Ali Hamam

Ali Nizar Hamam (Arabic: علي نزار حمام‎; born 25 August 1986) is a Lebanese professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Lebanese Premier League club Nejmeh. His main qualities are his experience on the field and his defensive abilities, as well as his attacking threat.[1]

Ali Hamam
Hamam with Nejmeh in 2019
Personal information
Full name Ali Nizar Hamam
Date of birth (1986-08-25) 25 August 1986
Place of birth Anqoun, Lebanon
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Right-back
Club information
Current team
 Nejmeh
Number 19
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2007 Ahli Saida (1)
2007–2014 Nejmeh (13)
2014–2018 Zob Ahan 80 (4)
2018– Nejmeh 21 (4)
National team
2009–2019 Lebanon 52 (3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 27 October 2019

Starting his career at Taqadom Anqoun, Hamam moved to Ahli Saida in 2006, helping them reach promotion to the Lebanese Premier League. In 2008 he joined Nejmeh, where he won the league twice, the Super Cup once and the Elite Cup once. After six seasons at the club, Hamam moved to Iran at Zob Ahan, where he won the Hazfi Cup twice, and the Super Cup once. He returned to Nejmeh in 2018, winning the Elite Cup in his first season.

Hamam represented the Lebanon national team between 2009 and 2019; he has been capped 52 times, scoring three goals. Hamam was part of the team that played in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, Lebanon's first participation through regular qualification.

Club career
Ali Hamam for Zob Ahan in 2016

Hamam started his career with Taqadom Anqoun, before joining Ahli Saida in 2006, who had just gained promotion to the Lebanese Premier League. After finishing in seventh place in 2006–07, his team finished in last place in the 2007–08 season, and was relegated back to the Second Division. Hamam, however, remained in the top-flight, moving to Nejmeh.

He played for Nejmeh from 2008 to 2014 season, winning the league twice, once in the first season and another in his last season, as well as one Lebanese Super Cup and one Lebanese Elite Cup, both in 2014.

In 2014, he transferred to Iran to play for Zob Ahan for an estimated price of around €200,000. He won the Hazfi Cup twice, in 2014–15 and 2015–16, and the Iranian Super Cup in 2016. He played 80 league matches, scoring four times for the Iranian club.[2] In 2020, Hamam was voted best right-back of the 2016 AFC Champions League.[3]

Four years later, in 2018, he returned to Nejmeh. He won the Lebanese Elite Cup in 2018.

International career
Ali Hamam for Lebanon at the 2019 AFC Asian Cup

At international level, Hamam made his debut for the Lebanon national team in 2009. He played five matches for Lebanon at the 2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification, and all four matches at the 2009 Nehru Cup.

Hamam also played at the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification, where Lebanon won 2–1 over South Korea, 1–0 over Kuwait away from home, and 3–1 over the United Arab Emirates, causing the resignation of the latter team's coach. With these wins, and an added 2–2 tie with Kuwait, Lebanon secured a spot in the fourth round of the qualifications with 10 points. In the fourth round, Hamam played as well, but despite winning over Iran, and achieving a tie against both South Korea and Uzbekistan, Lebanon could not achieve better than the fifth place, and was therefore eliminated.

For the 2015 AFC Asian Cup qualification, Hamam played six matches for Lebanon against Iran, Kuwait, and Thailand, but the team failed to qualify, reaching third place in the group. Lebanon almost secured the best third place among all groups, but a difference of one goal made China take their spot.

In December 2018, he was called up for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup,[4] Lebanon's first participation in the tournament through regular qualification. He played in the first two group stage matches, both lost by Lebanon 0–2, against Qatar and Saudi Arabia. While Lebanon would eventually beat North Korea 4–1 in the final group stage match, Lebanon would fail to qualify to the knock-out stages of the tournament. On 16 October 2019, Hamam announced his retirement from international football,[5] with three goals in 52 matches.[6]

Career statistics

Club
As of 25 November 2017
Club Division Season League Hazfi Cup Asia Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Zob Ahan Pro League 2014–15 25050––300
2015–16 2415070361
2016–17 2424040322
2017–18 7 1 0 0 0 0 7 1
Career Total 8041401101074

International
Scores and results list Lebanon's goal tally first.[2]
GoalDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1 15 November 2015Saida International Stadium, Saida, Lebanon Laos4–07–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification
2 10 October 2017Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium, Beirut, Lebanon North Korea4–05–02019 AFC Asian Cup qualification
3 9 November 2017Singapore National Stadium, Kallang, Singapore Singapore1–01–0Friendly

Honours

Club

Nejmeh

Zob Ahan

Individual

Awards

See also

References
  1. "The final 23: who are they?". Lebanese Football Review. 9 January 2019. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  2. "Hamam, Ali". National Football Teams. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  3. "The best ACL2016 XI announced! | Football News | AFC Champions League 2020". the-AFC. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  4. "AC2019 Final Squads". www.the-afc.com. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
  5. "حمام يعتزل دولياً". الأخبار (in Arabic). Retrieved 16 October 2019.
  6. "Ali Nizar Hamam - International Appearances". www.rsssf.com. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
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