FLN football team

The FLN football team (in Arabic:   فريق جبهة التحرير الوطني لكرة القدم,[1] in French: Équipe du FLN de football), also known as Le onze de l'indépendance (English: The eleven of the Independence) was a team made up mainly of professional players in France, who then joined the Algerian independence movement of the National Liberation Front (FLN), and assisted in organizing football matches against national football teams. The FLN linked African football to anti-colonial resistance using the idea of Pan-Africanism as a legitimizing tool and symbol of national identity.

FLN football team
Home stadiumVarious
First colours
Second colours
First international
 Tunisia 1–5 FLN
(Tunis, Tunisia; May 3, 1958)
Last international
 Yugoslavia 1–5 FLN
(Belgrade, Yugoslavia; March 29, 1961)
Biggest win
 Tunisia 0–8 FLN
(Tunis, Tunisia; April 15, 1958)
 Morocco 0–8 FLN
(Casablanca, Morocco; October 8, 1959)
Biggest defeat
Tianjin XI 5–1 FLN
(Tianjin, China; October 25, 1959)

History

The team was founded on 13 April 1958 during the war of independence against France. The role of this team was primarily psychological, in order to show the French metropolitans that even professional footballers were involved in the cause, even to the extent of renouncing their status. Evidently so, in 1958 ten of Algeria’s professional football (soccer) players based in France fled the country, traveling through Switzerland and Italy, to Tunis home of the Provisional Government of the republic of Algeria (GPRA). There was one setback at the Franco-Swiss border with the arrest of Mohamed Maouche of Stade Reims. The departure of the ten players made news all around the world through mainstream media, though their successes were not acknowledged particularly in the United States.

The French authorities easily obtained the non-recognition of the team by FIFA. Despite the prohibition on play, the FLN team engaged in a world tour of about eighty meetings, including Europe, Middle East, Asia and Africa. Of these meetings, the FLN won 55 matches. As Algeria remained one of France’s oldest colonies in Africa since the 1830s, these football (soccer) games were widely used by pro-independence propaganda. The objective of the FLN football team was to deny France the service of key players, heightening international awareness of the Algerian fight for independence and to demonstrate that the FLN had the support of both Algerians at home and those abroad.[2]

The team existed from 1958 to June 6, 1962 when the "national" team was officially disbanded1962, bequeathing its place in 1963 to its legitimate successor, the Algeria national football team. The overall idea of a national team in exile had its origins in the politicization of football (soccer), with the intention to create an arena for the anti-colonial resistance and road to liberation during the war of independence against France. Shortly after, Algeria gained its independence on July 5, 1962.

FLN Team's Unique Playing Style

The FLN was a unique soccer team because of their playing style, which was fluid and based on finesse. This approach to the game of football was very different from the norm. The most common form of playing football is based on a very complicated and scientific approach, while the FLN rather focused on fluidity. The FLN football team as stated by Rachid Mekhloufi who was a French football team manager, noted that the FLN used a 4-2-4 system of offense. This system gave players a great amount of flexibility in movement while playing a football game, which proved to be very effective. This offensive style of play used by the FLN team was also seen as entertainment and honorable by spectators. The usual football playing mechanics focus on defensive playing in order to lower the risk of the opposing team scoring a goal. This playing style was the normal way to play football in the 1970s, but not for the FLN team. The FLN team's unique playing style could be noted to lead to the FLN team's popularity and importance in the African struggle for freedom and equality.[3]

Player selection
No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Club prior to FLN (Club after FLN)
1GK Abderrahman Ibrir (1919-11-10)10 November 1919 Marseille (retired)
1GK Ali Doudou (1927-01-05)5 January 1927 USM Bône (USM Annaba)
1GK Abderrahmane Boubekeur (1931-03-13)13 March 1931 Monaco (MC Alger)
2DF Mustapha Zitouni (1928-10-19)19 October 1928 Monaco (VS Chartres)
2DF Chérif Bouchache (1929-05-08)8 May 1929 Le Havre (JSM Skikda)
2DF Mohamed Soukhane (1931-10-12)12 October 1931 Le Havre
2DF Abdallah Settati (1932-04-10)10 April 1932 Bordeaux (unknown)
2DF Smaïn Ibrir (1933-02-28)28 February 1933 Le Havre (retired)
2DF Dahmane Defnoun (1936-05-08)8 May 1936 Angers
2DF Khaldi Hammadi unknown Stade Tunisien (unknown)
3MF Mohamed Boumezrag (player-manager) (1921-06-13)13 June 1921 Colmar (retired)
3MF Saïd Hadad (1922-08-30)30 August 1922 Toulon (retired)
3MF Mokhtar Arribi (1924-02-24)24 February 1924 Avignon (retired)
3MF Abdelaziz Ben Tifour (1927-07-25)25 July 1927 Monaco (USM Alger)
3MF Hassen Chabri (1931-04-25)25 April 1931 Monaco (CS Hammam-Lif)
3MF Amar Rouaï (1932-03-09)9 March 1932 Angers
3MF Boudjemaa Bourtal (1933-08-22)22 August 1933 AS Béziers (retired)
3MF Kaddour Bekhloufi (1934-06-07)7 June 1934 Monaco (USM Bel Abbès)
3MF Ali Benfadah (1935-01-10)10 January 1935 Angers
3MF Rachid Mekhloufi (1936-08-12)12 August 1936 Saint-Étienne (Servette)
4FW Abdelhamid Bouchouk (1927-04-14)14 April 1927 Toulouse
4FW Hamid Zouba (1930-06-08)8 June 1930 Chamois Niortais (Grenchen)
4FW Saïd Brahimi (1931-03-17)17 March 1931 Toulouse (JSM Skikda)
4FW Abdelhamid Kermali (1931-04-24)24 April 1931 Lyon (USM Sétif)
4FW Hocine Bouchache (1932-04-20)20 April 1932 Le Havre
4FW Abdelkader Mazouz (1932-08-06)6 August 1932 Nîmes (La Chaux-de-Fonds)
4FW Saïd Amara (1933-03-11)11 March 1933 AS Béziers (Bordeaux)
4FW Amokrane Oualiken (1933-04-06)6 April 1933 Nîmes (MC Alger)
4FW Abdelkrim Kerroum (1936-03-25)25 March 1936 AS Troyes-Savinienne
4FW Mohamed Maouche (1936-04-24)24 April 1936 Reims (Red Star)
4FW Abderrahmane Soukhane (1936-11-13)13 November 1936 Le Havre
4FW Ahmed Oudjani (1937-03-19)19 March 1937 Lens
4FW Mohamed Bourricha unknown Nîmes (unknown)

References
  1. Pronunciation in Arabic is fariq jabhate al-taḥrir al-watani 
  2. Alegi, Peter (2010). African Soccerscapes: How a Continent Changed the World's Game. Ohio University Press. ISBN 978-0-89680-278-0.
  3. Peter, Alegi "How a Continent Changed the World's Game", 2010, Ohio University Press, Chapter 3 (Page 48)
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