اللاعبون اللبنانيون المحترفون

[Walid]

Reda Antar

FC Koln - Germany

Youssef Mohamad

FC Koln - Germany

George Mourad

IFK Gِteborg - Sweden

George Mourad (born 18 September 1982 in Gothenburg) is a Swedish football striker of Assyrian descent.

After playing for Västra Frölunda IF, he joined IFK Göteborg in 2004 and scored seven goals in his debut season in Allsvenskan. In 2005, he had a disappointing season with only three goals in Allsvenskan. He then signed a six month loan contract for Italian Serie B side Brescia on January 31, 2006. He has played for the Sweden national football team.
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Issam Aledrissi

SV Lippstadt08 - Germany

12.09.1984

[Walid]

Bilal Aziz

VfL Osnabrück - Germany

01.07.1985 (174 cm / 74 kg)

Mohamed Roubize

Al Ittifaq - KSA

Sharbel Touma

Borussia Mönchengladbach - Germany

Sharbel Touma (born in Beirut, Lebanon) is an Swedish footballer. Since 2007 he plays for Borussia Mönchengladbach.

An ethnic Assyrian, Touma moved to Sweden at a young age and granted Swedish citizenship.

Touma has earlier played for Djurgårdens IF, AIK Fotboll, Halmstads BK and F.C. Twente. He won "the Big Silver" (Stora Silvret in Swedish, second place in the Swedish top league, Allsvenskan) with Halmstads BK 2004 and left then for FC Twente.

He has two caps for Sweden national team.
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Buddy Farah

APIA Leichhardt FC - Australia

[Walid]

Mahmoud Al-Hajj

Hjørring - Denmark

Tarek Elrich

Newcastle Jets - Australia

Tarek Elrich (born January 1, 1987 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia) is an Australian football player who currently plays as a left midfielder for A-League club Newcastle United Jets. He is the younger brother of Socceroo and Fulham F.C. midfielder Ahmad Elrich.

Elrich's previous clubs include Parramatta Eagles in the NSW Premier Youth League, the Australian Institute of Sport and Sydney Olympic in the NSW Premier League.

Ziad Daher

SV Eintracht Aumund - Germany

1987-05-15

Emilio Hassan Viades Slim

Tolouca FC - Mexico

10-01-1978 (1.76 m \ 74 kg)

[Walid]

Erling El-Labban

Herlev Fodbold - Norway

1979-07-11

Hassan El-Hamad

Schwarz Weiß Essen - Germany

21\12\1987

Imad Kassem Saad

TSG 1899 Hoffenheim - Germany

27.01.1986 (180 cm \ 72 kg)

Maykel Samun

FSV Fernwald - Germany

10.06.1986

[Walid]

Adjmal Yosuf

SV Bernbach - Germany

10.09.1982 (174 cm)

Ali Moslehe

Hannover96 - Germany

06.06.1987

Abbas Hassan

IF Elfsborg - Sweden

5/10/1985

Samir Haiba

Akademisk Boldklub - Denmark

16.02.1979

[Walid]

Raafat El Soussi

B 1909 - Denmark

08.05.1984

Wassim El Banna

BK Frem - Denmark

Wassim El Banna (Arabic: وسيم البنا) (born May 10, 1979) is a Danish-Palestinian football forward who currently plays for Ajman Sport Club in the United Arab Emirates.

El Banna, who was born in Lebanon, moved to Germany at the age of five before settling with his family in the Odense suburb Vollsmose. In 1997 El Banna obtained Danish citizenship.

El Banna debuted in the Odense BK first team at 18 and later enjoyed spells in all of the other big Odense clubs B 1909, B 1913 and last but not least Dalum IF, before moving to Copenhagen club Frem in the summer of 2005. Two years later he was sold to Ajman Sport Club in the United Arab Emirates. El Banna played a total of 66 matches, scoring 28 goals during his time with Frem.

Mahmod Hejazi

LØRENSKOG - Norway

12-10-81

Omar El-Zein

Germania Halberstadt - Germany

12.08.1985 (181 cm)

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[Walid]

Sammer Mozain

SV 07 Elversberg - Germany

10.08.1984 (188 cm)

Sargon Simonsson

Assyriska FF - Sweden

Ziad Saliba

FC Hjørring - Denmark

Mustapha Saleh

Viborg FF - Denmark

[Walid]

Mahmout Najdi

MSV Duisburg - Germany

01.01.1989 (1,74 m \ 66 Kg)

Nouri Fakhro

VfB Homberg - Germany

15.11.1981

Ahmad Sieah

SSG Bergisch Gladbach - Germany

25.11.1980

Mohammed Badiki

Eintracht Braunschweig - Germany

14.07.1989 (178 cm)

[Walid]

Thaer Fayed Bawab

Real Madrid

Thaer Fayed Bawab (Arabic: ثائر فايز البواب, born March 1, 1985 in Amman, Jordan) is Jordanian football striker of Palestinian and Lebanese descent who currently plays for CE L'Hospitalet and the Jordan national football team.

