Ali Boumnijel

Ali Boumnijel
	Boumnijel in November 2019
Personal information
Date of birth	13 April 1966 (age 58)
Place of birth	Menzel Jemil, Tunisia
Height	1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s)	Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team	Tunisia (assistant coach)
Senior career*
Years	Team
1988–1997	Gueugnon
1991–1992	→ Nancy (loan)
1998–2003	Bastia
2003–2004	Rouen
2004–2007	Club Africain
Total
International career
1991–2007	Tunisia
Managerial career
2011–2012	Tunisia (goalkeeper coach)
2012–2013	Umm Salal (goalkeeper coach)
2014–2016	China (assistant)
2017–2018	Étoile du Sahel (assistant)
2019–2022	Sochaux (assistant)
2022–	Tunisia (assistant)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing Tunisia
Africa Cup of Nations
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Ali Boumnijel (Arabic: علي بومنيجل, born 13 April 1966) is a Tunisian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper at the international level for the Tunisia national team. He works for Sochaux as assistant coach.^[1]

Personal life

Born in Menzel Jemil, Boumnijel holds Tunisian and French nationalities.^[2]

Club career

He began his career in FC Gueugnon in France, however without playing any games. His first game as a professional footballer came on 20 October 1991 for AS Nancy in a 1–3 loss to AJ Auxerre. Afterwards he returned to his previous team, where he played five seasons, until changing to SC Bastia. He played for Bastia for six years, and then one season at FC Rouen.^[3] In 2004, he moved back to Tunisia to play for Club Africain.

International career

In the national team he debuted on 27 November 1991 against Côte d'Ivoire. Having established himself as a competitive goalkeeper he went on to play for Tunisia in the 1998 FIFA World Cup, 2002 FIFA World Cup and 2006 FIFA World Cup . Boumnijel was Tunisia's first choice goalkeeper, and played at the 2004 African Nations Cup where the Tunisia team won. In the semifinals he saved a crucial penalty from Peter Odemwingie to help Tunisia beat Nigeria in a penalty shootout.^[4]

Aged 40, he was the oldest player at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Boumnijel has been praised for his great leadership and goalkeeping skills during the World Cup.

Honours

Tunisia

Africa Cup of Nations: 2004^[5]

References

^ "Communiqué : Stéphane Mangione et Ali Boumnijel nouveaux adjoints" (in French). FC Sochaux-Montbéliard Official Site. 22 January 2019. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
^ "Joueur".
^ Ali Boumnijel – French league stats at LFP – also available in French (archived)
^ "Tunisia make African final". BBC. 11 February 2004. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
^ "Tunisia win Cup of Nations". BBC Sport. 14 February 2004. Retrieved 14 March 2011.