« I've been two types of player. At the beginning, I was an opportunistic player who jumped at the slightest opportunity to score a goal. I only thought about scoring. Subsequently, after the FLN team epic, I became a magician. » This is how, in September 2016, Rachid Mekhloufi described himself in our columns. Eight years later, Rachid Mekhloufi is no more, but his name and his soul will never remain linked to two stories: Football and Algeria.
In green and with all
For those who know him (or did not know him), Mekhloufi never hid himself. From his style of play to his media outings, including his positions, the Setifian has always dared. Daring to leave an Algeria that was still French and a family base victim of the horrors of colonization, to cross the Mediterranean and join AS Saint-Étienne at just 18 years old. A stroke of madness signed Jean Snella, then coach of the Greens, who saw in this mustachioed young man, the touch of fantasy missing from the Forézian harshness. Adopted, Rachid Mekhloufi gains his status in particular thanks to derby stories: « When I arrived in Saint-Étienne, it was put into my head that the Lyonnais were not good guys. In the end, I had nothing to do with this derby. But I was trapped because the population agreed with it, he laughed. They can't see the Lyonnais and it's mutual. The Lyonnais are quite cold. On the other hand, the people of Stéphane are warm, they take care of you. This is perhaps what played a role between the miners and the bourgeoisie. » No, still no tongue in cheek.
The striker led this class struggle to the point of winning four caps in the French team, 335 appearances, 150 goals and five titles on the banks of the Loire (four championships and a Coupe de France). From 1954 to 1958, then from 1962 to 1968. Between these two prosperous periods? Simply life. The one who saw a footballer become resistant through peace, risking losing everything to offer independence to his people. On April 14, 1958, accompanied by Mokhtar Arribi (Lens), Abdelhamid Kermali (Lyon, well, well) and Abdelhamid Bouchouk (coach of Avignon) Mekhloufi decided to join a group of Algerian players gathered in Tunisia, in order to work on the project of a national team for the National Liberation Front (FLN). There, they found Abdelaziz Ben Tifour and Moustapha Zitouni (both in Monaco). The Independence Eleven was born. Renouncing their career, their money and their situation in France, the group of valiant people took part in exhibition matches around the world – more than 50 meetings recorded – while striving to plead the cause of their compatriots. The mission ended in 1962, shortly after the end of a heartbreaking war.
History teacher
When asked about the value of this vital journey, Rachid Mekhloufi's response is, this time, modest: « I spent four years from 58 to 62 with boys, men who taught me life, football and many things. And above all, we met heads of state, people that I didn't even imagine discovering. It put a little lead in my head. » Officially becoming Algerian, through the flag and the jersey (eleven selections and five pawns from 1962 to 1968), the super scorer resumed – as he had finally left – the thread of his sporting adventure. Eighteen years of career on the field, followed by a decade of passing on his knowledge from the bench, notably for the very young Algerian selection.
Confidential, his career as a coach/manager still had its enchanted parenthesis. 1982, in Spain, twenty years after independence: talent. Then co-selector of the Greens, qualified for their first World Cup, Mekhloufi and his partner, Mahieddine Khaled, form the second great generation of local football: Rabah Madjer, Lakhdar Belloumi, Salah Assad, Djamel Zidane, Nouredine Kourichi, Ali Fergani and all others. Artists in low socks, defeating the great Germany and unleashing Iberian passion with the beauty of their game. Before being victims of the Austro-German plot during the match of shame. On both sides of the white line, on both sides of the Mediterranean, Rachid Mekhloufi will therefore have embarked on his journey, the weight of history. With his death, Algeria lost a legend. Football too.
Rachid Mekhloufi, football and the revolution
