Hamer Bouazza (Arabic: عامر بوعزة; born 22 February 1985) is a former professional footballer who played as a left winger.
Bouazza spent most of his football career in England, having also played in Turkey, France, Cyprus, Spain, Algeria and Tunisia.
[citation needed] In October 2005, speaking about his early life, Bouazza said: "Sometimes I didn't go to school because all that I wanted was to play football.
During the 2005–06 season, Bouazza was overshadowed by Darius Henderson, Marlon King, and Ashley Young and missed a lengthy spell with a broken metatarsal but still tallied three goals in nineteen games, one of which was the fourth in Watford's 4–1 win over Championship runners-up Sheffield United.
[citation needed] On 6 October 2005, Bouazza was loaned out to League One club Swindon Town, initially for one month,[10] but later extended to the end of the year.
[citation needed] Bouazza broke his metatarsal during a Watford home game against Derby County on 4 March 2006, and had the bone pinned in an operation.
[12] On 21 May 2006, he played in Watford's 3–0 win over Leeds United in the Championship play-off final at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, coming on as a 72nd-minute substitute.
[citation needed] On 9 August 2008, he signed for Championship club Charlton Athletic on a season-long loan,[18] making his debut later that day as an 83rd-minute substitute in a 3–0 win over Swansea City at The Valley.
[20] Bouazza made his Birmingham debut in their next league game, a 1–1 draw at home to Cardiff City on 17 January, and scored his first goal, a clever finish after a defensive error, in a 2–0 win over Doncaster Rovers at the Keepmoat Stadium on 14 March.
[citation needed] On 23 August, he left Sivasspor, stating that he did not wish to remain in Turkey, and agreeing a mutual termination of his contract.
Sivasspor head-coach Bulent Uygun said they had to release Bouazza as they didn't want him to damage the morale of the team.
His first goal came on 26 September, in a 2–0 home win over Peterborough United, when he nutmegged defender Tom Williams before curling the ball into the net from a tight angle.
[31] His return to action came on 16 February as an 81st-minute substitute in the 2–0 home win over Middlesbrough, when he set up D. J. Campbell to score Blackpool's second goal in injury time.
[46] On 13 November, as the Algerian squad arrived in Cairo for their vital World Cup qualifier against Egypt the following day, their team bus was attacked by stone-throwers.
"[48] In January 2010 Bouazza was in the Algeria squad at the Africa Cup of Nations finals in Angola, as they reached the semi-finals; finishing the tournament in 4th place.
He was a second-half substitute in Algeria's first two Group A matches at the Estádio 11 de Novembro in Luanda, a 0–3 defeat to Malawi on 11 January, and a 1–0 victory over Mali, three days later.
Just two minutes after coming on as a substitute at the start of extra time, with the scores level at 2–2, Bouazza's headed goal gave Algeria the lead and with it a 3–2 victory.