Rabah Madjer, Algerian superstar of major firsts
Madjer earned his status playing for Porto (inset). PHOTOS/AGENCIES
BY ABDUL-NASSER SSEMUGABI
Samuel Eto’o, Didier Drogba, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah make it look normal for an African player to score in the Uefa Champions League final. But 33 years ago, this was only a dream until Algerian Rabah Mustapha Madjer broke the jinx with a delicious back-heel against Bayern Munich in the 1987 final in Vienna.
Madjer was born in the coastal city of Algiers in 1958, four years after Algeria won independence from the French. Being Muslim, his family had been deprived of decent jobs by the French rule, confining them to more poverty.
Ironically, when he sought to escape from the shackles of poverty, he went to France, joining Racing Nationale in 1983.
Before Espana ’82, some Algerian players such as Mustapha Dahleb and Hacène Lalmas played for French clubs but their progress was limited because they were not allowed to join before they were 25 years old. But Madjer demanded to go pro at 24.
This was revolting against authorities. Madjer stuck to his guns and even threatened to quit the national team. The conservative authorities could not afford losing such a talent and future star. They yielded to his demands.
But the bigger clubs in Europe had pulled out and Madjer started out at Racing in 1983. He was on a move towards an illustrious career for which the nation would thank him later.
He scored 20 goals in 27 appearances for Racing in Ligue 2 in the 1983-84 season. After a loan spell at Ligue 1 side Tours for the 1984-85 season, Porto’s new coach Artur Jorge signed him. Within three seasons, Madjer was living his dream.
The Johan Cruyff admirer became a darling to the Portistars, thanks to his playing style and output.
Legendary back-heel
His first three seasons at Porto yielded 26 league goals in 50 matches as the Portuguese giants won the 1986 and 88 league titles. Rivals Benifica intervened in 1987, but Porto got the best of all honours, the European Cup/Champions League title, thanks greatly to Madjer’s starring role in the final.
In the Vienna final, Bayern were leading with Ludwig Kögl’s 25th minute goal. Underdogs Porto played a conservative 4-5-1 with Paulo Futre the lone striker.
Madjer had two shots on goal and one of them hit the bar. The pressure finally paid off in the 77th minute, when Brazilian Juary crossed the ball behind Madjer, whose back was to the goal. In a split second, the Algeria combined ingenuity and intuition to score one of the greatest goals in the history of the competition – a deft back heel – that left the Germans gaping and the Portuguese hoping 1-1.
Three minutes later, Madjer turned provider, assisting Juary to score on the 80th. Bayern did not bounce back.
Once more Madjer proved a man of the big occasion, reminding the Germans that his World Cup heroics against them five years earlier was not a one-off.
The great Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, who equalised after Madjer’s opener against Germany at Espana ‘82, had left Bayern for Inter Milan but his little brother Michael Rummenigge, Hans-Dieter Flick, the current Bayern coach, Dieter Hoenes and the legendary Lothar Matthäus, were among Madjer’s victims.
“It was a real explosion – I really didn’t expect to score from a back-heel in the final,” Madjer told Uefa mgazine in 2015.
“When Juary made the cross from the right, he pulled it back and the ball got deflected by a defender,” added Madjer.
“I was running to the near post, so I let the ball go between my legs and hit it with a back-heel because there was a defender on the line. If I had controlled the ball, I would never have scored that goal.”
That was the first goal by an African in the European Cup final. It was also Porto’s first European triumph and one by a Portuguese side since Benfica’s back-to-back victories in 1961 and 62.
Punishing Germany
No one could not risk their money on Algeria surviving West Germany at the 1982 World Cup in Spain.
The complacence of the Germans was inexcusable yet the gulf in pedigree was obvious. West Germany were the European champions. Algeria were losing Afcon semifinalists and World Cup debutants, who had benefitted from a tournament expanded to 24 teams.
But this Algerian team had played together since the 1978 All-Africa Games triumph and near-misses at the Afcon (1980 and 82). Their only task in Spain was showcasing their work on the global turf.
But the Germans refused to prepare for a match that was a foregone conclusion.
