Jamal Taha

Jamal Taha
	Taha in 2019
Personal information
Full name	Jamal Khamis Taha
Date of birth	23 November 1966
Place of birth	Cairo, Egypt
Position(s)	Midfielder
Club information
Current team	Lebanon (manager)
Youth career
1977–1986	Ansar
Senior career*
National team
Teams managed
2005–2006	Ansar (assistant)
2006–2008	Ansar
2011–2013	Ansar
2013–2015	Shabab Sahel
2015–2016	Ansar
2017–2018	Tadamon Sour
2019–2020	Lebanon (assistant)
2020–	Lebanon
	* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Jamal Khamis Taha (Arabic: جمال خميس طه‎; born 23 November 1966) is a Lebanese football manager and former player who is the manager of the Lebanon national team.

Nicknamed "the Brown Gazelle" (Arabic: الغزال الأسمر‎), Taha represented the Lebanon national team between 1993 and 2000, scoring 11 goals in 43 appearances. He captained Lebanon at the 2000 AFC Asian Cup, during the country's first appearance in the competition.

Early life

Jamal Taha was born in Cairo, Egypt,[1] to an Egyptian father and a Lebanese mother; he obtained Lebanese citizenship through naturalization in 1992.[2] Taha joined Ansar's youth team in 1977.[2]

Club career

Nicknamed "the Brown Gazelle" (Arabic: الغزال الأسمر‎),[3][4] Taha began his senior career with Ansar in 1986, where he ended his career in 2002.[2] He wore the number 6 on his jersey,[4] and was the club's captain from 1997 onwards.[2]

International career

Taha was the national team's captain during the 2000 AFC Asian Cup in Lebanon.[5]

Managerial career

Taha started out as Adnan Hamad's assistant manager at Ansar during the 2005–06 season; he helped his side win the domestic double (Lebanese Premier League and Lebanese FA Cup).[6] The following season, in 2006–07, Taha was appointed first manager of Ansar, winning Ansar's second consecutive domestic double.[6] He remained head coach until the end of the 2007–08 season, where he lost the league title to Ahed by one point.[6]

In July 2011, Taha was re-appointed manager of Ansar, staying there until the end of the 2012–13 season.[7][8] He won the 2011–12 Lebanese FA Cup, and the 2012 Lebanese Super Cup.[9]

On 10 September 2013, he took charge of Shabab Sahel;[8] he won the Lebanese Challenge Cup in 2014. After two seasons he returned to Ansar, managing them during the 2015–16 season, before resigning after the first league game of the following season in September 2016.[7] In January 2017, Taha became manager of Tadamon Sour until June 2018.[7]

On 3 June 2019, he was appointed assistant manager of the Lebanon national team under Liviu Ciobotariu's tenure.[10] After one year, on 17 June 2020, the Lebanese Football Association (LFA) decided not to extend Ciobotariu's contract, and appointed Taha as the national team's coach.[11] He became the first Lebanese coach of the national team in almost 12 years, since the appointment of Emile Rustom in November 2008.[4][12]

Career statistics

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Lebanon	1993	8	1
	1994	0	0
	1995	1	1
	1996	7	3
	1997	9	1
	1998	7	4
	1999	2	0
	2000	9	1
Total		43	11

Scores and results list Lebanon's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Taha goal.

List of international goals scored by Jamal Taha
No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	7 May 1993	Bourj Hammoud Stadium, Beirut, Lebanon	India	2–0	2–2	1994 FIFA World Cup qualification
2	6 December 1995	Bourj Hammoud Stadium, Beirut, Lebanon	Slovakia XI	1–1	2–1	Friendly
3	12 May 1996	Bourj Hammoud Stadium, Beirut, Lebanon	Turkmenistan	2–1	3–1	1996 AFC Asian Cup qualification
4	5 December 1996	Beirut Municipal Stadium, Beirut, Lebanon	Georgia	3–2	4–2	Friendly
5	8 December 1996	Beirut Municipal Stadium, Beirut, Lebanon	Georgia	2–1	3–2	Friendly
6	2 February 1997	Bourj Hammoud Stadium, Beirut, Lebanon	Jordan	1–0	1–0	Friendly
7	19 October 1998	Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates	Sudan	1–0	1–1	1998 Friendship Tournament
8	30 November 1998	Surat Thani Provincial Stadium, Surat Thani, Thailand	China PR	1–2	1–4	1998 Asian Games
9	4 December 1998	Surat Thani Provincial Stadium, Surat Thani, Thailand	Cambodia	1–0	5–1	1998 Asian Games
10	4 December 1998	Surat Thani Provincial Stadium, Surat Thani, Thailand	Cambodia	4–1	5–1	1998 Asian Games
11	13 May 2000	Limassol, Cyprus	Jordan	–	1–1	Friendly

Managerial

As of 12 November 2020

Managerial record by club and tenure
Team	From	To	Record					Ref.
Team	From	To	M	W	D	L	Win %	Ref.
Ansar	December 2006	July 2008	50	34	11	5	068.0	[6]
Ansar	July 2011	June 2013	56	27	16	13	048.2	[7][8]
Shabab Sahel	September 2013	June 2015	57	19	17	21	033.3	[7][8]
Ansar	July 2015	September 2016	33	16	10	7	048.5	[7]
Tadamon Sour	January 2017	June 2018	40	15	10	15	037.5	[7]
Lebanon	June 2020	present	1	0	0	1	000.0	[11]
Total			237	111	64	62	046.8

Honours

Player

Ansar

Lebanese Premier League: 1987–88, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99
Lebanese FA Cup: 1987–88, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1998–99, 2001–02
Lebanese Elite Cup: 1997, 2000
Lebanese Federation Cup: 1999, 2000
Lebanese Super Cup: 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999

Manager