Habib Bellaid
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27 January 2010
Habib Bellaïd
Born March 28, 1986 in Bobigny, Île-de-France) is a French footballer of Tunisian descent currently playing for German club Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga. Habib began his career playing for his local side Red Star Saint-Ouen. During his time as a youth player there, he was teammates with Abou Diaby. In 1999, he was selected to attend the Clairefontaine academy. There, he trained alongside Diaby, Hatem Ben Arfa, and Ricardo Faty and often spent the week training there, while playing with Red Star on the weekends. Following his stint at Clairefontaine, he joined RC Strasbourg. Habib joined Strasbourg in 2002 and quickly asserted himself into the youth academy. He was apart of the Strasbourg youth squad that made it to the finals of the Coupe Gambardella in 2003, before losing to 4-1 to Rennes.
He made his professional debut on November 9, 2004 in a Coupe de la Ligue match against Troyes AC starting the match in the left back position. Strasbourg won the match 3-1 and eventually went on to win the cup. That league cup appearance was his only appearance that season.
Habib was subsequently promoted to the senior squad for the 2005-06 season. He proceeded to make his Ligue 1 debut on September 17, 2005 in a match against RC Lens coming on as a substitute in the 70th minute. The match ended in a 1-1 draw. He appeared consistently as a starter for the rest of the season. He scored his first professional goal and only goal that season in the UEFA Cup against Roma at the Stadio Olimpico. Unfortunately for Habib, due to primarily focusing on their European aspirations, Strasbourg finished 2nd from bottom, thus being relegated to Ligue 2. The following season, Strasbourg achieved promotion back to Ligue 1 with Habib playing in 31 matches and scoring 2 goals. His return to Ligue 1 was both positive and negative as Habib's performances gained the attention of several clubs, most notably Italian side Roma and Spanish giants Real Madrid , but the club still suffered relegation, which led the player to ponder his future.
On July 4, 2008, it was announced that Habib and Strasbourg had agreed to a move to German club Eintracht Frankfurt. The player agreed to a four year contract, while the transfer fee was priced at €2.5 million. He was given the number 19 shirt and made his Bundesliga debut in their opening league match against Hertha Berlin. Eintracht would lose the match 0-2. Habib was since made 11 more appearances in the league.
International career
Habib has been a France youth international since childhood receiving caps with all of France's youth teams beginning with the U-15s all the way to the U-21s. He has yet to be called up to the France national football team. Habib is also eligible to play for the Tunisia national football team, subject to FIFA approval.
| Date of birth | March 28, 1986 | |
| Place of birth | Bobigny, France | |
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | |
| Playing position | Defender | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Eintracht Frankfurt | |
| Number | 19 | |
| Youth career | ||
| 1994–2002 1999–2002 2002–2005 |
Red Star 93 INF Clairefontaine RC Strasbourg |
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Senior career |
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| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 2005–2008 2008– |
RC Strasbourg Eintracht Frankfurt |
79 (2) 12 (0) |
| National team | ||
| 2006–2008 | France U-21 | 09 (1) |