Blame It On The Boogie!

That’s if England are crushed by Algeria at the World Cup!

Rangers defender Madjid Bougherra is a key figure in the Algerian National Team that will head to South Africa in June to take on England, USA and Slovenia. The 27 year-old was fine performer in Algeria’s African Cup of Nations tournament that saw the Desert Foxes reach the semi-finals before being brushed aside by eventual winners Egypt. After the cruel Egypt defeat, Boogie was raging at referee Koffi Codija after their exit from the tournament. He said ““We had two opponents tonight: Egypt and the referee”.

Boogie is an SPL Champion!

At Rangers, Bougherra is seen as one of the best players in the team by the supporters and his mazey runs forward have fans on the edge of their seats. His top performances for Rangers, have recently attracted interest from the Spanish Giants Barcelona and Sevilla according to the Scottish Press. Manager Walter Smith dismissed the links as “mere speculation”, but it is reported that Pep Guardiola was handed a number of DVDs on the Algerian and the Catalans could step their interest up a level in the summer, when Rangers will be likely to sell due to their poor financial position.

A part of the Scottish Premier League and Scottish Cup triumphs at Ibrox in 2009, Bougherra had the tough job of replacing the colossus defender that was Carlos Cuellar, now at Aston Villa, who was simply immense in Rangers’ chase for four trophies in 2007/2008. To Bougherra’s credit, he has made the Rangers supporters forget about the Spaniard with some solid performances alongside veteran Davie Weir in the Rangers rearguard. He joined Rangers from Charlton Athletic in 2008 for £2m after a late attempt to secure him from current Celtic manager Tony Mowbray at West Brom was successful. After Rangers’ abysmal Champions League exit to Lithuanian minnows Kaunas, Bougherra provided the quality in defence that the Gers were lacking after Cuellar’s departure. He got his first goal for the club in a 3-0 win against Hibernian, showing huge commitment to get on the end of a Kevin Thomson cross to bundle the ball into the net.

In his second season in Glasgow, Bougherra has been a key figure in Rangers’ title charge. Despite being late three times from International duty, manager Walter Smith still sees him as an integral figure in the future of the club. Bougherra’s only two goals this season were very special, a stick-on for goal of the season surely. The elegant Algerian stopper picked up the ball in his own half before dribbling straight through the centre of the pitch to hammer home Rangers’ 7th goal in a thumping of Dundee United at Ibrox. His other came in the Champions League away to VFB Stuttgart, where a rampant Bougherra lead the Gers to a 1-1 draw in Germany.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTJSNplB5-A]

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHeeKXfAuVc]

In the World Cup in 2010, expect a number of clubs to be checking up on Bougherra and the defender, who has played at right-back and centre-back for Algeria at the ACN in Angola. He is one of a modern-day breed of defenders, quick, strong and comfortable when in possession. The debate remains whether he will be at centre-back or right-back for Rabah Saadane’s Desert Foxes.

He is a hero in Algiers, He is a hero in Glasgow, Can he be a hero in South Africa 2010?