Footballer (born 1998)
Houssem Aouar
???? ????
Aouar in a press conference with
Algeria
in 2024
|
|
Full name
|
Houssem-Eddine Chaabane Aouar
|
---|
Date of birth
|
(
1998-06-30
)
30 June 1998
(age 25)
|
---|
Place of birth
|
Lyon
, France
|
---|
Height
|
1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
[1]
|
---|
Position(s)
|
Midfielder
|
---|
|
Current team
|
Roma
|
---|
Number
|
22
|
---|
|
2006?2009
|
AC Villeurbanne
|
---|
2009?2016
|
Lyon
|
---|
|
Years
|
Team
|
Apps
|
(
Gls
)
|
---|
2015?2017
|
Lyon B
|
22
|
(4)
|
---|
2016?2023
|
Lyon
|
179
|
(30)
|
---|
2023?
|
Roma
|
16
|
(4)
|
---|
|
2014
|
France U17
|
1
|
(0)
|
---|
2017?2021
|
France U21
|
17
|
(4)
|
---|
2020
|
France
|
1
|
(0)
|
---|
2023?
|
Algeria
|
12
|
(3)
|
---|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 21:06, 26 May 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 10 June 2024
|
Houssem-Eddine Chaabane Aouar
(
Arabic
:
???? ????? ????? ????
; born 30 June 1998) is a professional
footballer
who plays as a
midfielder
for
Serie A
club
Roma
and the
Algeria national team
.
Born in France, he made one appearance for his
country of birth
before
switching
his allegiance to Algeria. He made his debut for the latter in June 2023, and represented the national team at the
2023 Africa Cup of Nations
.
Early life
[
edit
]
Houssem-Eddine Chaabane Aouar
[2]
was born on 30 June 1998 in
Lyon
, Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes,
[3]
to parents from
Beni Saf
in Algeria.
[4]
He grew up in
Villeurbane
.
[5]
Club career
[
edit
]
Lyon
[
edit
]
Aouar joined the
Olympique Lyonnais Academy
in 2009 at the age of 11.
[
citation needed
]
He signed a three-year professional contract at
Lyon
in July 2016. He made his first team debut in on 16 February 2017 in a 1?4 away win over
AZ Alkmaar
in the first-leg match of the round of 32 of the knockout phase of the
UEFA Europa League
, replacing
Sergi Darder
after 84 minutes.
[6]
Aouar scored his first goal for Lyon's first team a week later in the second-leg match against AZ Alkmaar
at
Parc Olympique Lyonnais
, which Lyon won 7?1.
[7]
He made his
Ligue 1
debut by starting in the away match against
Bastia
on 16 April 2017, but the match was abandoned at half-time with the score at 0?0. A win was given to Lyon three weeks later.
[8]
He was nominated for the Golden Boy award in July 2018.
[9]
At the beginning of the 2017?18 season, despite having played only five competitive matches for Lyon's first team since he joined the club, Aouar was given the symbolic number 8 (having previously been worn by club legend
Juninho
) left free when
Corentin Tolisso
left the club for
Bayern Munich
in June 2017.
[10]
On 11 December 2019, Aouar scored a goal against
RB Leipzig
in a
Champions League
group stage match
[11]
helping Lyon to secure their way into the Champions League round of 16. His side later upset both
Juventus
and
Manchester City
to reach the semi-finals, where they were beaten by
Bayern Munich
.
[12]
Roma
[
edit
]
On 11 June 2023, it was announced that Aouar had signed a five-year contract with
Serie A
club
Roma
.
[13]
[14]
International career
[
edit
]
France
[
edit
]
In 2014, Aouar was called up to the
France under-17 national team
, but only played one game. In 2019, he was a starter throughout
the UEFA European Under-21 Championship
for the
France under-21 national team
, eventually being eliminated by
Spain
in the semi-finals.
[15]
In November 2019, Aouar was called up to the
France national team
, but was unable to join the team due to suffering an injury. He was not replaced in the squad.
[16]
On 26 August 2020, Aouar received his first call-up for France to prepare for
2020?21 UEFA Nations League
matches against
Sweden
and
Croatia
in early September.
[17]
However, on 27 August, he tested positive for
COVID-19
during a regular test carried out by Lyon, amid its
pandemic in France
;
[18]
he was put into isolation for a fortnight and had to skip training for at least 10 to 15 days. Therefore, France decided to replace him with
Nabil Fekir
.
[19]
Aouar eventually made his France debut on 7 October 2020 in a 7?1
friendly
win over
Ukraine
.
[20]
Algeria
[
edit
]
In March 2023, Aouar switched his international allegiance from his birth to the football federation of the country of his parents, Algeria. In an interview with the
Algerian Football Federation
, he said, "the president held out his hand to me and it seemed like it was just meant to be. I had a second chance and I jumped on it." He also added that he "regretted" having played for France, saying that he felt he "hadn't made the best choice".
[21]
On 18 June 2023, he made his debut for
Algeria
against
Uganda
in the
African Cup of Nations qualification
match.
[22]
In December 2023, he was named in Algeria's squad for the
2023 Africa Cup of Nations
.
[23]
Style of play
[
edit
]
Aouar is a versatile
attacking midfielder
who can play anywhere in midfield, and has been praised for his excellent technical ability and calmness with the ball at his feet.
[24]
Personal life
[
edit
]
Aouar holds French and Algerian nationalities.
[25]
[26]
He holds
Juninho
and
Zinedine Zidane
as role models.
[27]
Career statistics
[
edit
]
Club
[
edit
]
- As of match played 26 May 2024
[28]
International
[
edit
]
- As of match played 10 June 2024
[29]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team
|
Year
|
Apps
|
Goals
|
France
|
2020
|
1
|
0
|
Total
|
1
|
0
|
Algeria
|
2023
|
6
|
2
|
2024
|
6
|
1
|
Total
|
12
|
3
|
Career total
|
13
|
3
|
Honours
[
edit
]
Lyon
Individual
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]