Nabil Bentaleb Scores Goal After Recovering From Heart Attack

JAKARTA - Nabil Bentaleb got his best case scenario to return to play. The Lille midfielder marked his return to the team after a heart attack last year with a goal in a 2-0 win on Monday, February 17, 2025, at Stade Rennais.

The former Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United player suffered a heart attack on June 18, 2024. There are doubts about the 30-year-old's future.

However, he was given the green light to return to competitive football on Wednesday, February 12, 2025, when the French Football Federation (FFF) allowed him to play after the medical commission met to assess his condition.

The Algerian player scored the opener in the 80th minute, four minutes after entering the bench. He then ran onto the Lille bench to celebrate his first Ligue 1 goal for his hometown club with his teammates and coaching staff.

"It's worth filming. He deserves it. It's an amazing and amazing story."

"The goal of Nabil makes us very happy, difficult to explain. It will remain engraved in the history of the club, this season. Of course in Nabil's mind," Lille coach Bruno Genesio told reporters.

Bentaleb was very emotional celebrating his goal. The 30-year-old initially considered retiring last year.

However, Bentaleb completed his extraordinary recovery of the life-threatening disease.

At the end of June 2024, Lille confirmed that Bentaleb had been treated at the Lille University Hospital.

In the following days, it was revealed that the midfielder had a heart attack and had to be fitted with a pacemaker to stabilize his heart.

Bentaleb is advised to withdraw from the game, but instead chooses to follow in Christian Eriksen's footsteps by showing extraordinary resilience to return to elite levels.

The Algerian midfielder just returned to training with the full team on Thursday last week, but he is still trusted by Genesio to play against Rennes and that paid off.

"It was an incredible emotional explosion, you can see it. When he starts training with us again, it's something great."

"However, for him to score the first goal that got us past Rennes, nothing more beautiful. Have I experienced it? No, this is more than just football."

"It's a life story, we can only be happy. We don't even know if he's going to sleep tonight, it's amazing. We're all happy for him."

"The supporters also supported him, it was a kind of thank you for being able to meet them. Nabil remained calm. He was happy in any situation," said Lille defender Bafode Diakite, remembering the goal.

Bentaleb started his youth career at Lille's academy before joining Tottenham Hotspur's youth in 2012. He then made his senior debut the following year.

The Algerian player made a total of 66 appearances for Spurs before signing a permanent contract for Schalke in 2017 after a successful loan for one season.

He scored 19 goals in 107 appearances for Schalke and returned to the Premier League for a brief loan spell at Newcastle United in 2020.

Bentaleb eventually left Schalke and moved to Ligue 1 club Angers for one season before deciding to move to Lille, his club at this time, last summer.

After playing 66 times for his country, Bentaleb has represented Algeria at the 2014 World Cup and Africa Cup of Nations in 2015, 2017, and 2023.