Rachid Mekhloufi, a former player of the renowned National Liberation Front (FLN) team, passed away on Friday at the age of 88 after a prolonged illness, as confirmed by his relatives to APS.
Mekhloufi was a legendary figure at AS Saint-Étienne in France. After concluding his distinguished playing career in 1970, he transitioned into coaching. He had multiple stints as the national team coach, notably leading the “Greens” to victory in the Mediterranean Games in Algiers in 1975, where they triumphed over France with a score of 3-2 after extra time. Three years later, he guided the team to a gold medal at the African Games in 1978, defeating Nigeria 1-0 at the Olympic Stadium of July 5th in Algiers.
Additionally, he was part of the technical staff for the Algerian national team during the 1982 World Cup held in Spain.
Born on August 12, 1936, in Sétif, Rachid Mekhloufi began his football journey with USMF Sétif (1950-1952) in the junior category before moving to another Sétif club, USMS (1952-1954), as a senior player.
In 1954, he ventured to Europe, joining AS Saint-Étienne in France, and briefly played for Servette Genève in Switzerland in 1962.
He returned to AS Saint-Étienne that same year, spending six more years there before finishing his career with SEC Bastia in France during his final two seasons.
It is noteworthy that Rachid Mekhloufi joined the FLN team in April 1958, alongside fellow players such as Mohamed Maouche, Abdelhamid Zouba, and Saïd Amara, to amplify the call for national liberation across the globe.
