SARCELLES: Riyad Mahrez chose to play for Algeria rather than France, where he was born, in a tribute to his late father, the African player of the year’s brother said.
Propelled to global renown by Leicester City’s amazing run to Premier League glory, the 25-year-old will be one of the most watched stars at the Cup of African Nations where Algeria start against Zimbabwe on Sunday.
Once considered too small for professional football, he will be one of the biggest names at the tournament in Gabon.
Three years ago, Mahrez was making his debut for Leicester in England’s second tier Championship having played for Sarcelles, the French town where he was born.
He only made his debut for Algeria in May 2014 a few months after declaring that he wanted to play for the African nation aroiund the same time as serious riots in Sarcelles.
At just 1.78 metres (5 feet 10 inches) and a sinewy 70 kilos (154 pounds) nobody at Sarcelles imagined he could soar to such heady prodessional heights.
At the age of 18, Mahrez was “frustrated” but determined when many of his Sarcelles teammates had signed professional terms, according to Hayel Mbemba, a teaching assistant at Chantereine school in the Paris suburb where Mahrez was a pupil.
