Saâdane in 2009 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1946-05-03)3 May 1946 (age 79) | ||
| Place of birth | Batna, Algeria | ||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||
| Position | Defender | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Tanzania (strategic advisor) | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1964–1968 | MSP Batna | 150 | (7) |
| 1968–1969 | MO Constantine | 23 | (0) |
| 1969–1971 | JS El Biar | 45 | (0) |
| 1972–1973 | USM Blida | 12 | (0) |
| Total | 230 | (7) | |
| International career | |||
| 1971 | Algeria | 1[1] | (0[1]) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1979–1981 | Algeria U-20 | ||
| 1981–1982 | Algeria | ||
| 1985–1986 | Algeria | ||
| 1988–1989 | Raja Casablanca | ||
| 1989–1990 | MC Alger | ||
| 1991–1992 | Al-Najma | ||
| 1994–1995 | ÉS Sahel | ||
| 1999 | Algeria | ||
| 1999–2000 | USM Alger | ||
| 2002 | Al Shabab | ||
| 2003–2004 | Algeria | ||
| 2004–2005 | Yemen | ||
| 2006–2007 | ES Sétif | ||
| 2007–2010 | Algeria | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Rabah Saâdane (Arabic:رابح سعدان; born 3 May 1946) is an Algerianfootball manager and retired professional player whose playing career was abruptly interrupted at the age of 27 by a car accident. His last management job was of theAlgerian national team before resigning in September 2010. He currently serves as the strategic advisor for theTanzania national football team
It was his fifth separate spell in charge of the team after earlier stints between 1981 and 2004 and was arguably his most successful, given its arduous qualification process. He was in charge when theU-20s qualified for the1979 FIFA World Youth Championship, Algeria's first participation in a major tournament. He was also part of the1982 FIFA World Cup backroom staff and head coach in the1986 FIFA World Cup.[2][3]
Saâdane was designated as Africa's best coach by the Africa International Sport Convention (CISA) during its 6th edition held in Bamako, Mali. He was described by the convention as being the only coach in the world to have qualified a team to four Fifa World Cup finals, including one in the junior level.[4]
Saâdane was born inBatna. In the mid-1960s, he was promoted to the senior team of theMSP Batna at the age of 16 when he was only a cadet at the time. He continued pursuing his education completing secondary school at the Lycée Ahmed Reda Houhou inConstantine where he had gained a certificate ofbaccalaureate. He then signed forMO Constantine, he continued pursuing his education in Constantine and gained aPh.D. He signed forJS El Biar after his brief stint atMO Constantine. He later signed for USM Blida. Saâdane had played for all the youth teams forAlgeria, before receiving his first call-up to the senior team by coachRachid Mekhloufi, but he was forced to end his playing career at the age of 27 years because of an injury gained from a car accident.[5][6] According to some sources, he would have played forRennes. However, Saâdane personally confirmed he never played in France, where he attended coaching lessons given byGeorges Boulogne.[7]
Saâdane was an assistant coach next to Abdelhamid Kermali who led the Algerian under-20 youth team in 1978, to the1979 FIFA World Youth Championship. Which in turn was the country's first participation in a major tournament, since gaining its independence from France. He was replaced byRachid Hanifi for the1979 FIFA World Youth Championship, where they managed to reach the quarter-finals of the tournament with whom they eventually met Argentina with the youngDiego Armando Maradona who played remarkably in the competition showing truly what an exceptional talent he was at the time.
He also coachedRaja Casablanca, with whom he won the1989 African Cup of Champions Clubs,Étoile Sportive du Sahel,[8] theYemen national team andES Sétif.[9][10][11]
On 4 September 2010, theAlgerian Football Federation announced on their official website that Rabah Saâdane had resigned, a day after the team's disappointing 1–1 home draw against Tanzania in a2012 African Cup of Nations qualifier. TheAlgerian Football Federation had said that Saâdane had tendered his resignation and that it had been accepted. Saâdane had ended his fifth spell with the national team having steered them to the semi-finals of the2010 African Cup of Nations, for the first time since 1990, and the2010 World Cup in South Africa, ending a 24-year wait.[12][13][14][15]
On 1 January 2011, the general secretary of theYemen Football Association, Hamid Chibani, announced that Saâdane had been appointed manager of Yemen until 2014.[16] However, ten days later, it was announced that he would not become the manager because the Yemen Football Association could not meet his financial demands.[17]