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| Intro | Algerian footballer |
| Is | Athlete Football player Association football player |
| From | Algeria |
| Type | Sports |
| Gender | male |
| Birth |
7 February 1975， Algiers |
| Age | 45 years |
Rafik Saïfi (Arabic: رفيق صايفي; born 7 February 1975 in Algiers) is a retired Algerian professional football player.
Career
Saifi began his football career at CM Bordj El Kifane. It was there where he got a name for himself as a goal machine at the age of 17. He went on to represent two other small teams IRB Sougueur and IB Khémis El Khechna before making his big move to MC Alger in his home city. There he helped the team capture the Algerian league title before moved to France in 1999 at the age of 24 to join Troyes AC. He stayed with Troyes for five seasons， including the 2003-04 season after their relegation to Ligue 2. Moving back into Ligue 1 with a transfer to newly promoted FC Istres in 2004， Saïfi played 35 matches before leaving following the club’s relegation. In 2005 he joined AC Ajaccio， also newly promoted， and suffered a third relegation in four years.Saïfi moved to FC Lorient， yet another newly promoted club， in the summer of 2006. Rafik started the 2007-2008 campaign quickly scoring 4 goals in 4 games and signed than on 8 August 2009 a contract with Al Khor.
Al Khor SC
On 9 August 2009， Saïfi joined Al-Khor on a one-year contract with the club paying a transfer of fee of €500，000 to FC Lorient. Saïfi scored his first goal for the club on his league debut in a match against Al-Gharafa on 12 September 2009. On 22 October 2009， he scored his second league goal， this time against Al-Kharitiyath.
FC Istres
On 23 January 2010， it was announced that Saïfi would be loaned out to Ligue 2 side FC Istres until the end of the season. The move was made official on 2 February 2010.
On 4 November 2010， Saïfi signed a contract with Amiens SC.
International career
Saïfi made his debut for the Algerian National Team on 5 June 1998， in a friendly against Bulgaria， coming on as a substitute in the 65th minute. On 28 February 1999， he scored his first international goal in the 2000 African Cup of Nations qualifier against Liberia which ended as 1-1 draw. He scored his second goal in the following game， a 4-1 win in the return leg against Liberia.
Saïfi was called up by Algeria head coach Nasser Sandjak to the Algerian National Team that was taking part in the 2000 African Cup of Nations in Ghana and Nigeria. In the first game against DR Congo， Saïfi started the game and was subbed off in the 70th minute， with the game ending in a goalless draw. In the second group game against Gabon， Saïfi was left out of the starting line-up and was a substitute on the bench but he did take part as he came on in the 77th minute， replacing his Troyes AC teammate Farid Ghazi. Algeria won the game 3-1. He did not take part in the final group game against South Africa. In the quarter-final against Cameroon， Saïfi was left on the bench again but came on in the 51st minute with Algeria losing 2-0. The team managed to pull a goal back in the 90th minute but lost the game 2-1.
Saïfi was a member of the Algerian team that participated in the 2002 African Cup of Nations in Mali and started all three group games against Nigeria， Liberia and hosts Mali. Despite the fact that Algeria failed to make it out of the group stage， Saïfi put in a “best eleven” performance and was included in the team of the tournament.
Saïfi was made his third trip to the African Cup after being included by Algeria manager Rabah Saadane in the team list for the 2010 African Cup of Nations in Angola. He started in Algeria’s first game against Malawi， a 3-0 loss， but was subbed off in the 63rd minute by Abdelmalek Ziaya. He started the second game against Mali， a 1-0 win， on the bench and came on in the 80th minute for Abdelkader Ghezzal.
After the world cup 2010， he clearly announced through the Tunisian TV channel “Nessma”， that he was done with his international career.