His family moved to Catalonia, Spain when he was a kid. He played for the youth teams of UE Cornellà[1], until he moved to Real Madrid in 2003, when he was just 18 to play with the Juvenil A side, and at the end of the season he had 30 goals to his name. At 2004 he signed a professional contract with Real Madrid, worth 54000 dollars a year, and the club agreed to pay a college scholarship for him, and he went on to play with the third team, Real Madrid C. At that time talks had started about him, where people compared his style of play to Zinedine Zidane (though Thaer is a striker and Zidane is midfielder). And the first team coach Mariano García Remón thought about bringing him to the first team, but then he cancelled this idea saying he dosn't want to put pressure on the youngster, who was just 19. This summer, he was promoted to the second team.

He didn't play a single match for Real Madrid Castilla, and after finding he had no chance with the first team, he moved to Madrid's main rival FC Barcelona during the winter transfer window. He went on to play with the reserves FC Barcelona B, which were relegated that same seasaon to Spanish fourth division.

He has the lebanese nationality

[Walid]

Ahmad Elrich

Wellington Phoenix - Australia

Ahmad Elrich (born May 30, 1981 in Sydney) is an Australian football midfielder who is currently playing for the Wellington Phoenix in the A-league after being released by Fulham F.C.. He has also played for the Australian national team. He is of Lebanese descent and is the older brother of Newcastle Jets player Tarek Elrich.

Elrich signed a 3 year deal with Fulham in the Summer of 2005 from K-League club Busan I'cons. He has also previously played for Parramatta Power. He was loaned out to F.C. Lyn Oslo from April to May 2006.

A midfielder renowned in Australia for his searing pace and ability to change games, he represented Australia at the 2004 Summer Olympics. His inactivity for Fulham was seen as the key factor in him not being selected for the Australian World Cup squad.

He represented Australia at the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship.

On the September 6, 2006, Elrich suffered a serious knee injury whilst playing for Australia in an Asian Cup qualifier against Kuwait.

After signing for Fulham and making his debut against Liverpool FC, in an English Premiership game, Elrich's first team appearances were few and far between, but despite signing a 3 year contract in 2006, his Fulham future looked in doubt after not being given a squad number for the 2007-08 season and Fulham confirmed Elrich's departure on September 4, 2007. [1] On September 21, 2007, Elrich signed a contract with the Wellington Phoenix side in the A-League as their marquee player

Australia's Ahmad Elrich spoke to Aljazeera's Chris Wang about his fight for a national jersey, the war in Lebanon and his pride in his Lebanese heritage.
National pride: Elrich (centre) before the match in Kuwait

Sitting in the idyllic setting of a five star hotel in Kuwait would seem a far cry from his days playing for the Parramatta Eagles in Sydney's west, but for Ahmad Elrich who had been recalled to the Socceroos line-up after missing the World Cup, it was just another one of life's experiences.

The pacey midfielder was in the Gulf state for an Asian Cup qualifying match and was excited about a new beginning in the Australian squad.

"Missing out on the World Cup was a very big disappointment for me, but it's always good to come back and play for your country so I’m just looking forward to it," said Elrich.

Australia had already qualified for their inaugural Asian Cup with victories over Bahrain in Manama and Kuwait in Sydney, with Lebanon – the fourth team in Group D, forced to pull out of the qualifying tournament due to the recent conflict with Israel.

For Elrich, who was born in Sydney from Lebanese parents, it didn't matter that the match against Kuwait would have little bearing on qualification, as he focused on his ambitions at a national level and on next year’s Asian Cup.

"I want to cement a place in the starting 11. To be involved is good, but I’d like to push for a starting berth," said Elrich who has been on the fringes of the first team since he made his debut for the Socceroos against Venezuela in February 2004.

"We have a very good chance of winning the Asian Cup, and that would give a huge boost to Australian football. A lot of countries would take us more seriously," he added.

