Farid El Melali

Farid El Melali (Arabic: فريد الملالي; born 5 May 1997) is an Algerian professional footballer who plays for Angers.

Farid El Melali
El Melali with Angers in 2020
Personal information
Date of birth (1997-05-05) 5 May 1997
Place of birth Blida, Algeria
Height 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 Angers
Number 28
Youth career
2013–2016 Paradou AC
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2018 Paradou AC 45 (8)
2018– Angers 67 (5)
2018–2022 Angers II 8 (2)
2022 → Pau (loan) 17 (1)
International career‡
2015–2016 Algeria U20 6 (4)
2017–2018 Algeria U23 9 (2)
2017–2018 Algeria 3 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 30 September 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 4 May 2020

Formed at Paradou AC, he signed for Angers in 2018 where he played in Ligue 1 and Ligue 2, also being loaned to Pau in the latter in 2022. He played three games for Algeria in 2017 and 2018.

Club career

Born in Blida, El Melali began his career with Paradou AC. On 9 August 2018, he signed a four-year deal with French Ligue 1 side Angers SCO, having previously been close to a move to RC Lens and Algiers duo USM Alger and MC Alger.[1] Only used as a substitute in his first season, he scored his first goal for the club on 24 August 2019 in the fourth minute of a 3–0 home win over FC Metz,[2] and followed it a week later with another goal in a 2–0 victory against Dijon FCO also at the Stade Raymond Kopa;[3] the following 19 January he netted twice in the first half of a 4–1 win at FC Rouen in the last 32 of the Coupe de France.[4]

In May 2020, El Melali signed an extension until 2023.[5] He netted just once in 17 games in 2020–21, when again he was mainly a substitute; this goal came in a 3–0 home win over Dijon on 9 May 2021.[6]

On 7 January 2022, El Melali joined Pau FC of Ligue 2 for the second half of the 2021–22 season.[7] He scored once in 17 games, equalising in a 2–1 comeback win at home to Amiens SC on 5 March.[8]

In June 2023, with Angers now relegated to Ligue 2, El Melali signed a new two-year contract.[9]

International career

El Melali made his debut for Algeria on 18 August 2017 in a 1–1 draw with Libya in 2018 African Nations Championship qualification, as a 75th-minute substitute for Mohamed Madani.[10]

Personal life

In May 2020, El Melali was seen masturbating in the courtyard of his block of flats while looking at a woman who lived on the ground floor. He was arrested and charged by French police with public masturbation.[11] He later apologized for his behavior, as he wrote: "In the past few days, I've lived through very hard and stressful period, whether mentally or physically, I've been criticized and toughly judged. I understand how hard it was for the people who have received the news, because no one can forgive this kind of behavior".[12]

In July 2020, El Melali was arrested for the same offence, the second in three months.[13] In October, he was given a six-month prison sentence suspended for 18 months, fined €2,000 and made to pay compensation of €1,600 and €2,300 to two victims.[14]

References
  1. "Officiel : El Mellali pour 4 ans au SCO Angers" [Official: El Melali to SCO Angers for four years] (in French). DZ Foot. 9 August 2018. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  2. "Angers beats Metz 3-0 to climb to 4th in France". Washington Times. 24 August 2019. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  3. Oludare, Shina (1 September 2019). "Muzinga scores an own goal as Dijon loses to El Melali's Angers". Goal. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  4. Benarbia, Yassine (21 January 2020). "Coupe de France : El Melali retrouve son punch avec Angers" [Coupe de France: El Melali gets his groove back with Angers]. La Gazette du Fennec (in French). Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  5. "Angers prolonge Farid El-Melali" [Angers extend with Farid El Melali]. L'Équipe (in French). 4 May 2020. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  6. "El Melali signe son premier but cette saison" [El Melali scores his first goal this season]. La Gazette du Fennec (in French). 9 May 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  7. "Officiel : El Melali signe au Pau FC" [Official: El Melali signs for Pau FC] (in French). DZ Foot. 8 January 2022. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  8. "Football - Ligue 2 : Pau est revenu de loin contre Amiens" [Football - Ligue 2: Pau came from behind against Amiens]. La République des Pyrenées (in French). 4 March 2022. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  9. "Capelle, Diony et El Melali prolongent à Angers" [Capelle, Diony and El Melali extend at Angers]. L'Équipe (in French). 21 June 2023. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  10. "Élim. CHAN 2018 : Libye 1-1 Algérie (Fin)" [ANC 2018 qual.: Libya 1-1 Algeria (result)] (in French). DZ Foot. 18 August 2017. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  11. "Angers' El Melali charged with sexual exhibition". ESPN.com. 5 May 2020.
  12. "Algerian Footballer Farid El Melali Arrested for Masturbating in Front of His Neighbors!". albawaba.com. 7 May 2020.
  13. "Angers forward Farid El Melali arrested after second public masturbation charge in just three months". Talksport. 9 July 2020. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  14. Mercier, Cyprien (29 October 2020). "Angers-SCO. Exhibitions sexuelles : Farid El Melali condamné à six mois de prison avec sursis" [Angers-SCO. Sexual exhibitionism: Farid El Melali given six-month suspended sentence]. Ouest-France (in French). Retrieved 5 February 2021.
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