Abdelaziz Ben Tifour Explained

Abdelaziz Ben Tifour
Birth Date:25 July 1927
Birth Place:Hussein Dey, Algeria
Death Place:Algiers, Algeria
Height:1.74 m
Position:Midfield
Years1:1945–1946
Caps1:
Goals1:
Years2:1946–1948
Caps2:
Goals2:
Years3:1948–1953
Clubs3:Nice
Caps3:129
Goals3:34
Years4:1953–1955
Clubs4:AS Troyes-Savinienne
Caps4:65
Goals4:15
Years5:1955–1958
Clubs5:Monaco
Caps5:86
Goals5:13
Years6:1962–1963
Clubs6:USM Alger
Caps6:
Goals6:
Nationalyears1:1952–1957
Nationalteam1:France
Nationalyears2:1958–1962
Nationalteam2:FLN
Nationalcaps1:4
Nationalgoals1:0
Nationalcaps2:-
Nationalgoals2:-
Manageryears1:1959–1962
Managerclubs1:FLN
Manageryears2:1961–1962
Managerclubs2:US Tunis
Manageryears3:1969
Managerclubs3:Algeria
Manageryears4:1969–1970
Managerclubs4:JS Kabylie

Abdelaziz Ben Tifour (Arabic: عبدالعزيز بن طيفور; 25 July 1927 –) was a professional French-Algerian footballer who played as a midfielder.

Life and career

He was a pioneer of Algerian football playing in Tunisia and France in the 40s and 50s as well as establishing the first Algerian national team with two other FLN activists featuring ten players in France's provisional World Cup squad on the eve of the finals in Sweden. One of those players was Ben Tifour, who had played for the France national team on four occasions including one appearance at the 1954 World Cup.

Born in Hussein-Dey. In the summer of 1948, he moved to Europe to play for French first division club OGC Nice, making his debut in a 1–1 draw with Red Star Paris and by the time Ben Tifour played at the 1954 FIFA World Cup in Switzerland in a 3–2 win over Mexico; he had already won two league titles and a French Cup with OGC Nice. He moved to AS Troyes-Savinienne after six seasons with Nice in 1954 and then signed for AS Monaco in 1956, which would be his last club in Europe. In total, he made 280 appearances in the French top division, scoring 62 goals. He returned to Tunis in 1958 to form the FLN Algerian national team.

When Algeria was granted independence in 1962, the 33-year-old Ben Tifour unlike Mekloufi and Ahmed Oudjani who moved back to play in Europe, returned to his homeland to take up a player-coach role at USM Alger leading them to the first Algerian championship in 1963.

Ben Tifour died at the age of 43 while he was coach at JS Kabylie during the 1970–1971 season.

Clubs