the return leg against Liberia.^[11]

Saïfi was called up by Algeria head coach Nasser Sandjak to the Algerian national team that was taking part in the 2000 African Cup of Nations in Ghana and Nigeria. In the first game against DR Congo, Saïfi started the game and was subbed off in the 70th minute, with the game ending in a goalless draw.^[12] In the second group game against Gabon, Saïfi was left out of the starting line-up and was a substitute on the bench but he did take part as he came on in the 77th minute, replacing his Troyes AC teammate Farid Ghazi.^[13] Algeria won the game 3–1. He did not take part in the final group game against South Africa. In the quarter-final against Cameroon, Saïfi was left on the bench again but came on in the 51st minute with Algeria losing 2–0.^[14] The team managed to pull a goal back in the 90th minute but lost the game 2–1. ^{[citation needed]}

Saïfi was a member of the Algeria team that participated in the 2002 African Cup of Nations in Mali and started all three group games against Nigeria, Liberia and hosts Mali. Despite the fact that Algeria failed to make it out of the group stage, Saïfi put in a "best eleven" performance and was included in the team of the tournament.^[15]

Saïfi was made his third trip to the African Cup after being included by Algeria manager Rabah Saadane in the team list for the 2010 African Cup of Nations in Angola. He started in Algeria's first game against Malawi, a 3–0 loss, but was subbed off in the 63rd minute by Abdelmalek Ziaya. He started the second game against Mali, a 1–0 win, on the bench and came on in the 80th minute for Abdelkader Ghezzal.^[16]

After the FIFA World Cup 2010, he clearly announced through the Tunisian TV channel Nessma, that he was done with his international career. ^{[citation needed]}

Assault incident

After a disappointing campaign by Algeria in the 2010 FIFA World Cup in which the team received much domestic criticism, ^[17] failing to make it beyond the group stage, a controversial incident occurred at the end of the USA-Algeria game in which the USA secured victory in the last minute.^[17] Saïfi spotted journalist Asma Halimi, a female reporter who had written an article criticizing him in the newspaper Competition.^[17] Saïfi and the journalist had previously been in a dispute because the journalist had translated and published an interview Saïfi had given.^[18] He slapped her across the face; Halimi responded by striking him back in the face, catching her nail on his lip.^[17] Halimi stated she would file a complaint against Saïfi with governing body FIFA and the Algerian FA.^[17]

Post-playing career

Saïfi worked for beIN Channels Network as a sports analyst.^[19] He was an assistant coach and then interim manager for MC Alger between 2017 and 2019.^[19]

He was appointed head coach of the Algeria under-23 national team in March 2026 in preparation for the 2028 Summer Olympics.^[19]

Career statistics

International

Scores and results list Algeria's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Saïfi goal.^[21]

Honours

MC Alger

• Algerian Championnat National: 1998–99

Troyes

• UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2001^[22]

Amiens

• Championnat National runner-up: 2010–11

Individual

• DZFoot d'Or: 2007, 2008
• Algerian Ballon d’Or (Ballon d’Or El Haddaf): 2008
• Africa Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament: 2002

References

1. ^ "FIFA". Archived from the original on 4 March 2012.
2. ^
3. ^ "Transferts : Rafik Saïfi à al Khor (Qatar) - Football algérien". www.dzfoot.com. Archived from the original on 2009-08-12.
4. ^ Transfert DZ 2009/2010
5. ^ "Goals scored by: Rafik Saifi". goalzz.com. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
6. ^ "L'Équipe - l'Actualité du sport en continu". Archived from the original on 26 January 2010.
7. ^ "SAIFI est de retour - Ligue 2". www.fcistres.com. Archived from the original on 2010-02-06.
8. ^ Signature de Rafik Saïfi
9. ^ "Bulgarie 2-0 Algérie | Football algérien". Archived from the original on 4 June 2009. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
10. ^ "Liberia 1-1 Algérie | Football algérien". Archived from the original on 26 July 2010. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
11. ^ "Algérie 4-1 Libéria | Football algérien". Archived from the original on 26 July 2010. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
12. ^ "Algérie 0-0 RD Congo | Football algérien". Archived from the original on 23 February 2010. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
13. ^ "Gabon 1-3 Algérie | Football algérien". Archived from the original on 22 February 2010. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
14. ^ "Cameroun 2-1 Algérie | Football algérien". Archived from the original on 22 February 2010. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
15. ^ Duret, Sébastien (12 February 2002). "African Nations Cup 2002 - Final Tournament Details". RSSSF. Retrieved 10 August 2009.
16. ^ "Mali 0-1 Algérie | Football algérien". Archived from the original on 16 January 2010. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
17. ^ "Algerian slaps female reporter". Eurosport. Archived from the original on 26 June 2010. Retrieved 24 June 2010.
18. ^ "Saifi 'slapped female journalist'". BBC News. 24 June 2010.
19. ^ Traore, Nafongo (2 March 2026). "Algeria: Rafik Saïfi takes charge of the U23 national team". Foot Africa. Retrieved 2 April 2026.
20. ^
21. ^ Rafik Saïfi - International Appearances
22. ^ "Newcastle 4-4 Troyes (Aggregate: 4 - 4)". UEFA. Archived from the original on 17 December 2001. Retrieved 16 June 2020.