# FLN football team

The FLN football team (in Arabic: فريق جبهة التحرير الوطني لكرة القدم, 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.

## 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 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). 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. There was one setback at the Franco-Swiss border with the arrest of Hassen Chabri of AS Monaco and Mohamed Maouche of Stade Reims. Mohamed Maouche wanted to meet the group in Lausanne, Switzerland, but as he was still in the French army, and had been held up at French borders for a long time, he had to back out when information about the runaway players was published, for fear of being stopped at the borders. He preferred to return to France, where he was spared a court-martial. Hassen Chabri was arrested in Menton on the French-Italian border, where he was the subject of a court hearing. Like most Algerians arrested at the border, he was suspected of smuggling arms and money for the FLN. As he was unable to give the police a convincing explanation, he was imprisoned in Marseille and later convicted of undermining state security. However, he served his sentence in a prison camp in Algiers.
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 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.
The team existed from 1958 to 6 June 1962 when the "national" team was officially disbanded 1962, 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, 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 5 July 1962.

### ALN Team

A year before the formation of the FLN team, two former Algerian players and coaches decided to train in Tunis, the first selection that would represent Algeria, they are Ahmed Benelfoul and Habib Draoua. In 1956, the team was formed. And in May 1957, the team was approved by the National Liberation Front and decided that it would represent the National Liberation Army as there were players who came from the maquis. The team is mainly composed of amateur players playing in Algeria and Tunisia. Between May 1957 and April 1958, they played many matches in the Maghreb and the Middle East to support the independence cause; the team is credited with 42 victories. This selection will contribute to the birth of the formation of the FLN Team a year after its creation.

### FLN Team's Unique Playing Style

The FLN was a unique football 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.

## Player selection

| Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Club prior to FLN (Club after FLN) |
| 1GK | Abderrahman Ibrir | (1919-11-10)10 November 1919 | Marseille (retired) |
| 1GK | Ali Doudou | (1927-01-05)5 January 1927 | USM Bône (USM Annaba) |
| 1GK | Abderrahmane Boubekeur | (1931-03-13)13 March 1931 | Monaco (MC Alger) |
| 2DF | Mustapha Zitouni | (1928-10-19)19 October 1928 | Monaco (VS Chartres) |
| 2DF | Chérif Bouchache | (1929-05-08)8 May 1929 | Le Havre (JSM Skikda) |
| 2DF | Mohamed Soukhane | (1931-10-12)12 October 1931 | Le Havre |
| 2DF | Abdallah Settati | (1932-04-10)10 April 1932 | Bordeaux (unknown) |
| 2DF | Smaïn Ibrir | (1933-02-28)28 February 1933 | Le Havre (retired) |
| 2DF | Dahmane Defnoun | (1936-05-08)8 May 1936 | Angers |
| 2DF | Khaldi Hammadi | unknown | Stade Tunisien (unknown) |
| 3MF | Mohamed Boumezrag (player-manager) | (1921-06-13)13 June 1921 | Colmar (retired) |
| 3MF | Saïd Hadad | (1922-08-30)30 August 1922 | Toulon (retired) |
| 3MF | Mokhtar Arribi | (1924-02-24)24 February 1924 | Avignon (retired) |
| 3MF | Abdelaziz Ben Tifour | (1927-07-25)25 July 1927 | Monaco (USM Alger) |
| 3MF | Hassen Chabri | (1931-04-25)25 April 1931 | Monaco (CS Hammam-Lif) |
| 3MF | Amar Rouaï | (1932-03-09)9 March 1932 | Angers |
| 3MF | Boudjemaa Bourtal | (1933-08-22)22 August 1933 | AS Béziers (retired) |
| 3MF | Kaddour Bekhloufi | (1934-06-07)7 June 1934 | Monaco (USM Bel Abbès) |
| 3MF | Ali Benfadah | (1935-01-10)10 January 1935 | Angers |
| 3MF | Rachid Mekhloufi | (1936-08-12)12 August 1936 | Saint-Étienne (Servette) |
| 3MF | Abdelkader Zerrar | (1934-01-10)10 January 1934 | CS Hammam Lif (unknown) |
| 4FW | Abdelhamid Bouchouk | (1927-04-14)14 April 1927 | Toulouse |
| 4FW | Hamid Zouba | (1930-06-08)8 June 1930 | Chamois Niortais (Grenchen) |
| 4FW | Saïd Brahimi | (1931-03-17)17 March 1931 | Toulouse (JSM Skikda) |
| 4FW | Abdelhamid Kermali | (1931-04-24)24 April 1931 | Lyon (USM Sétif) |
| 4FW | Hocine Bouchache | (1932-04-20)20 April 1932 | Le Havre |
| 4FW | Abdelkader Mazouz | (1932-08-06)6 August 1932 | Nîmes (La Chaux-de-Fonds) |
| 4FW | Saïd Amara | (1933-03-11)11 March 1933 | AS Béziers (Bordeaux) |
| 4FW | Amokrane Oualiken | (1933-04-06)6 April 1933 | Nîmes (MC Alger) |
| 4FW | Abdelkrim Kerroum | (1936-03-25)25 March 1936 | AS Troyes-Savinienne |
| 4FW | Mohamed Maouche | (1936-04-24)24 April 1936 | Reims (Red Star) |
| 4FW | Abderrahmane Soukhane | (1936-11-13)13 November 1936 | Le Havre |
| 4FW | Ahmed Oudjani | (1937-03-19)19 March 1937 | Lens |
| 4FW | Mohamed Bourricha | unknown | Nîmes (unknown) |