Faouzi Chaouchi - International Career

International Career

Chaouchi received his first call-up to the Algerian national team on 4 February 2008 for training which was due to be held in France, after his good form for club JS Kabylie did not go unnoticed by the national team coach Saâdane. On 26 March 2008, he made his debut for Algeria in a friendly against DR Congo coming on as a substitute at half-time for Lounès Gaouaoui.

On 18 November 2009, Chaouchi was selected to play fierce rivals Egypt in what was to be the most important game of his football career, the reward being the remaining African place for the 2010 World Cup finals as first-choice goalkeeper Lounès Gaouaoui was ruled out through suspension. Chaouchi put in a heroic performance in the play-off as he constantly denied Egypt to send Algeria through to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, with the final score being 1–0 with centre-back Antar Yahia scoring the only goal with a stunning first-half volley at an angle eight yards out from Karim Ziani's punt into the box. After his heroic performance Chaouchi gave Saâdane something to think about whilst preparing for the 2010 African Cup of Nations.

In December 2009, Chaouchi was selected by Saâdane to play in the 2010 African Cup of Nations hosted in Angola. He was normally regarded as second-choice goalkeeper under coach Rabah Saâdane, who had been using Lounès Gaouaoui as his first-choice goalkeeper, but due to Chaouchi's heroic performance in Khartoum and Lounès Gaouaoui withdrawing from the 2010 African Cup of Nations due to an attack of acute appendicitis, Rabah Saâdane did not hesitate in using Chaouchi as first-choice goalkeeper in the 2010 African Cup of Nations. Chaouchi's sending off in the semi-final against Egypt for receiving two cautions along with his head-butting of referee Cofi Codija saw him earn a suspension for 3 matches and $10,000 fine from CAF.

Chaouchi started his country's first match of the World Cup against Slovenia and was at fault for the Slovenian winner scored by captain Robert Koren. The goalkeeper allowed the shot to squirm past his body, condemning Algeria to a 1–0 defeat. He was replaced by Rais M'Bohli for the match against England.