Faouzi Chaouchi life and biography

Faouzi Chaouchi (born 5 December 1984 in Bordj Ménaïel, Boumerdès) is an Algerian professional football player who currently plays as a goalkeeper for Algerian Championnat National club ES Sétif and the Algerian national team.

Chaouchi alongside Karim Ziani and Antar Yahia is considered to be a national hero by many Algerian's as he put in a heroic performance in the play-off that put the Algerian national football team into their first World Cup finals since 1986 at the expense of bitter rivals Egypt, as he constantly denied the Egyptian national team any scoring opportunities.

Normally Algeria's back-up goalkeeper, he became a national icon thanks to a brilliant display in the World Cup play-off win over arch-rivals Egypt and if anyone can claim to have earned their chance on the big stage in South Africa this summer, it has to be Chaouchi. He is tall, supple, courageous and adept at getting down to low shots.

He won his first international cap when coming on at half-time in a friendly against the Democratic Republic of Congo in March 2008 and was voted Algeria's Goalkeeper of the Year for 2009.

Chaouchi goes by the nickname of Higuita, a nod to Colombia's former 'keeper-cum-showman Rene Higuita. Rumours abound that leading French club Marseille are watching him closely, so a World Cup save or two would do his career prospects no harm.

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