A native of Colmar, the Algerian international Ryad Boudebouz (31) returned on Saturday for the newspaper Progress on his choice to wear the jersey of Algeria rather than that of the France team. The former French U19 international who chose the Fennecs in 2010 says he is “Proud to wear this jersey”, but it does not deny France for all that.
“I grew up in a neighborhood when my parents came from Algeria to settle in France. When you hear your parents talk about how proud it would be for them if, one day, I came to play for Algeria… Even if we did everything in France, we have the roots of the country. It remains a part of us. We grew up with France and Algeria. My dad and mom were proud of that. […] That does not mean that, because we are going to play with our country of origin, we are denying France. Often people think so. But no. I am proud to be half French, half Algerian. It is a choice to be made, you just have to be proud of it and assume it. “ explained the 31-year-old attacking midfielder. The current player of AS Saint-Étienne was not selected by the Algerian coach Djamel Belmadi to play the CAN in Cameroon which began this Sunday.
