- Medhi Lacen
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Mehdi Lacen 
Personal information Full name Mehdi Gregory Giuseppe Lacen[1] Date of birth 15 May 1984 Place of birth Paris, France Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) Playing position Defensive midfielder Club information Current club Getafe Number 6 Youth career Versailles Laval Senior career* Years Team Apps† (Gls)† 2003–2004 Laval 5 (0) 2004–2005 Valence 35 (0) 2005–2008 Alavés 86 (0) 2008–2011 Racing Santander 100 (4) 2011– Getafe 10 (0) National team‡ 2010– Algeria 12 (0) * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 6 November 2011.
† Appearances (Goals).
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 13 November 2011Mehdi Gregory Giuseppe Lacen (born 15 May 1984) is an Algerian footballer who plays for Getafe CF in the Spanish first division, as a defensive midfielder.
Contents
Club career
Born in Paris, France, to an Algerian father and an Italian mother,[2] Lacen started his professional career with modest outfits of Stade Lavallois and ASOA Valence. In 2005–06, he moved to Spain, joining Deportivo Alavés which would eventually be relegated. He made his La Liga debut on 15 October 2005, in a 1–1 home draw against Villarreal CF.
After two second division seasons as an undisputed starter for the Basque, Lacen moved to Racing de Santander on 15 August 2008, on a three-year link.[3] He competed throughout the campaign for first-choice status with French Peter Luccin, also newly signed.
In the 2009–10 season, as Racing finished in 16th position, Lacen became an automatic first-choice (Luccin returned to Real Zaragoza from his loan), scoring three times, namely in a 3–2 home win over Xerez CD, on 13 December 2009.
In late February 2011, with his Racing Santander contract expiring in June, Lacen signed a pre-contract with fellow top level outfit Getafe CF.[4] On 25 May, he made the move official, signing a four-year contract with the Madrid outskirts club.[5]
International career
Although French-born, Lacen had the possibility of representing Algeria through his fathers' origins. In 2006, he was called-up by Jean-Michel Cavalli to the national side for a friendly against Gabon, but did not play because of an administrative problem.[6]
On 12 December 2009, the president of the Algerian FA, Mohamed Raouraoua, announced that Lacen would be called up to the Algerian squad for the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations in Angola.[7] However, five days later, head coach Rabah Saadane announced that the player would not participate in the continental competition because of his wife's pregnancy.[8]
On 12 February 2010, Racing Santander's website announced that Lacen was chosen for Algeria's upcoming friendly against Serbia.[9] On March 3, he finally made his debut, in a 0–3 loss.[10]
In June 2010, Lacen was selected to the FIFA World Cup in South Africa, playing all the games. During the tournament, he partnered Hassan Yebda (another defensive midfielder), as the national team failed to score a goal, earning one point.
Personal
Lacen's younger brother, Michael, is also a footballer. He represented, amongst other clubs, FC Versailles.[11]
References
- ^ "List of Players" (PDF). FIFA. http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/tournament/competition/01/22/85/78/fwc_2010_squadlists.pdf. Retrieved 13 July 2010.
- ^ Mehdi Lacen rejoindra l’équipe nationale (Mehdi Lacen will join the national team); TSA, 11 December 2009 (French)
- ^ Lacen leaves Alavés for Racing; UEFA.com, 15 August 2008
- ^ Mehdi Lacen devrait rejoindre Getafe (Mehdi Lacen should join Getafe); DZ Foot, 26 February 2011 (French)
- ^ Lacen, J'ai signé pour 4 ans à Getafe (Lacen, I've signed with Getafe for four years); DZ Foot, 25 May 2011 (French)
- ^ Mehdi Lacen sélectionné (Mehdi Lacen called); DZ Foot, 3 August 2006 (French)
- ^ Raouraoua annonce l'arrivée de Lacen et Ziaya (Raouraoua announces arrivals of Lacen and Ziaya); DZ Foot, 12 December 2009 (French)
- ^ Sâadane explique ses choix et ses objectifs (Sâadane explains picks and goals); DZ Foot (French)
- ^ Lacen convoqué pour Algérie-Serbie (amical) (Lacen chosen for Algeria-Serbia (friendly))); DZ Foot, 12 February 2010 (French)
- ^ Amical Algérie-Serbie: La composition algérienne (Algeria-Serbia friendly: the national team's lineup); DZ Foot, 3 March 2010 (French)
- ^ Michael Lacen, au nom du frère (Michael Lacen, his brother's name); Le Parisien, 12 December 2009 (French)
External links
- Getafe official profile (Spanish)
- Medhi Lacen French league stats at LFP.fr (French)
- BDFutbol profile
- 2010 FIFA World Cup profile
- Medhi Lacen at National-Football-Teams.com
- Medhi Lacen – FIFA competition record
- Transfermarkt profile
• 2 Bougherra • 3 Belhadj • 4 Yahia (c) • 5 Halliche • 6 Mansouri • 7 Boudebouz • 8 Lacen • 9 Ghezzal • 10 Saïfi • 11 Djebbour • 12 Bellaïd • 13 Matmour • 14 Laïfaoui • 15 Ziani • 16 Chaouchi • 17 Guedioura • 18 Medjani • 19 Yebda • 20 Mesbah • 21 Kadir • 22 Abdoun • 23 M'Bolhi • Coach: Saâdane
Getafe CF – current squad 1 Ustari · 2 Cata Díaz · 3 Mané · 4 M. Torres · 5 Lopo · 6 Lacen · 7 Miku · 8 Sarabia · 9 Colunga · 10 Gavilán · 11 Mosquera · 12 León · 13 Codina · 14 Albertazzi · 15 Rafa · 16 Ríos · 17 D. Castro · 18 Masilela · 19 Güiza · 20 Valera · 21 Míchel · 22 Casquero (c) · 23 Rodríguez · 24 R. Pérez · 25 Moyà · 28 Barrada · – Pintos · Manager: Luis García
Categories:- 1984 births
- Living people
- People from Paris
- Algerian people of Italian descent
- French people of Algerian descent
- French people of Italian descent
- Algerian footballers
- French footballers
- Association football midfielders
- Ligue 2 players
- Stade Lavallois players
- ASOA Valence players
- La Liga footballers
- Deportivo Alavés footballers
- Racing de Santander footballers
- Getafe CF footballers
- Algeria international footballers
- 2010 FIFA World Cup players
- Algerian expatriate footballers
- Expatriate footballers in Spain
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