Adil Rami (born December 27, 1985 in Bastia, Corsica, France) is a French footballer of Moroccan descent who plays in central defence for Ligue 1 side Lille OSC.

Career

Early career

Adil was born on the island of Corsica and began his football career playing for amateur side ES Fréjus in the southern coast city of Fréjus. During this time, Adil played football only as a hobby due to working as a gardener to support himself, though he still had ambitions of playing football professionally. His hopes were validated when he was signed by then-manager Claude Puel to play for the northern-based club Lille OSC, despite never going through traditional youth training.

Lille OSC

Adil spent most of the 2006-07 season training with Lille's amateur side, until being promoted to the senior squad for Lille's final two league matches against Auxerre and Rennes. He made his professional debut in the Auxerre match starting in the centre back position. He also started the following week against Rennes. Following the season, he agreed to his first professional contract on June 4, 2007. He was, subsequently, promoted to the senior squad and given the number 23 shirt.

For the 2007–08 season, Adil became an undisputed starter starting Lille's opening league match against Lorient, which ended in a 0–0 draw. He played 68 minutes before being substituted out due to injuring ligaments in one of his knees. He missed three and a half months due to the injury. He returned to the team in November and played in every remaining match for Lille. Following the season, he agreed to a two-year contract extension with the club, which will keep him with Lille until 2012.

Adil's play during the 2008–09 season has earned him great recognition. He has scored three goals this season, all of them against title-chasing clubs. He has scored against the defending French champions Lyon, which was his first ever goal, Olympique Marseille, and Bordeaux.

International career

Before earning a call up to the French national team, Adil garnered interest from Henri Michel, the former manager of Morocco, who offered the young defender a chance to play with the nation of his ancestors at the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations. Adil politely declined citing his ambition to play for the French squad.

On March 20, 2008, he received his first call-up for France. He was informed of the call up by his Lille teammate and captain Rio Mavuba, which Adil took as a joke. The call up was, indeed, considered surprising by the French media and supporters as Rami had only played 17 Ligue 1 matches. He featured with the B squad in their friendly against Mali on 25 March 2008. Due to the match not being FIFA-sanctioned, Rami was again called up to Morocco's squad by new manager Roger Lemerre, this time for their friendly against the Czech Republic on February 11, 2009. Rami again declined the opportunity. On March 19, 2009, he was called up again by Lemerre for their FIFA World Cup qualification match against Gabon. Rami, for the third time, declined the opportunity and would later accept his call up to the French squad for their FIFA World Cup qualification matches against Lithuania.

References

1. Adil Rami, l’homme qui a dit non aux Lions
2. Adil Rami signe son premier contrat "pro" avec Lille
3. Lille v. Lorient Match Report
4. Le défenseur Adil Rami prolonge jusqu'en 2012
5. Adil Rami, l’homme qui a dit non aux Lions
6. Adil Rami appelé en équipe de France
7. Lemerre convoque Adil Rami et se passe d’El Aissati
8. Adil Rami Unlikely To Join Moroccan National Team

External links

• Lille OSC Profile
• francefootball