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Assault incident
After a disappointing campaign by Algeria in the 2010 FIFA World Cup in which the team received much domestic criticism， failing to make it beyond the group stage， a controversial incident occurred at the end of the USA-Algeria game in which the USA secured victory in the last minute. Saïfi spotted journalist Asma Halimi， a female reporter who had written an article criticizing him in the newspaper Competition. Saïfi and the journalist had previously been in a dispute because the journalist had translated and published an interview Saïfi had given. He slapped her across the face; Halini responded by striking him back in the face， catching her nail on his lip. Halimi stated she would file a complaint against Saïfi with governing body FIFA and the Algerian FA.
National team statistics
| 1998 | 3 | 0 |
| 1999 | 5 | 2 |
| 2000 | 10 | 4 |
| 2001 | 5 | 3 |
| 2002 | 3 | 0 |
| 2003 | 3 | 0 |
| 2004 | 3 | 0 |
| 2005 | 4 | 2 |
| 2006 | 2 | 1 |
| 2007 | 7 | 3 |
| 2008 | 5 | 1 |
| 2009 | 7 | 2 |
| 2010 | 7 | 0 |
International goals
| 1. | 28 February 1999 | Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex， Monrovia， Liberia | Liberia | 1 – 0 | 1 – 1 | 2000 African Cup of Nations qualification |
| 2. | 9 April 1999 | Stade 19 Mai 1956， Annaba， Algeria | Liberia | 3 – 0 | 4 – 1 | 2000 African Cup of Nations qualification |
| 3. | 11 October 2000 | Stade 19 Mai 1956， Annaba， Algeria | Cape Verde | 2 – 0 | 2 – 0 | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 4. | 3 June 2000 | Stade 19 Mai 1956， Annaba， Algeria | Guinea | 1 – 0 | 4 – 0 | Friendly match |
| 5. | 2 – 0 | |||||
| 6. | 16 June 2000 | Stade 19 Mai 1956， Annaba， Algeria | Senegal | 1 – 1 | 1 – 1 | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 7. | 1 June 2001 | Stade 19 Mai 1956， Annaba， Algeria | Angola | 1 – 0 | 3 – 2 | 2002 African Cup of Nations qualification |
| 8. | 2 – 1 | |||||
| 9. | 6 December 2001 | Stade 5 Juillet 1962， Algiers， Algeria | Ghana | 1 – 1 | 1 – 1 | Friendly match |
| 10. | 9 February 2005 | Stade 5 Juillet 1962， Algiers， Algeria | Burkina Faso | 1 – 0 | 3 – 0 | Friendly match |
| 11. | 2 – 0 | |||||
| 12. | 11 November 2006 | Luynes， Aix-en-Provence， France | Burkina Faso | 1 – 2 | 1 – 2 | Friendly match |
| 13. | 7 February 2007 | Stade 5 Juillet 1962， Algiers， Algeria | Libya | 1 – 1 | 2 – 1 | Friendly match |
| 14. | 2 June 2007 | Estádio da Várzea， Praia， Cape Verde | Cape Verde | 2 – 1 | 2 – 2 | 2008 African Cup of Nations qualification |
| 15. | 9 September 2007 | Independence Stadium， Bakau， Gambia | Gambia | 1 – 0 | 1 – 2 | 2008 African Cup of Nations qualification |
| 16. | 5 September 2008 | Stade Mustapha Tchaker， Blida， Algeria | Senegal | 2 – 1 | 3 – 2 | 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF) |
| 17. | 20 June 2009 | Independence Stadium， Chililabombwe， Zambia | Zambia | 2 – 0 | 0 – 2 | 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF) |
| 18. | 6 September 2009 | Stade Mustapha Tchaker， Blida， Algeria | Zambia | 1 – 0 | 1 – 0 | 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF) |
Honours
Club
MC Alger
Algerian Championnat NationalWinner: 1998-99 Troyes AC
UEFA Intertoto CupWinner: 2001 Amiens SC
Championnat NationalRunner-up: 2010–11
Individual
DZFoot d’Or – 2007DZFoot d’Or – 2008Algerian Ballon d’Or (Ballon d’Or El Haddaf) – 2008
