Antar Yahia (; born 21 March 1982) is a retired professional footballer who played as a centre-back. Yahia is a former French youth international having earned caps for both the under-16 and under-18 youth teams for a brief period of time. He was the first footballer to profit from the 2004 change in FIFA eligibility rules as he had played as a French youth international. After his switch of national allegiance he was called up to the Algeria Under-23 side, scoring on his debut in a 1–0 win against Ghana in an Olympic Games qualifier on 2 January 2004. A few days later he was called up to a training camp held in Algiers in preparation of the 2004 African Nations Cup. At international level, Yahia played for the Algeria national team prior to his retirement from international football on 1 May 2012. He is considered a national hero by many Algerians, as he was the scorer of the goal that put them into their first World Cup finals since 1986, at the expense of bitter rivals Egypt. He struck in the 40th minute of the play-off by scoring a Marco van Basten-esque goal. He participated in two continental tournaments 2004 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, the latter in which Algeria finished fourth, and the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Overall, he participated in 53 official games for Algeria, in which he scored six goals. He captained the team during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, holding the position from June 2010 to May 2012. Early life Yahia was born in Mulhouse, France, to Fatima Zohra and Boussaha Yahia, a welder by profession, both of Algerian, Chaoui descent. His parents emigrated to Alsace from the village of Sedrata in the Aurès region in eastern Algeria. In 1985, Yahia's parents decided to move the family back to Algeria as they found it difficult to cope with life in France. They lived in Algeria briefly before again returning to France. Yahia is married to Karima Ziani who is the twin sister of fellow French-Algerian football player Karim Ziani. He was introduced to the game at the age of 10, when he decided to visit his elder brothers who were playing football. He fell in love with the game and joined the junior team of Racing Club de Belfort, a club in his neighbourhood. He