“We will dedicate our seventh goal to our wives, and the eighth to our dogs,” the experienced Paul Breitner was quoted pre-match. Another player joked about playing with a cigar in his mouth.
The manager Jupp Derwall was none the wiser, promising to “throw myself into the Mediterranean Sea if we lose this match.”
The Algerians thought this was a mind game but the Germans did not prepare at all. The manager had videos of Algeria’s games but did not show them fearing to be ridiculed.
Lakhdar Belloumi, who scored Algeria’s winner, would later say that the mocking was taken as “a slur on our population.”
The 42,500 spectators El Molinón, Gijon, watched a tight and tactical first half dominated by the Germans but the Algerians engaged a stronger gear in the second half, pouncing on the Germans’ scalps, with devastating counter-attacks.
In the 52nd minute, a beautiful through ball from Djamel Zidane freed Belloumi, who attempted to chip Harald Schumacher but the German goalie parried the ball, which found Madjer unmarked. The striker volleyed it at the back post, with the German defence scrambling.
The Germans piled pressure, and captain Karl-Heinze Rummenigge equalised in 67th minute. But a minute later, the Foxes were back in front, thanks to Belloumi, who completed a beautiful team goal. The stunned Germans lost it 2-1. This was second victory by an African nation at the World Cup.
“I still cannot believe that we have lost to Algeria,” Derwall said.
“This feels like the sinking of the Titanic,” one newspaper wrote.
However, in the final group match, West Germany conspired with Austria to eliminate Algeria who had beaten Chile 3-2 a day before. A West Germany win by one or two goals would put all the three teams on four points but would qualify Austria and West Germany and eliminate Algeria.
And when the Germans scored in 10 minutes, the rest was a shame to watch as both teams showed no interest in attacking each other. The match branded the “Disgrace of Gijón” was the reason Fifa ruled that the closing matches in a group must be played simultaneously.
The proud Fox
Like most Algerians born and bred in that era, Madjer was very patriotic, and could not wait to play for the national team at a major tournament. The moment came at the 1980 African Cup of Nations. They were hungry having missed the tournament for 12 years.
Madjer did not score but Belloumi, Tedj Bensaoula, with two goals apiece; Assad, and Hocine Benmiloudi starred as Algeria reached the final.
Algeria lost the final 3-0 to hosts Nigeria, but they returned home as heroes and dined with President Chadli Bendjedid.
Ten years later, when Algeria hosted the 1990 Afcon, the Foxes exacted revenge on Nigeria in ruthless style. Madjer opened Algeria’s fortunes with two goals in the 5-1 thrashing of 1988 finalists Nigeria. They won all the games to top Group A as Ivory Coast and Egypt dropped out.
The Foxes would again beat the Super Eagles 1-0 in the final, their first-ever Afcon triumph. The Algerians swept the honours: Madjer the tournament’s best player, his two teammates, including the top scorer Djamel Menad, followed in that order, above Nigeria’s Rashidi Yekini and Zambia’s Webster Chikabala.
After that emphatic 1986-87 season, Madjer won the African Player of the Year award but he was ineligible for the European Golden Ball (Ballon d’Ór) because it was exclusive to Europeans.
With four goals, Madjer was joint top scorer in the 1987-88 European Cup alongside five others, including the legendary Romanian Gheorghe Hagi.
Bigger clubs came calling: Inter Milan nearly signed him but a medical test revealed a past thigh injury. Cruyff also needed to take his admirer to Ajax. Bayern were also on the list. But he was loaned to Valencia between January and May 1988 before returning to Porto.
By the time Madjer packed his bags for Qatar, he had played his best football, won the highest honours and cemented his legacy as one of Africa’s best exports and the easily the best above the Sahara.
1987
Rabah Madjer was born on December 15, 1958, in Hussein Dey, Algeria.
HONOURS
Won 1990 Africa Cup of Nations.
Champions League 1987.
Champions League top scorer in 1988.
African Golden Ball in 1987.
Fifth best African player of the 20th century.
Best Arab player of the 20th century.
Golden Foot Award in Monaco 2011.
