Karim Matmour

Karim Matmour (Arabic: كريم مطمور; born 25 June 1985) is a former Algerian professional footballer who played as a winger.

[8] He made his SC Freiburg first team debut on 28 January 2006, coming on as a substitute for Ibrahim Tanko in the 67th minute, in a 1–0 win over Dynamo Dresden.

[29][30] At the end of the 2007–08 season, Matmour went on to make 34 appearances and scoring six times in all competitions, as the club finished fifth place.

[31] Matmour made his Borussia Mönchengladbach debut, where he started and played 61 minutes before coming off as a substitute, in an 8–1 win over VfB Fichte Bielefeld in the first round of DFB-Pokal.

[37] Matmour finished his first season at Borussia Mönchengladbach, making 35 appearances (34 in the league) and scoring three times in all competitions.

[45] On 6 November 2010, Matmour returned to the first team from injury, coming on as a late substitute, in a 3–3 draw against Bayern Munich.

[47] In a follow–up in a league fixture against Eintracht Frankfurt on 30 January 2011, Matmour came on as a substitute for Mike Hanke in the forty-sixth minute and came close to scoring with a header which bounced off the top of the crossbar but he set up the only goal scored in the encounter which was a cross from the left side to Igor de Camargo, who put the ball away inside the far right post, as the club won 1–0.

[49] Matmour played in both legs of the league's relegation play–offs against VfL Bochum as a late substitute, as Borussia Mönchengladbach won 2–1 on aggregate and retained its Fußball-Bundesliga spot for the 2011–12 season.

[51][1] On 1 July 2011, Matmour signed a one-year contract, with Eintracht Frankfurt holding the option of a further two-year extension.

[53] Matmour quickly made an impact at the club when he scored on his debut, in a 3–2 win over Greuther Fürth in the opening game of the season.

[54] Three weeks later on 7 August 2011, Matmour set up two goals for Alexander Meier, who scored twice, in a 3–0 win against Eintracht Braunschweig.

[58] After suffering an injury in early–March,[59] Matmour spent the rest of the season in the first team, coming on as a substitute in a number of matches.

[60] Despite this, the club was promoted to Bundesliga after he played 14 minutes as a substitute to help Eintracht Frankfurt beat Alemannia Aachen 3–0 on 23 April 2012.

[77] Matmour returned from injury in a match against Arminia Bielefeld on 26 March 2014, coming on as a second-half substitute, in a 1–1 draw.

After scoring two goals in as many matches in the Kuwait Federation Cup, Matmour asked Al-Arabi to terminate his contract and filed a complaint against them to FIFA, citing financial aspects.

[97] On 20 January 2016, after a trial period, Matmour joined English Football League Championship side Huddersfield Town on a contract until the end of the 2015–16 season.

[98] He made his début for the Terriers as a substitute in the 2–1 defeat against Brighton & Hove Albion at Falmer Stadium on 23 January 2016.

[103] Matmour made his debut for the club, where he started and played for 61 minutes before coming off as a substitute, in a 1–0 loss against Greuther Fürth in the opening game of the season.

[106] However, after handful of first team appearances, Matmour's time at the club was soon overshadowed by injuries and being placed on the sidelines as a result.

[107] Although he soon recovered from his injuries, Matmour soon had a fallen out with new Manager Vítor Pereira and was banished to the TSV 1860 Munich II as a result.

[113] After leaving Australia, Matmour returned to Germany and was appointed as an assistant manager for Kehler FV in February 2018.

[116] Three months later, it was announced that Matmour was no longer on his coaching duties at the club, but stayed at Kehler FV as an advisory capacity.

[119] Matmour received first call up to Algeria against Libya and made his national team debut on 6 February 2007, starting a match and played 55 minutes before coming off, in a 2–1 win.

[124] Matmour scored an equaliser against Ivory Coast and the game went through extra time, as Algeria won 3–2 to ensure their qualification for the semi-finals.

[129] He went on to start the next two matches against England and USA, as Algeria ended up eliminated in the group stage, without scoring a single goal.

[130] After the World Cup, Matmour didn't make another Algeria appearance until on 4 June 2011, where he started and played 45 minutes before coming off as substitute at half time, in a 4–0 loss against Morocco.

[133] Growing up in Strasbourg, France to Algerian parents and six siblings, Matmour said he first started football was at "right in front of my house.

[2][134] However, Matmour said: "The grades at school had to be right, then I was allowed to go to the table" and once did not play football for a year, describing it as "the worst time of his life.

[2][3] On his political views in France, Matmour is a critic of Nicolas Sarkozy, accusing him of creating conflicts over derogatory statements against young French immigrants.

[2][136] Since 2009, Matmour is married to Algerian-German singer Manel Filali, famous for her work with Anne Ross in the pop duo Milk & Honey.

Matmour pictured in 2008 during his time at Borussia Mönchengladbach .