Djamel Mesbah

Djamel Mesbah

200px Mesbah with Algeria national football team
Personal information
Full name	Djamel Eddine Mesbah
Date of birth	(1984-10-09) 9 October 1984
Place of birth	Zighoud Youcef, Algeria
Height
Position(s)	Left back, Left wingback
Team information
Current team	Sampdoria
Number	3
Youth career
1995–2001	US Annecy-le-Vieux (74)
2001–2003	Servette
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2003–2004	Servette	11	(3)
2004–2006	Basel	11	(1)
2006	→ Lorient (loan)	0	(0)
2006–2008	Aarau	60	(1)
2008–2009	Luzern	6	(0)
2008–2009	→ Avellino (loan)	27	(2)
2009–2012	Lecce	82	(6)
2012–2013	Milan	51	(1)
2013–2014	Parma	10	(1)
2014	→ Livorno (loan)	15	(1)
2014–	Sampdoria	15	(0)
International career‡
2010–	Algeria	31	(1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 11 October 2014 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 11 October 2014

Djamel Eddine Mesbah (Arabic: جمال الدين مصباح‎‎; born 9 October 1984 in Zighoud Youcef) is an Algerian professional footballer who plays as a left back and left wing-back for Italian Serie A club Sampdoria.

An Algerian international, Mesbah was a member of the Algeria national team at two World Cups, the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa and the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, as well as 2013 Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa. As of October 11, 2014, he has 31 international caps and 1 goal for the Desert Foxes.

Club career

Early career

Mesbah began his playing career in the junior ranks of French club US Annecy-le-Vieux before being spotted by scouts from Swiss side Servette FC in 2001. He progressed through the ranks at Servette FC and made his senior debut in the 2003–04 Swiss Super League season, playing in 11 games and scoring 3 goals.

Switzerland

In the summer of 2004, he left the club as it was facing financial difficulties and joined FC Basel. Used mostly as a substitute, he would go on to make just 11 appearances and score 1 goal. In January 2006, he was loaned out to FC Lorient who were playing in Ligue 2 at the time. However, he was injured before he could make his debut and never featured for them. In the summer of 2006, he signed with FC Aarau, a Swiss club playing in the countries second division. He stayed there for two seasons and was a starter the entire time. He was signed by FC Luzern on 1 July 2008, but made only 6 appearances the whole year, all of which were coming off the substitute bench.

98px

Mesbah in action for A.C. Milan

US Avellino

On 1 September 2008, he was signed by Avellino, the first Italian club in his career.

US Lecce

In July 2009 he was signed by U.S. Lecce. At Lecce he played mostly as a left sided midfielder, but occasionally as a central midfielder or even a left sided wing-back. His ability to play many positions well, attracted the interest of a few Italian clubs.

AC Milan

File:Djamel Mesbah – A.C. Milan.jpg

Mesbah with Milan in 2012

On 18 January 2012, US Lecce announced that Mesbah would be leaving the club to join A.C. Milan. The following day, Milan confirmed the transfer, announcing that Mesbah had signed a four and a half-year contract with the club for an €1.2 million transfer fee

On 26 January 2012, Mesbah made his debut for Milan, starting in the 2011–12 Coppa Italia quarter-final tie against Lazio. Mesbah played the entire match with Milan going on to win 3–1. On 20 March 2012, Mesbah scored his first goal for Milan, in a 2–2 draw with Juventus in the Semi-Finals of the 2011–12 Coppa Italia. His goal tied the game 1–1, but proved ineffective as Milan drew in extra time to exit the cup on aggregate 4–3. He made a total of twelve appearances in all competitions for Milan, including two in the UEFA Champions League, one against Arsenal and the other against Barcelona. The away leg at Arsenal was his first appearance in the competition.

In the 12/13 season, Mesbah was used even more sparingly and due to form and injury, he made just two appearances in the first half of the season. This prompted Milan to sell the player to Parma F.C. in January 2013, in a cashless swap with Cristian Zaccardo.

Parma F.C.

Mesbah was again used sparingly at Parma and he made seven appearances until the end of the 12/13 season. The next season Mesbah made just four further appearances and so went out on loan to A.S. Livorno Calcio in January 2014.

Livorno (loan)

At Livorno, Mesbah was a constant starter. He played as their left sided wingback in a 3-5-2 formation but unfortunately was unable to help Livorno in their push to avoid relegation.

U.C. Sampdoria

Mesbah signed for U.C. Sampdoria late on 1 September 2014 (swap with Juan Antonio), penning a three-year deal with the Genovese club. It was his fourth different club since January 2012.

International career

In May 2010, Mesbah was called up for the first time to the Algeria national football team by Rabah Saâdane for a two-week training camp in Crans-Montana, Switzerland in preparation for the 2010 World Cup. Mesbah made his debut for the team two weeks later, on 28 May 2010, as a starter in a friendly against the Republic of Ireland. He was included in the final 23-man squad for the World Cup.

Statistics

Club

As of 6 June 2014

Club performance			League		Cup		Continental		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Switzerland			League		Schweizer Cup		League Cup		Total
2003–04	Servette	Swiss Super League	11	3	–	–	–	–	11	3
2004–05	Basel		6	1	–	–	–	–	6	1
2005–06			5	0	–	–	–	–	5	0
2006–07	FC Aarau		27	0	–	–	–	–	27	0
2007–08		Swiss Challenge League	33	1	–	–	–	–	33	1
2008–09	Luzern	Swiss Super League	6	0	–	–	–	–	6	0
Total	Switzerland		88	5	–	–	–	–	88	5
France			League		Coupe de France		Coupe de la Ligue		Total
2005–06	Lorient	Ligue 2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	France		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Italy			League		Coppa Italia		Europe		Total
2008–09	Avellino	Serie B	27	2	0	0	0	0	27	2
2009–10	Lecce		36	3	2	0	0	0	38	3
2010–11		Serie A	33	2	0	0	0	0	33	2
2011–12			12	1	1	0	0	0	13	0
2011–12	Milan		8	0	2	1	2	0	12	1
2012–13			1	0	0	0	1	0	2	0
2012–13	Parma		7	0	0	0	0	0	7	0
2013–14			3	1	1	0	0	0	4	1
2013–14	Livorno		15	1	0	0	0	0	15	1
2014–15	Sampdoria		15	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	Italy		142	10	6	1	3	0	151	11
Career total			230	15	6	1	3	0	239	16

International

As of 11 October 2014

Algeria national team
Year	Apps	Goals
2010	5	0
2011	4	0
2012	6	0
2013	10	0
2014	6	1
Total	31	1

International goals

Scores and results list Algeria's goal tally first. "Score" column indicates the score after the player's goal.

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	11 October 2014	Kamuzu Stadium, Blantyre, Malawi	Malawi	2–0	2–0	2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualification

Honours

Club

FC Basel

• Swiss Super League: (1) 2004–05

External links

• Djamel Mesbah at Soccerway
• Djamel Mesbah profile at DZFoot.com (French)