Alexander Michel Melki

Robert Alexander Robert Michel Melki[lower-alpha 1] (Arabic: روبير الكساندر روبير ميشيل ملكي‎, Lebanese Arabic pronunciation: [ˈroːbert ʔalekˈsander miˈʃel ˈmelki, -ke]; born 14 November 1992) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Qatari club Al-Khor and the Lebanon national team.[1] While mainly a center-back at the club level, Michel Melki is deployed as a right-back at the international level.[2]

Alexander Michel Melki
Michel Melki with Lebanon at the 2019 AFC Asian Cup
Personal information
Full name Robert Alexander Robert Michel Melki
Date of birth (1992-11-14) 14 November 1992
Place of birth Västertälje, Södertälje, Sweden
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Centre-back
Club information
Current team
 Al-Khor
Number 22
Youth career
Syrianska FC
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2017 Syrianska FC 99 (3)
2017–2018 AFC Eskilstuna 52 (0)
2019– Al-Khor 34 (0)
National team‡
2011 Sweden U19 1 (0)
2013 Sweden U21 4 (0)
2018– Lebanon 10 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 12:36, 21 December 2020 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 16:28, 12 November 2020 (UTC)

Swedish by birth, Michel Melki represented them at youth level before also acquiring Lebanese nationality through his grandfather on his father's side.[3] He decided to switch allegiance to Lebanon and made his senior international debut in 2018. After following his father's tracks playing at Syrianska for six years, Michel Melki moved to AFC Eskilstuna in 2017, helping them gain promotion back to the Allsvenskan the following season. In 2019, he moved to Qatari side Al-Khor.

Early life

Alexander was born and raised in Sweden, but has also acquired Lebanese nationality due to his Assyrian origins, making him eligible for the Lebanese national team.[4] He has a younger brother, Felix, who also plays football.[5] Felix stated in an interview with TRT World that his grandfather was Lebanese, and that two of his father's sisters were born in Lebanon.[3]

While his mother is Swedish, his father, Robert Michel, is of Syriac descent. He was a Syrianska player when the team was still in the lower divisions of Swedish football.[6] It is based in Södertälje and is supported by Syriacs worldwide.[7]

Club career

Syrianska
Alexander Michel with Syrianska in 2013

Alexander Michel started his career at Syrianska. His personal debut in the first team and in the Allsvenskan took place on 20 June 2011 at the age of 18, with his team being defeated 3–0 against Djurgården.[8] During that season he made a total of 10 league appearances. In 2012 he found further space, with 23 appearances of which 18 as a starter.

Exactly two years after his debut in the Swedish championship, on 20 June 2013 Michel seriously damaged the cruciate ligament of his left knee during a home match against Malmö FF.[9] The injury forced him to stay out of action for a year, with his next official match being played on 25 June 2014 in the Superettan.

Having recovered from the injury, in July 2015 Michel broke the same cruciate ligament damaged two years earlier forcing him to finish the season in advance.[10] His last year at Syrianska was in 2016, with 25 league appearances in the league.

AFC Eskilstuna

After the expiration of his contract with Syrianska,[11] Michel carried out trials with Hammarby and Djurgården in January 2017.[12] A few weeks later, he signed a two-year contract with Allsveskan side AFC Eskilstuna.[13][14]

In his first season in the club, Alexander played 23 games in the Allsvenskan coming last in the league.[1] The following season, relegated to the Superettan, he played 29 league games as well as both play-off games to promote his team back to the first division.[1][15][16]

2018–19 season

On 23 January 2019, during the winter transfer window, Al Kass Sports Channels officially announced the signing of Alexander Michel Melki to Qatar Stars League side Al-Khor SC till the end of the season.[17][18] In his first season, in 2018–19, Michel Melki played seven league games,[19] and helped his side avoid relegation by finishing 10th in the league.[20]

2019–20 season

During the 2019–20 season, Michel Melki played 20 of the 22 regular season games as a starter, missing two games due to injury, and provided two assists.[21] As Al-Khor finished in 11th place, they played the relegation play-off game against Qatari Second Division side Al-Markhiya.[22] They won the encounter 2–0 after extra time, and avoided relegation once again.[23]

2020–21 season

Michel Melki finished runner-up with Al-Khor in the Qatar Stars Cup, featuring in the final against eventual winners Al-Rayyan.[24]

