The emotion that was expressed in Algeria as in France following the death, on November 8, at the age of 88, of Rachid Mekhloufi, legendary player of AS Saint-Etienne and national hero in Algeria, did not surprise his friend and biographer Hocine Seddiki. In Sétif, his hometown, 250 km east of Algiers, many appreciated that his death was announced by the President of the Republic, a way of celebrating the special life of this footballer who marked the history of his country. After starting his career in France, at AS Saint-Etienne, Rachid Mekhloufi joined the National Liberation Front (FLN) in the middle of the war of independence, then returned to the Greens.
“Rachid Mekhloufi has joined Robert Herbin, Georges Beretta, Salif Keita and Kees Rijvers, all exemplary and talented players at the same time, who will have left an indelible mark in the collective memory of the green people”wrote his former club in a press release. A tribute widely taken up in the Algerian media, which unanimously welcomed “the man who ticked all the boxes of the legend”according to the title of an article on the site All about Algeriae.
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“His childhood was summed up by two things: school, where he hung on to please his dad, and above all the rag balls in which he kicked all day long with his shoes which always ended up at the neighborhood shoemaker “, reminds sour long-time friend and biographer, former journalist Hocine Seddiki. According to him, Rachid Mekhloufi, who “was not the man to put himself in the spotlight”, was “respected for his discretion as much as for his talent”.
Activist footballers
It was also necessary, he emphasizes, “ courage and strong conviction » to leave a promising football career and join, at the age of 21, the FLN in 1958, in the middle of the Algerian war. “Rachid knew perfectly well what was happening in Algeria. He saw the injustices, the violence, he could not remain indifferent. His decision was not difficult to make, as it came from the heart and his strong sense of loyalty to his people. »
This choice to engage in the fight for national liberation was all the easier as it was matured in the company of his friends from Sétif, Abdelhamid Kermali and Mokhtar Arribi, two other legends of Algerian football. Together, they were part of the FLN team, which served as Algeria’s first national team. “They formed a kind of family, a group united by common idealsindicates Seddiki, who underlines the importance that this selection had in the life of Rachid Mekhloufi. It was more than just a football team. It was a school of life, an awakening to the realities of the world and a platform to carry the voice of oppressed Algeria. »
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