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Sources within the Palestine Football Association confirmed to Football Palestine last week that former Algeria international Rafik Saïfi was one of the few foreign names connected with the senior national team job.
Football fans of a certain age will remember Saifi for his playing career. He amassed 64 caps and 18 goals for the Algerian national team between 1998 and 2010. In that time, he played in three African Cup of Nations tournaments and played a critical role in getting Algeria back to the World Cup in 2010 after a 24 year absence.
After retiring, Saïfi moved into punditry and can be seen in-studio analyzing matches for beIN Sports.
The former FC Lorient forward’s managerial resume is somewhat thin. He was an assistant manager to four different managers at MC Algiers for a tumultuous two year period between 2017 and 2019. In that time he took charge of the team in a caretaker role for six games in 2018 in which registered a record of 3W-1D-2L. According to Transfermarkt he has only has an A-License and not the necessary Pro License needed to lead senior national teams.
Football Palestine understands that Rafik Saïfi tried to back-channel and lobby for the position through several national team players who reside in Qatar. It is unclear how seriously his candidacy was taken but it seems the modest pay and difficult working conditions were not a deterrent.
Had he been hired Saïfi would have been the third Algerian to assume the post following Noureddine Ould Ali (2018-2021) and Moussa Bezzaz (2009-2011).