"We were playing teams that were a lot weaker than us in Oceania, so realistically it wasn’t a big challenge. Playing in Asia is going to be lot more difficult as there are quality teams like Korea, Japan, and Saudi Arabia, - countries who are very good footballing nations, so it’ll be a good test to see where we are."

Elrich's career has taken him to all parts of the globe, but it has not been easy.

A contract dispute with South Korean club Busan Icons in 2004 saw him sitting on the sidelines for more than seven months, and his move to Fulham in July 2005 has resulted in just six league appearances for the Londoners with his first season ending in a loan spell at Norwegian club Lyn Oslo.

Born: Sydney, Australia
Age: 25
Current club: Fulham (England)
Position: Midfield
National caps: 17
However, the 25 year old remains positive about his situation and believes he can make it in the prestigious English Premier League where he was the first player of Lebanese descent to take part in the competition.

"I'd like to break into the first team at Fulham, and I thought I did well last season - especially in my first start against Liverpool.

"It's been a bit frustrating, but I’m being patient. I feel that I can offer something, and I know I can play at that level."

At 17 years of age Elrich went on a football tour of Lebanon where he was scouted by Nejmeh Sporting Club – one of the most successful football clubs in Lebanon, and was also courted by the national team.

"Lebanon wanted me to play for them, but my coach at the time said I had the potential to play for Australia and luckily for me I made the right choice and it’s worked out well," Elrich said.

"I got to go to the Olympic Games, and I think the profile of Australian football has helped me a lot. It was an honour to be asked to play for Lebanon and I'm proud of my Lebanese heritage, but I was born and bred in Australia so I felt it was the right country to play for."

Sydney has a large Lebanese community - one which Elrich and his family are proud to be a part of as well as having a lot of family and close ties in his parents’ country of origin, so it was a big disappointment for the Socceroos when Lebanon cancelled their matches in Sydney and Beirut.

"I was gutted. It would've been the first time I got to play against Lebanon, and I’ve always wanted to play there to show the people what I can do. It would have been great to get to know the Lebanese players and to experience football in that culture.

"The match would have been great for me personally, a Lebanese-Australian coming to play against Lebanon, but who knows, maybe down the track there will be another opportunity," added Elrich.

When asked about the recent crisis in Lebanon and the impact it has had on the country of his ancestry, Elrich felt saddened by the war and expressed a sense of futility regarding the seemingly never-ending conflict.

"It's terrible. It was meaningless. Nothing was achieved by it, Hezbollah is still there, and all it did was ruin lives with many innocent people killed on both sides," he said.

"As much as I'd love to see peace in the Middle East, I think it will be very difficult to achieve"

"It's a shame because I think Lebanon was just coming out of a rebuilding phase and now everything has been set back 10-15 years.

"A lot of infrastructure was ruined in Lebanon - bridges, houses and roads - most of which weren’t even Hezbollah targets," Elrich added.

"As much as I'd love to see peace in the Middle East, I think it will be very difficult to achieve given the current circumstances. The Lebanese people are forgiving and would like to get on with their lives, but it will be very hard to forget what happened."

Development needed

Although Elrich is very much an Australian player who strives to do the best for his country of birth, he would still like to see Lebanese football improve and make its mark on the world stage, just like the Socceroos have of late.

"The standard [in Lebanon], is OK, but obviously it needs to develop. They need to start qualifying for big tournaments such as the Olympics and the Asian Cup," said the midfielder.

"They need to improve their youth system and develop their young players. Obviously the war has affected this as they’re out of the Asian Cup now, and as many of the Lebanese players are from the south of Lebanon that didn’t help."

In all his travels Elrich has been able to develop his football using different styles and influences from the various leagues he has played in, but it is not only on the pitch that his awareness has grown.

"Football has allowed me to travel and experience many cultures which have opened my eyes to a different world," he said.

"I think more people should visit the Middle East because when people think of this region they usually think of war, but in reality you come to places like here [Kuwait], Dubai, and even Beirut which are beautiful and amazing places," Elrich added.

"You develop a different way of thinking when you experience so many different cultures."

The night after Aljazeera spoke to him, Ahmad Elrich lasted just 30 minutes in the match against Kuwait. A serious knee injury forced him from the field, giving him yet another hurdle to overcome on his path to footballing glory.

It was a devastating blow for Elrich who has such a desire to succeed after getting back into first team contention, and he may wonder just what he has done to deserve another set-back at a critical point in his career.

However, with his focus, determination and a cultured mind, it won’t be long before the Lebanese-Australian gets another chance to play for his national team.