International career
Michel Melki with Lebanon against North Korea in 2019

After playing for the U19 and U21 sides of Sweden, in 2018 Michel Melki received a call-up for Lebanon due to his origins.[4] His international debut came in November against Uzbekistan, with the match ending in a goalless draw as he played the whole 90 minutes.[25] He would be called up for the 2019 Asian Cup, alongside his brother Felix, one month later.[26]

On his birthday, on 14 November 2019, Michel Melki played the whole 90 minutes in a 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier match against South Korea.[27] Lebanon held on to a 0–0 draw, with Michel Melki neutralizing Tottenham Hotspur forward Son Heung-min;[28] he was widely regarded as the Man of the Match by Lebanese fans.[29]

Career statistics

International
As of match played 12 November 2020
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Lebanon 2018 1 0
2019 8 0
2020 1 0
Total 10 0

Honours

Club

Al-Khor

See also

Notes
  1. Commonly known as Alexander Michel in Swedish, Robert Melki (Arabic: روبير ملكي‎) in Arabic, or Alexander Michel Melki in English.

References
  1. Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Alexander Michel Melki". www.national-football-teams.com. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  2. "The final 23: who are they?". Lebanese Football Review. 9 January 2019. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  3. "How diaspora footballers came together under the Lebanese flag". TRT World. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  4. "The Lebanon squad to face Uzbekistan and Australia has been named". YOUR HOME OF NEWS. 8 November 2018. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  5. "AFC Asian Cup 2019: Brothers competing in the continental tournament". FOX Sports Asia. 2 January 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  6. "Alexander Michel är redo för nästa steg | Matchdax". matchdax.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  7. "The strangest football derby in the world - The National Newspaper". 25 September 2010. Archived from the original on 25 September 2010. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  8. "Allsvenskan SvFF - Svensk fotboll". www.svenskfotboll.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  9. "Alexander Michel knä- skadad: "Är inte bra" | Allsvenskan | Expressen". www.expressen.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  10. "Tunga beskedet för Syrianska - nyckelspelare borta året ut". fotbollskanalen (in Swedish). Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  11. "Framtiden oklar för Alex Michel – hoppas på flytt i vinter: "Behöver en liten nytändning"". lt.se (in Swedish). 25 December 2016. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  12. "Efter Hammarby-test - nu tränar Michel med Djurgården -FotbollDirekt". www.fotbolldirekt.se. Archived from the original on 23 April 2017. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  13. "AFC Eskilstuna värvar Alexander Michel". www.expressen.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  14. "Fotbolltransfers.com - Officiellt: Alexander Michel klar för AFC Eskilstuna". fotbolltransfers.com. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  15. "Athletic Eskilstuna v IF Brommapojkarna". svenskfotboll.se. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  16. "IF Brommapojkarna v Athletic Eskilstuna". svenskfotboll.se. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  17. الكاس, قنوات (23 January 2019). "خاص للكاس: المدافع اللبناني روبرت ميشيل ميلكي وقع رسميا لنادي #الخور حتى نهاية الموسمpic.twitter.com/zBmCmSixZD". @alkasschannel (in Arabic). Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  18. Lebanon, Football. "روبرت ملكي رسميا الى الخور القطري". football-lebanon.com. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  19. "Lebanon - Alexander Michel - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway". us.soccerway.com. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  20. "Summary - Stars League - Qatar - Results, fixtures, tables and news - Soccerway". us.soccerway.com. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  21. Lebanon, F. A. (31 August 2020). "Lebanese Players Abroad: August 2020, Week 4". FA Lebanon. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  22. "Summary - Stars League - Qatar - Results, fixtures, tables and news - Soccerway". us.soccerway.com. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  23. "Summary - Play-offs 1/2 - Qatar - Results, fixtures, tables and news - Soccerway". us.soccerway.com. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  24. Mahfoud, Maroun (23 November 2020). "Lebanese Players Abroad: November 2020, week 4". FA Lebanon. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
  25. Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Uzbekistan vs. Lebanon (0:0)". www.national-football-teams.com. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  26. "AC2019 Final Squads". www.the-afc.com. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
  27. "MD5 - Group H: Lebanon 0-0 Korea Republic". www.the-afc.com. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  28. Rigga, Skonto (14 November 2019). "Mane carries strong FPL form onto the international stage". Fantasy Football Scout. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  29. Labellarte, Giuseppe (14 November 2019). "Tottenham Hotspur ace Son Heung-min mocked by Lebanon fans after South Korea stalemate". HITC. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
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