Nadir Belhadj
Personal information
Full name	Nadir Belhadj
Date of birth	18 June 1982 (1982-06-18) (age 27)
Place of birth	Saint-Claude, France
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position	Left Wingback, Left Winger
Club information
Current club	Portsmouth
Number	39
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1999–2003 2002–2003 2003–2004 2004–2006 2006–2008 2006–2007 2008 2008–2009 2009–	Lens → Gueugnon (loan) Gueugnon Sedan Olympique Lyonnais → Sedan (loan) Lens → Portsmouth (loan) Portsmouth	000 (0) 028 (1) 036 (1) 065 (3) 009 (0) 037 (2) 019 (0) 029 (2) 013 (0)
National team2
2004–	Algeria	037 (4)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 12:57, 31 July 2009 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of November 22, 2009. * Appearances (Goals)

Nadir Belhadj (Arabic: نذير بلحاج ‎) (born 18 June 1982) is a French-born Algerian professional footballer who is playing for Portsmouth in the Premier League.

[edit] Career

A left back who can also operate as a winger, Belhadj began his career at Ligue 1 club Lens, where he failed to make the first-team. He joined Ligue 2 FC Gueugnon on loan in 2002 and after making 26 league appearances signed permanently in 2003. Belhadj played 36 more Ligue 2 games for Gueugnon before moving to CS Sedan in 2004. Making more than thirty appearances in each of his two full seasons with Sedan in Ligue 2, gaining promotion in the second.

In January 2007 Belhadj was bought by French champions Lyon for €3.24 million and signed a lucrative four and a half year deal. He was loaned back to CS Sedan until the end of the season and joined Lyon again in the summer of 2007. He made just 9 appearances for the club, being blocked at the left-back position by World Cup champion Fabio Grosso, and left the club in January. On 7 January 2008, it was confirmed that Belhadj had signed a three and a half year deal with his former club Lens for a fee of €3.6 million.

[edit] Portsmouth

On 1 September 2008, it had been announced that Portsmouth had signed Belhadj on a season-long loan with an option to make the deal permanent.^[1] He made his Portsmouth debut on 13 September coming on as a substitute against Middlesbrough at Fratton Park where Portsmouth went from a goal down to come back and win 2-1, with Belhadj playing a key role on the left with Armand Traoré. He also started in Portsmouth's first ever European match, a 2-0 win over Vitória SC, and was excellent overall, and set Jermain Defoe up with a fantastic cross. He also scored a long range goal against Sunderland FC away from home in a 2-1 win, which was the first win for new manager Tony Adams.

Belhadj played a part in Portsmouth's 2-2 draw against AC Milan in the UEFA Cup. His skillful play earned Belhadj the man of the match award for that game^{[citation needed]}. On December 30, Belhadj signed a 4 and a half year deal with Pompey, costing €4.5 million paid to Lens ^[2], keeping him at the club until 2013. He officially became a Portsmouth player on January 1, 2009 when the Winter transfer window opened up. On January 27, 2009, Belhadj was sent off for the first time for Portsmouth when he picked up 2 yellow cards in the 1-0 defeat against Aston Villa.

[edit] International Career

Belhadj began his international career in 2000 by representing France at the Under-18 level, making just two appearances for the team.^[3][4]

On March 30, 2004, Belhadj made his unofficial debut for the Algerian National Team in a 0-0 friendly against Belgian club R.A.A. Louviéroise.^[5] On April 28, 2004 he made his official debut for the team in a friendly against China.^[6] On June 5, 2007, Belhadj got his first international goal in a friendly 4-3 loss to Argentina.^[7] He scored two goals in that game beating goalkeeper Roberto Abbondanzieri twice from free kicks. Since his first call up, Belhadj has been a regular starter in the left back role for the team and occasionally fills in as a left winger as well.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Nadir Belhadj French league stats at lfp.fr (French)
• Nadir Belhadj career stats at Soccerbase