FLN football team

The FLN football team (in Arabic:   فريق جبهة التحرير الوطني لكرة القدم‎,[1] in French: Équipe du FLN de football), also known as Le onze de l'indépendance (English: The eleven of the Independence) was a team made up mainly of professional players in France, who then joined the Algerian independence movement of the National Liberation Front (FLN), and assisted in organizing football matches against national football teams. The FLN linked African football to anti-colonial resistance using the idea of "Pan-Africanism" as a legitimizing tool and symbol of national identity.

FLN football team
Home stadiumVarious
First colours
Second colours
First international
Tunisia 1–2 FLN
(Tunis, Tunisia; June 1, 1957)
Last International
 Yugoslavia 1 - 6 FLN
(Belgrade, Yugoslavia; March 29, 1961)
Biggest win
Tunisia 0-8 FLN
(Tunis, Tunisia; April 15, 1958)
 Morocco 0-8 FLN
(Casablanca, Morocco; October 8, 1959)
Biggest defeat
Tianjin XI 5-1 FLN
(Tianjin, China; October 25, 1959)

History

The team was founded on 13 April 1958 during the war of independence against France. The role of this team was primarily psychological, in order to show the French metropolitans that even professional footballers were involved in the cause, even to the extent of renouncing their status. Evidently so, in 1958 ten of Algeria’s professional football (soccer) players based in France fled the country, traveling through Switzerland and Italy, to Tunis home of the Provisional Government of the republic of Algeria (GPRA). There was one setback at the Franco-Swiss border with the arrest of Mohamed Maouche of Stade Reims. The departure of the ten players made news all around the world through mainstream media, though their successes were not acknowledged particularly in the United States.

The French authorities easily obtained the non-recognition of the team by FIFA. Despite the prohibition on play, the FLN team engaged in a world tour of about eighty meetings, including Europe, Middle East, Asia and Africa. Of these meetings, the FLN won 55 matches. As Algeria remained one of France’s oldest colonies in Africa since the 1830s, these football (soccer) games were widely used by pro-independence propaganda. The objective of the FLN football team was to deny France the service of key players, heightening international awareness of the Algerian fight for independence and to demonstrate that the FLN had the support of both Algerians at home and those abroad.[2]


The team existed from 1958 to June 6, 1962 when the "national" team was officially disbanded1962, bequeathing its place in 1963 to its legitimate successor, the Algeria national football team. The overall idea of a national team in exile had its origins in the politicization of football (soccer), with the intention to create an arena for the anti-colonial resistance and road to liberation during the war of independence against France. Shortly after, Algeria gained its independence on July 5th, 1962.

FLN Team's Unique Playing Style:

The FLN was a unique soccer team because of their playing style, which was fluid and based on finesse. This approach to the game of football was very different from the norm. The most common form of playing football is based on a very complicated and scientific approach, while the FLN rather focused on fluidity. The FLN football team as stated by Rachid Mekhloufi who was a French football team manager, noted that the FLN used a 4-2-4 system of offense. This system gave players a great amount of flexibility in movement while playing a football game, which proved to be very effective. This offensive style of play used by the FLN team was also seen as entertainment and honorable by spectators. The usual football playing mechanics focus on defensive playing in order to lower the risk of the opposing team scoring a goal. This playing style was the normal way to play football in the 1970s, but not for the FLN team. The FLN team's unique playing style could be noted to lead to the FLN team's popularity and importance in the African struggle for freedom and equality.

[3]

Player selection
Name Birth date Club prior to FLN Club after FLN
Goalkeepers
Abderrahmane Boubekeur (1931-03-13)13 March 1931 (aged 27) AS Monaco MC Alger
Ali Doudou (1927-01-05)5 January 1927 (aged 31) USM Bône USM Annaba
Abderrahman Ibrir (1919-11-10)10 November 1919 (aged 38) Olympique de Marseille End of career
Defenders
Mustapha Zitouni (1928-10-19)19 October 1928 (aged 29) AS Monaco RC Kouba
Dahmane Defnoun (1936-05-08)8 May 1936 (aged 21) SCO Angers SCO Angers
Mohamed Soukhane (1931-10-12)12 October 1931 (aged 26) Le Havre AC Le Havre AC
Chérif Bouchache Le Havre AC
Smaïn Ibrir (1933-02-28)28 February 1933 (aged 25) Le Havre AC End of career
Abdallah Settati Girondins de Bordeaux
Khaldi Hammadi Stade Tunisien
Midfielders
Mokhtar Arribi (1924-02-24)24 February 1924 (aged 34) RC Lens End of career
Kaddour Bekhloufi (1934-06-07)7 June 1934 (aged 23) AS Monaco USM Bel Abbès
Saïd Haddad (1922-08-30)30 August 1922 (aged 35) Toulouse FC End of career
Ali Benfadah (1935-01-10)10 January 1935 (aged 23) SCO Angers SCO Angers
Rachid Mekhloufi (1936-08-12)12 August 1936 (aged 21) AS Saint-Étienne Servette FC
Mohamed Boumezrag[note 1] (1921-06-13)13 June 1921 (aged 36) US Mans End of career
Boudjemaa Bourtal (1933-08-22)22 August 1933 (aged 24) AS Béziers End of career
Amar Rouaï (1932-03-09)9 March 1932 (aged 26) SCO Angers SCO Angers
Hassen Chabri (1931-04-25)25 April 1931 (aged 26) AS Monaco CS Hammam Lif
Abdelaziz Ben Tifour (1927-07-25)25 July 1927 (aged 30) AS Monaco USM Alger
Attackers
Abdelhamid Kermali (1931-04-24)24 April 1931 (aged 26) Olympique lyonnais End of career
Abdelhamid Bouchouk (1927-04-14)14 April 1927 (aged 30) Toulouse FC End of career
Saïd Brahimi (1931-03-17)17 March 1931 (aged 27) Toulouse FC End of career
Mohamed Maouche (1936-04-24)24 April 1936 (aged 21) Stade de Reims FC Martigny
Ahmed Oudjani (1937-03-19)19 March 1937 (aged 21) RC Lens RC Lens
Amokrane Oualiken (1933-04-06)6 April 1933 (aged 25) Nîmes Olympique MC Alger
Abderrahmane Soukhane (1936-11-13)13 November 1936 (aged 21) Le Havre AC Le Havre AC
Abdelkader Mazouz (1932-08-06)6 August 1932 (aged 25) Nîmes Olympique FC La Chaux-de-Fonds
Mohamed Bourricha Nîmes Olympique
Abdelkrim Kerroum (1936-03-25)25 March 1936 (aged 22) AS Troyes et Savinienne MC Saïda
Hocine Bouchache (1932-04-20)20 April 1932 (aged 25) Le Havre AC Le Havre AC
Saïd Amara (1933-03-11)11 March 1933 (aged 25) AS Béziers Girondins de Bordeaux
Abdelhamid Zouba (1930-06-08)8 June 1930 (aged 27) Chamois Niortais Chamois Niortais

Notes
  1. Mohamed Boumezrag Trained the team from 1957 to 1962, also played for the team between 1957 and 1959.
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References
  1. Pronunciation in Arabic is fariq jabhate al-taḥrir al-watani 
  2. Alegi, Peter (2010). African Soccerscapes: How a Continent Changed the World's Game. Ohio University Press. ISBN 978-0-89680-278-0.
  3. Peter, Alegi "How a Continent Changed the World's Game", 2010, Ohio University Press, Chapter 3 (Page 48)
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