Anthar Yahia: "The national team is an eternal love"

"It’s an eternal love": Anthar Yahia opens up about Algeria

Anthar Yahia: "The national team is an eternal love"

Having become an iconic figure in Algerian football thanks to his historic goal against Egypt in Omdurman in 2009, Anthar Yahia has never stopped expressing his deep connection to the Greens. Now the reserve team coach at SCO Angers, the former defender gave a lengthy interview to the official channel of the Angers club, where he looked back on his career and his relationship with the Algerian national team. “My time with the national team was a love that was born when I was very young and it will never end, because the national team is an eternal love,” the 2010 World Cup participant said with emotion.

💬 Nouvellement nommé entraîneur de la N3 pour cette nouvelle saison, Anthar Yahia revient sur son parcours de joueur, ses expériences d’après-carrière et les valeurs qu’il souhaite inculquer à son groupe dans son nouveau rôle.

𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 à retrouver ici 👇

— Angers SCO (@AngersSCO) September 20, 2025

From Sochaux to Inter: the shock of the top level

Yahia recalls his first steps at FC Sochaux, in one of France’s top youth academies. That school of discipline led him to sign his first professional contract with Inter Milan. “Arriving as a kid in a dressing room with world and European champions was exceptional,” he explains. This Italian experience, as intimidating as it was formative, allowed him to truly understand what it means to compete at the highest level.

The German adventure and the bond with Bochum

After Italy, the Bundesliga left a profound mark on his career. In Bochum, where he played for nearly five years, he found a rare sense of stability. “I still have very close ties with that club. The culture of professionalism and the intensity of the matches left a lifelong impression on me,” he says. Ten years with the national team and over 300 professional matches later, the former international can proudly say that he built his career on consistency and relentless hard work.

Passing on values and a philosophy

Now a coach, Yahia is not content with just sharing tactical knowledge. He emphasizes three principles that have always guided him: work, ambition, and humility. “No matter where you are, hard work pays off,” he repeats, paying tribute to his father, a welder and black belt in judo, whom he considers his role model. Inspired by coaches like Jürgen Klopp, he aims to instill in his young players the intensity, discipline, and passion that shaped his own career.