Madjid Bougherra is not exactly displaying an international defender’s sense of timing.
To be fair, he has a pretty valid excuse. It is late August and the Algeria captain, who parachuted into the Arabian Gulf League after a summer at the Brazil World Cup, has just returned from a pre-season training camp in Germany with Fujairah, his new employers.
There is little opportunity to catch breath, though. In less than 48 hours, Bougherra will be in Algeria, en route to Ethiopia, to lead his national team as they embark on qualification for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations.
In the ever-decreasing window between assignments for club and country, he has a few, slightly more important, chores to complete.
There is finalising his new residence in Al Barari, Dubai, from where he will make the daily commute to Fujairah, while he must also organise school for daughters Ines, 6, and Hilya, 7.
No wonder, then, that he arrives at a sponsors engagement – Bougherra is a brand ambassador for Adidas – more than a little late. His regret is obvious. Genuine, too.
“Sorry, sorry, sorry – I’m very busy at the moment,” he says in perfect English, taking his seat in the Adidas store at Deira City Centre. “Things have been a little crazy.”
That could describe Bougherra’s appearance at Fujairah. The newly promoted side, tucked away on the country’s east coast and until this summer situated even further from the its footballing conscience, were not an obvious fit.
Bougherra, 32 on Tuesday, was most recently seen helping his country to the last 16 of the World Cup where they fell to Germany, the eventual world champions, in extra time.
That he resurfaced at a club who have not played in the UAE top flight since 2007 came as a surprise.
Fujairah have been intent on making their mark, though, and, aware that Bougherra was a free agent after the conclusion of his contract with Lekhwiya – the team he guided to the 2013/14 Qatar Stars League title – they sold him an ambitious plan.
A big fish had been hooked.
“I was thinking about it for maybe two months,” he says. “Fujairah contacted me to say they had a project to be one of the best teams in the UAE within the next two years. So in July I thought about it with my family and they said, ‘Let’s go’.”
Within 24 hours of agreeing to Fujairah, the former Glasgow Rangers centre-back received several alternative offers from teams in the top divisions in America, Turkey and Russia. But he had already committed to Fujairah.
“To be honest, it wasn’t an easy decision,” he says.
“In my mind I wanted to go back to Europe first, but after playing in two World Cups I thought I’m in a good atmosphere in the Gulf, my family is comfortable and I like it here because people respect you like a big player in everything you do. So it pushed me to sign for Fujairah.”
He soon pulled for a friend, and international teammate, to join him.
Weeks later, the club recruited Hassan Yebda, the Algerian playmaker. Bougherra was key to his arrival, confirming Yebda possessed fine technique, impressive fitness levels and a strong work ethic.
Having played for a selection of prominent European clubs, including Benfica and Napoli, Yebda also brought experience to what is a comparatively youthful squad.
The pair have integrated well, although, among a group of wide-eyed youngsters, they hold a certain celebrity.
“When I came, the young players were a little shy and surprised,” Bougherra says. “Some asked about the World Cup, about the Germany match. It’s good, because they respect me a lot.
“When you come as a new player and people inside the club respect you, after this you want to respect them. So our relationship started very well.”
The connection has continued to flourish. A tight bond fostered optimism for the new season and has led to a bright start to the campaign.
Although Fujairah, still learning under new manager Abdulwahab Abdulqadir, have not won in three matches, they have only one defeat and an encouraging result with a 2-2 draw at title-chasing Al Jazira. It suggests that Fujairah plan on sticking around.
They have been intent on not just making up the numbers, as indicated by their summer spending.
If a bid to sign Jorge Valdivia, the Chile World Cup playmaker, proved fruitless, in Bougherra and Yebda they had players with significant pedigrees. The acquisition of Boubacar Sanogo, 31, the former Al Ain striker, was also a shrewd move.
“I talk with Sanogo. He’s also old, so it means he has experience,” Bougherra says. “We talked the first day about the team, how we need to do this and do that, so it’s good to have two professionals looking after the team.
“We’ve come here to keep our image. It’s not coming here to take money, or to live in Dubai or whatever. That is not my target. I have an image to protect so I want to give everything to be on top.”
Fujairah are strong from the bottom up. Faith has been placed in several talented youngsters, who have proven so good that they have surprised Bougherra.
Midfielder Khalil Khamis, 20, and striker Ibrahim Khamis, 21, have particularly impressed. Ahmed Rashid, the 25-year-old midfielder who goes by the nickname “Pato”, has been another standout. It is very much a collective effort.
“In football, if you’re by yourself on the pitch it is not enough,” Bougherra says. “I need my partners because without them I am nothing.
“But it’s very important be an example to show the young players that, in football, age does not matter. Everything is in the mind.
“If you want to work, you can work and play at any team you want. Some people think playing in the Gulf is easy, but it’s very hard. I learnt that at Lekhwiya. If you start to relax, even for a moment, you can lose everything you have done before.”
The project at Fujairah reminds Bougherra of his time in Doha. Granted, Lekhwiya boasted one of the league’s biggest budgets and they lifted the title the season before he signed – their first term in the Qatar Stars League – but they, too, were a fledging club with grand designs.
During Bougherra’s three seasons, they won the championship twice and lifted the Crown Prince Cup.
The parameters at Fujairah are slightly different.
“We’re a new team with a new challenge, just starting,” Bougherra says. “I know it’s going to be a very hard season. In seven years with Rangers and Lekhwiya I won six titles, but now it’s another test. If Fujairah gets into the top six, it’ll be like winning the championship.”
The quest resumes this evening against Al Ahli. It is exactly the sort of fixture the club board envisioned once promotion was secured in May: Fujairah Stadium, hosting the champions, with the opportunity to move within a point of their illustrious guests.
Victory may just be stretching the dream a little far, though.
“We can surprise teams at home,” Bougherra says. “When big teams come to Fujairah they won’t play with the same intensity, at the same level, because I’ve seen that during the past six years from my own experience.
“When we went to smaller teams it was never as easy as you thought, because they play with a higher spirit and you arrive thinking you’re simply the bigger team. So I know how to catch them out.
“I hope big teams come to Fujairah with a lazy mind. Because then we’ll do the job.”
jmcauley@thenational.ae
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