The Black Pearl of Football

 Story #6

Larbi Ben Barek is considered the greatest player in French football before the advent of Kopa . His career was cut short by the Second World War , which he spent in Morocco. He is the first French footballer of world renown, whose transfer to a foreign club is the subject of negotiations on high bases. It also represents the advent of North African footballers in French football. He is one of the first players that France sought outside its borders. Nicknamed “the Black Pearl”, he is renowned for his technique and elegance with the ball. Pelé declares: “If I am the King of football, then Ben Barek is the God” .

Larbi Benbarek's official date of birth is June 16, 1917. But he could actually have been born in 1914. This date would have been modified to allow him to play for US Marocaine. Other sources indicate 1916 and 1913 as the year of birth

Son of a worker specializing in boat repair, he was orphaned very early.His older brother Ali becomes a real model after the disappearance of the father of the family.

Larbi Benbarek competes in his first balls in Casablanca, in street of the Ferme-Blanche.His mother and his older brother, Ali Ben Taïeb, who provides for the family, initially refused to allow him to play football.

At the age of 14, he worked as a carpenter in the company Avaros Canelle. It was at this age that he began playing with Football Club El Ouatane, an amateur team from district.

from 1930 to 1934. He played as an intermediary but was advised to play winger.

In 1934, at the age of 17, Benbarek made his debut in the team of Ideal Club de Casablanca , a club in the Moroccan second division .

He was then selected for the first time with the Morocco team , which faced the Oran team(was a football organization at Algeria), but remained a substitute.

A Morocco- France B friendly match played in April 1937 (4-2 victory), earned him his first laudatory articles in the metropolitan press.

Olympique de Marseille and its Hungarian coach József Eisenhoffer then came to Casablanca to hire his services but the talks did not come to fruition.

Olympique de Marseille secured his services in June 1938, after a first offer at the beginning of the summer of 1937, while Red Star came into contact with player.

After only three months of competition, the striker was summoned by Gaston Barreau , the coach of the France team in response to popular demand.

Although born in a French protectorate, Ben Barek does not have de facto French nationality and should not have been authorized to play by FIFA, which insists that international players have at least a passport from the country represented.

Larbi Benbarek debuted with the Blues on December 4, 1938 in Naples, during a defeat (1-0) on hostile ground, against the recent Italian world champion. Benbarek is whistled and insulted because of his skin tone, just like Raoul Diagne , of Senegalese origin.

Larbi Benbarek is considered "the first (Maghrebi players) to have broken through at such a high level" , in the 1930s , when the first North African players arrived on the fields of Europe, or even the first major Arab and African football star.

On January 22 1939, Larbi continued in Blue, at the Parc des Princes , against Poland (4-0), involved in three of the four goals.

He does it again against Hungary with his first international goal. On February 8, 1939, Benbarek became the “black pearl”.

In one season at OM, associated with Emmanuel Aznar, star of the team, the Moroccan scored twelve goals.

Not French, Larbi Benbarek was not mobilized in 1939, but his rise was stopped abruptly by the Second World War.

He found refuge in Casablanca and then moved again to the USM. During the European conflict, with the North African selection, he faced exiled France in 1943 in Casablanca. Benbarek equalizes for his team on a cross from Marcel Cerdan , future world boxing champion (1-1).

In May 1945, as the world conflict ended, Ben Barek hosted a coaching course under the direction of Helenio Herrera. He stayed there for 3 years.

The extent of his talent reopened the door to the France team, but he no longer shined there.

In 1948, Benbarek had four new caps at France national team with two failures and two victories.

In 1949 Benbarek joined the Atletico Madrid. He finished 4th with his new club at 1st season. He then completed the 1949-50 championship, the first title in the history of the Madrid club.

He won a second consecutive Spanish championship title (1950 and 1951) and the Copa Eva Duarte de Perón (ancestor of the Spanish Super Cup) the second year.

Between 1949 and 1953, he scored more than sixty goals in 120 or 122 matches. With his teammates Carlsson and Escudero, they are nicknamed the "crystal attack". Larbi alone obtains a new nickname than Black Pearl: “the foot of god”. Larbi Benbarek remains one of Atletico Madrid's most iconic players.

In December 1953, Benbarek returned to Olympique de Marseille.

At the beginning of October 1954, Larbi Benbarek took part in a charity match for the victims of the earthquake in Chlef (Algeria),his performance and his prestige were such that the public demanded and obtained his selection for the Blues on October 16, 1954 in Hanover against West Germany.

Unfortunately, Larbi Benbarek is injured and leaves with a muscular injury. At 37 years and 4 months, he remained the oldest French player for a long time, before being overtaken by Bernard Lama then Steve Mandanda.

He then became first player and coach of 2 teams and then coach only to various Moroccan teams and Morocco national football team.

He died at 1992.