Hassan Yebda (born 14 May 1984) is an Algerian professional footballer who plays for Granada CF in Spain and the Algeria national team, as a central midfielder.
During his professional career he played in France, Portugal, England, Italy and Spain, representing a host of clubs.
Yebda is a former French youth international and was part of the team that won the 2001 U-17 World Championship. He opted to play forAlgeria at senior level in August 2009, taking advantage of FIFA’s new ruling which allowed him to change his national allegiance despite being older than 21 years of age, and represented the latter national team at the 2010 World Cup and the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations.
Club career
France
Born in Saint-Maurice, Val-de-Marne, Yebda emerged through AJ Auxerre's youth system, but made no appearances for the first team during his stint, playing regularly for the reserves in the Championnat de France amateur.
In January 2006 he was loaned to Ligue 2's Stade Lavallois.[1] In the same month of the following year, Yebda was definitely released and moved to Le Mans UC72, making his Ligue 1 debut on 17 February 2007 in a 0–2 away loss against FC Sochaux-Montbéliard: brought on in the 70th minute he scored an own goal ten minutes later, in his only appearance of the season.
Benfica
In 2007–08 Yebda appeared regularly for Le Mans, helping the team achieve a comfortable ninth place in the league. On 29 May 2008 he signed a four-year contract with S.L. Benfica, on a free transfer.[2] A constant midfield fixture with the Lisbon and national powerhouse, he was voted the Portuguese League's Player of the Month in September and, in February 2009, he netted his first league goal for the Reds, in a 1–1 league draw at F.C. Porto.
Yebda made a move to Premier League side Portsmouth on 1 September 2009, on a season-long loan.[4] He scored his first goal for the club on 3 October, against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux Stadium, which was the winner in Portsmouth's first victory of the season;[5] his second came in a 2–1 away win against Burnley on 27 February 2010,[6] with Pompey being eventually relegated.
On 27 August 2010 Yebda was again loaned, joining Italian side S.S.C. Napoli in a season-long move.[7] On 21 November he scored his first goal for his new team, in a 2–1 home win against Bologna F.C. 1909 for the season's Coppa Italia;[8] on 4 July 2011, the player announced that he would not be returning to the Serie A team.
Granada
On 22 August 2011 Yebda joined Granada CF in Spain, signing a three-year contract with the La Liga club.[10] Five days later he made his official debut for the Andalusians, coming as a second-half substitute in a 0–1 home loss against Real Betis.[11]
Yebda's spell in Granada was greatly undermined by injury problems.
International career
Yebda represented France at youth levels, being part of the squad at the victorious 2001 FIFA U-17 World Championship tournament held in Trinidad and Tobago. As a senior, however, he switched allegiances to Algeria, first being picked for a match against Zambia in September 2009, where he did not play; he finally made his debut on 11 October, in a 3–1 win over Rwanda for the2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
Yebda was summoned for the Algerian squad at the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, playing (and starting) all the matches for the eventual semi-finalists. In June he was selected to the FIFA World Cup in South Africa, again playing all the games: during the tournament he partnered Medhi Lacen (another defensive midfielder) as the national team failed to score a goal, earning one point.
On 27 March 2011 Yebda scored his first goal for Algeria, in a 1–0 win against Morocco for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier, netting in the 6th minute from a penalty kick
 Yebda playing with Algeria in 2011 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Hassan Yebda | ||
| Date of birth | 14 May 1984 | ||
| Place of birth | Saint-Maurice, France | ||
| Height | 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Granada | ||
| Number | 8 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2000–2004 | Auxerre | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2004–2007 | Auxerre | 0 | (0) |
| 2006 | → Laval (loan) | 14 | (1) |
| 2007–2008 | Le Mans | 24 | (3) |
| 2008–2011 | Benfica | 25 | (1) |
| 2009–2010 | → Portsmouth (loan) | 18 | (2) |
| 2010–2011 | → Napoli (loan) | 29 | (0) |
| 2011– | Granada | 21 | (1) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2000–2001 | France U16 | 10 | (0) |
| 2001–2002 | France U17 | 19 | (2) |
| 2002–2003 | France U18 | 14 | (1) |
| 2003–2004 | France U19 | 13 | (0) |
| 2009– | Algeria | 19 | (2) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 7 January 2013.
† Appearances (Goals).
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 9 October 2011 | |||
