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Habitual defender, Youcef Atal did more than play the utilities in attack Sunday, April 28 during the match of his club Nice against Guingamp. The Algerian has just scored a hat-trick for the Aiglons (3-0). A big performance that puts a little more light one of the best players of this season in France.
Almost 34 years old. The last time an Algerian footballer scored a hat-trick in Ligue 1, it was October 12, 1985 during a meeting between Laval and Toulouse. Cherif Oudjani, 20 years old at the time, beat TFC goalkeeper Philippe Bergeroo three times and gave the victory to his team (3-2). Since then, nothing ... until Sunday, April 28, 2019.
To welcome Guingamp during the 34th day of Ligue 1, OGC Nice, still as destitute in the offensive sector, must tinker. Patrick Vieira, the Riviera coach, is getting his usual right-back, Youcef Atal, to the position of left winger. The test is a master stroke. A nice volley from the left (9th), a solo rush winner on nearly 70 meters (68th) and a balloon tacled right foot (73rd), and here is the No. 20 Nice author of a hat-trick (3-0) .
And to say that before this match, OGC Nice had the worst attack of the championship (23 goals scored in 33 days) and had scored two goals in a single meeting only four times ...
⚽️⚽️⚽️ Youcef Atal became the second Aiglon to score a hat-trick at @ AllianzRiviera, after Hatem Ben Arfa against @staderennais, on April 10, 2016 (3-0). #OGCNEAG pic.twitter.com/yQGU7zDg9v
OGC Nice (@ogcnice) April 28, 2019A dribbling fan and a very skilled finisher
Any defender he is, Youcef Atal is no less effective against the goal. With this treble, he became co-top scorer of Nice with six goals, as much as his team-mate striker Allan Saint-Maximin. " I'm very happy, it's my first hat-trick. Every time you mark, you want to start again, "he smiled after the final whistle. The Algerian prefers his post right side but is happy to serve if there are holes to fill in attack.
On his second goal, the Fennec made a strong impression by moving up half of the field and concluding himself, in imbalance, a small balloon stung his right foot. " I had already scored on similar actions where you pass one, then two opponents and you want to go to the end, " he said. Fans of the Algerian selection have probably not forgotten his first - and for now unique - international goal scored last November against Togo, in the playoff for CAN 2019 (4-1). Starting from his right lane, he had also traveled half of the field before transplanting in the axis and wrap a superb shot.
The southpaw is not an advocate adept at the principle of caution above all else. Last January, the daily L'Équipe was interested in his game and noted that he dribbled a lot, as much as the attackers Hatem Ben Arfa and Neymar (63 dribbling at the time). Even at European level, he was in the top six dribblers, in the middle of Eden Hazard, Lionel Messi and Allan Saint-Maximin. His range of qualities made him one of the revelations of the season, but the merit of this success also goes to the Nice staff who went to look for him in Belgium.
Nice wants to keep its nugget
Born in Algeria and trained in Algiers club Paradou, Youcef Atal saw his career accelerate in the summer of 2017 when the Kortrijk club in Belgium attracted him in the form of a loan. In Jupiler Pro League, the first steps were difficult. A fracture of the left cheekbone and a knee operation kept him off the ground for a long time. The adaptation to Belgian football took time too. But in a handful of appearances, the defender seduced Kortrijk ... and the Scouts of Nice. As soon as the purchase option of 500 000 euros raised by the Belgian club, the Aiglons were in the lead to recruit this player with high potential. And they did it last summer, for 3 million euros.
Landed in France with the label of unknown, here is Youcef Atal a little more affublé that of revelation after this very successful season and this historic triplet. " He is progressing. We see his aggressiveness to be in the right place to mark, "applauds Patrick Vieira, who recalls, however, that the Algerian is not for sale. A logical warning, because the clubs interested in its services will not miss.
" It will not move next year ," warned the new technical director of Nice, Gilles Grimandi, early April. That was before the defender's Sunday exploit. The truth of a day is not necessarily that of tomorrow, especially in football. Not to mention that Youcef Atal will also have the CAN in Egypt with the Fennecs to shine. Whether in Nice or elsewhere, the Algerian international should still be talked about in the weeks and months to come.