Background
Sahnoun was born in Guerrouma, Algeria the son of a harki, and his family settled in Beauvais, France in 1962.
Sahnoun was born in Guerrouma, Algeria the son of a harki, and his family settled in Beauvais, France in 1962.
Ten years later, at only 17, he made his professional debuts with Football Club Nantes, under Jean Vincent. Sahnoun gained six caps for France, his debut coming on 23 February 1977 in a friendly with West Germany, in Paris. At the end of the year, he suffered a cardiac alert which cause him to put his career on hold for a few months.
Subsequently, he would not make the list for the 1978 Fédération internationale de football association World Cup in Argentina.
After having returned to active, Sahnoun played one year for Football Club Girondins de Bordeaux, being regularly used in a team that finished in sixth position. On 21 April 1980, four months shy of his 25th birthday, during club training, he died from a heart attack.