BELGIUM: SOCCER/FOOTBALL - Algerian football player Amroune kicks off first season in Belgium D1 club

Twenty-four-year-old Mohamed Seif Eddine Amroune moved from Algeria to Belgium at the beginning of July. He is one of the latest African player to be signed by European football club, the R.A.E.C. Mons, which joined Belgium's first division last season. In Mons, Amroune is part of an international team that includes Dare Nibombe from Togo, the only player in Mons who took part in the 2006 World Cup. Amroune, who played four seasons with Algeria's national team, was also reunited with Fadel Brahami, the other Algerian player signed to the team. Amroune came to Belgium for a week's trial with another football club in Zulte, but was finally signed by Mons on July 6 for a two-year renewable contract. Jose Riga, the team's coach, had watched Amroune play soccer on a DVD and found the player's profile interesting. Quite unusually, the player was signed without a trial period to his new club. After a week training in the Netherlands, Amroune and the team came back to Mons to get ready for the beginning of the 2007-2008 season which officially starts this weekend (August 3-5). "My aim here in Belgium is to play among the best players in the championship and to hopefully be one of the best players in the Belgian championship," says Armoune. More than ten nationalities coexist in R.A.E.C. Mons. There are Amroune and Brahami from Algeria, Daniel Wansi from Cameroon, Francois Zoko and Romeo Affessi Seka from Ivory Coast and Mohammed Aliyu Datti from Nigeria along with players from Serbia, Croatia, Italy and France. The Belgians are a minority with only five or six players in R.A.E.C. Mons. Amroune says he enjoys this diversity: "There are many nationalities here, Algerians, French, Belgians, Serbians and Croatians. There are many different nationalities here and I think it is nice that there are so many nationalities. There are many factors that help the team play in an orderly fashion and have a good ability." "They players also get on well," adds Armoune, who is eager to prove himself when the club plays against F.C. Bruges on Saturday (August 4). Riga said he was interested in Amroune for many reasons, and not only because he was left-handed. "He's a player with a good technique, who is skilful in front of the goal which is important for a striker. It's his first experience here, so he is hungry, he is hungry to discover this side of Europe, he is hungry to make himself known outside his home country and at the same time, as far as his personality is concerned, I would say he is very open, he has got a lot of will, a lot of dedication,'' says Riga. Riga regrets that there are not more Belgian players in his team and has created a football club for junior players to train and nurture their ambitions. He said Belgian players are usually signed outside Belgium, often in the Netherlands, and are normally very expensive to sign. Riga says there are many South American footballers coming into European soccer but believes African and North African players will always be in demand in Europe. One of the characteristic of Mons football club is the close relationship between the players and their fans. Here, locals are welcome to watch any of the club's training sessions and the supporters have already nicknamed Amroune 'Momo' and hope he will give the club many goals in the future. However, with so many soccer players coming from abroad, R.A.E.C. Mons supporters express some annoyance that there are not more Belgian players in the club. ''We are slightly annoyed by this, but this is modern soccer, that's the way it is. Unfortunately, there are not that many Belgian players in the teams. It doesn't happen only in Belgium, it's a bit everywhere, so we have to get used to it, we have to get used to it,'' says Vincenzo Lomanto, the head ''The Ultras'' -- one of Mons six supporters' clubs. Mons is a quiet town in the French speaking part of Belgium located some sixty kilometres south of Brussels. It has a population of 100,000. Riga says it is an ideal place for a young player to grow, far from the temptations of bigger cities and away from too much media attention. Amroune likes his new city, but says he will certainly miss his family and friends. ''Of course I miss Algeria. I miss my city that I used to live in, my friends and family, that's what I miss,'' he says.

ITN Source | August 2, 2007

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