It’s Youcef Belaïli’s world, we’re just living in it

Youcef Belaïli was the difference as Espérance beat LAFC in the Club World Cup

It’s 7PM in Philadelphia. It’s hot, extremely humid after a storm has just rolled through.

That same storm had moved through New York earlier, delaying Al Ahly’s crunch tie with Palmeiras. That delay made me miss my bus to Philly, and so I arrived in “the City of Brotherly Love” more than two hours late and not in a good mood.

As I get into the blissfully cool Uber to go from the Peter Pan bus stop to where I’m staying in Philly, I greet my driver Hadj and he asks the question I get from every African.

“Ali? You’re a Muslim?”

Hadj is Algerian, he’s been living in the US for four years having moved from Béchar, a city in the west of Algeria.

Once we overcome the standard introductions, he asks me what I’m doing, and I explain that I’m a journalist covering the Club World Cup in the city.

He immediately turns to face me and asks, “you know Belaïli?”

No questions about Manchester City or Chelsea who are also playing in Philadelphia. He didn’t even ask about Rayan Aït-Nouri, the Algerian who just signed for Manchester City for £36.3m, making him the second most expensive Algerian of all time.

Instead Hadj asked me about Belaïli.

And it’s no surprise. Youcef Belaïli is one of the most magnetic footballers, he demands attention because of how he plays and who he is. He is one of the most frustrating players around, but on his day, there is no one better.

Almost a decade ago, Belaïli’s career was at its lowest ebb. The mercurial winger had already won two Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 titles with Espérance when he moved home to Algeria to play for USM Alger.

It was with Alger that on August 7^th, 2015, he tested positive for cocaine after a league game in Algeria. A month later he would test positive again for cocaine after another league game and would be handed a four year ban from Algerian football that would then be extended to football around the world.

With his career crumbling around him, Belaïli appealed the ruling, claiming that he had ingested the cocaine without any knowledge of it, that it had been mixed with tobacco in a hookah that he had smoked. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled in his favour and reduced his ban to just two years.

Two years with no football would kill most careers and it came at a terrible time for the 24-year-old. He had dominated Tunisian football, broken into the national team, and made his homecoming to his own country.

It was made worse when he returned to football. Having been banned in Algeria, he made the moved to Angers in France but even once his ban was lifted, he struggled to break into the team, failing to even make a single appearance in the league.

Frustrated and at an even lower point, Belaïli returned to the place where he was most loved, Tunis. In January 2018, he returned to Espérance and ushered in the club’s greatest era since their golden age in the 1990s.

Over the next 18 months, Belaïli would star as Taraji took Africa by storm, winning back-to-back league titles and CAF Champions League campaigns. He scored in the finals, both seasons and in 2019 was voted the African Inter-Club Player of the Year.

He would end that season with his crowning glory, starring in the Algerian team that won only their second ever Africa Cup of Nations in 2019. While Riyad Mahrez received most of the plaudits, Belaïli was the real star of the team. His ball-carrying was second to none, and he came up with important goals, against Senegal in the group stage and against Guinea-Conakry in the round of 16.

As in keeping with his character though, Belaïli would struggle to recapture that form. The rest of his career has been marked with success followed by dramatic disappointment. But whether good or bad, Belaïli has been the story.

And so it’s no surprise that on the Club World Cup, the biggest stage for any African club, we have witnessed the consummate Belaïli performance.

In the first game against Flamengo, he was at times a one-man-show, the only threat coming from a flat Espérance side. But it was his lack of defensive tracking back, that lead to Flamengo’s opener and killed Espérance’s hope of getting points in their first game.

Yesterday’s game against LAFC was an even stronger example. He was terrific, flicks, tricks and nutmegs in constant flow. He nearly scored after just four minutes, created an opportunity six minutes later for Rodrigo Rodrigues, who hit the post. He set Yan Sasse through on goal in the second period, and the Brazilian drew a superb save from Hugo Lloris.

And of course, in the biggest moment of all, he was the magic man. After a terrific run from Mohamed Amine Ben Hamida, the ball fell to Belaïli. The maestro had the composure to beat a man in the six-yard box and nutmeg Lloris. Sumptuous!

Unfortunately, this could be the last we see of one of Africa’s greatest talents.

That’s because early in the second half Belaïli was booked for simulation. Having initially won a penalty for the Tunisians, after a VAR review, it was adjudged that Belaïli had in fact dove. His second booking of the tournament means that he will miss his team’s final game of the group stage against Chelsea.

But as frustrating as it is, it almost feels that you can’t complain. If you want the good of Belaïli, you have to put up with the bad. If you want the stardust, maybe there will be a different type of dust present as well. He is a beautiful throwback of a player who can’t possibly thrive in the modern world of football. And yet here he is, on the biggest stage, doing what he does.

Let’s just hope that Espérance can do it again, without their superstar this time.