Youssef Mohamad

Youssef Wasef Mohamad (Arabic: يوسف واصف محمد‎, born 1 July 1980), also known as Dodo (Arabic: دودو‎), is a Lebanese former professional footballer who is the technical advisor of the Lebanon national team.

Youssef Mohamad
Mohamad in 2018
Personal information
Full name Youssef Wasef Mohamad
Date of birth (1980-07-01) 1 July 1980
Place of birth Beirut, Lebanon
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Defender
Youth career
Safa
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1999–2002 Safa 25+ (4)
2002–2004 Olympic Beirut (4)
2004–2007 SC Freiburg 87 (9)
2007–2011 1. FC Köln 120 (10)
2011–2013 Al-Ahli 35 (5)
2016 Nejmeh 0 (0)
Total 267+ (32)
National team
2002 Lebanon U23
2000–2016 Lebanon 75 (3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Mohamad is one of the most successful players in the history of Lebanese football, captaining Köln during his spell with the club in the Bundesliga, as well as the Lebanon national team.

Club career

Safa

Mohamad began his career at Safa Sporting Club, signing to the first-team from the youth team. He got promoted to the first team in 1999 and played for 3 years, making 25 league appearances and scoring 3 times.

Olympic Beirut

In 2002, he transferred to Olympic Beirut, a club that was founded in 2000. Mohamed went on to win the Lebanese Premier League and Lebanese FA Cup titles in 2003.

Freiburg

Mohamad joined Freiburg from Olympic Beirut] in 2004 at the recommendation of his international teammate, Roda Antar. He scored his first goals, a brace, in a 3–3 draw against Greuther Fürth on 22 September 2006.[1] Although Freiburg were relegated to the 2. Bundesliga, Mohamad remained there until his transfer to 1. FC Köln in 2007 along with Roda Antar.

1. FC Köln
Mohamad at 1. FC Köln in 2007 and 2009, respectively

Mohamad signed for Köln on 17 July 2007. They were promoted to the German first division for the 2008–09 season after Youssef and his team-mate Roda Antar made a great season.

In the 2009–10 season he scored against Borussia Dortmund in a thrilling but disappointing 3–2 loss. After teammate Kevin McKenna made it 2-1, Mohamad equalized the score in the 88th minute with a right footed goal. Kevin Grosskreutz then went on to snatch the victory for Borussia in the last minute.[2] Mohamad received three yellow cards throughout the season.

In January 2010, Köln coach Zvonimir Soldo announced that Mohamad would be the captain of the club.

It took 92 seconds for him to see a red card on the opening day of the 2010–11 season for which he received a three match ban.

Al-Ahli

On 19 August 2011, the official website of Al-Ahli announced that they had come to an agreement with 1. FC Köln for the transfer of Mohamad to the UAE League. Mohamad had reportedly signed a two-year contract after successfully passing a medical.[3] It was reported that Köln would not allow Mohamad to leave until they could find a replacement for him, and the club board said that it was an honour to have the Lebanese defender.[4]

Nejmeh

In the summer of 2016, Mohamad signed with Nejmeh. However he did not manage a single appearance as he was ruled out for injury; he subsequently retired from football in September of the same year.[5]

International career

On 16 August 1999, Mohamed debuted for Lebanon in the 1999 Pan Arab Games.[6] On 25 June 2000, Mohamad scored a free kick, his first international goal, in a 3–1 home victory against Kuwait.[7]

In 2000, aged 20, Mohamad was selected to represent Lebanon at the 2000 Asian Cup. This opportunity of playing in a major tournament at a young age gave him a big chance to broaden his career. On 12 October, he played a full 90 minutes in Lebanon's opening 4–0 loss against Iran. On 15 October, he was substituted onto the field in the 89th minute for Abbas Chahrour in a 2–2 draw against Iraq. However, he would not take part in Lebanon's 1–1 draw with Thailand on 18 October.[8]

Mohamad scored in a friendly match against Bahrain on 19 September 2003.[9]

During 2007, Mohamad reportedly had a disagreement with Lebanon's assistant coach Adnan Meckdache where he had intensely criticized the Lebanese Football Federation and the national team coach. He was suspended by the Football Federation and would be allowed to return on the condition that he would apologize to the Lebanese F.A. and its national team coach for the critical stance.

Prior to the start of the third round World Cup qualifiers against South Korea and United Arab Emirates during September 2011, it was reported by Lebanese website sports-leb.com that Mohamad had traveled to Goyang to join the squad for the match.[10]

Managerial career

After retiring from football, in 2016 Youssef Mohamed took the role of technical advisor for the Lebanon national team.

Career statistics

Club
Club Season League
DivisionAppsGoals
Safa 1999–00Lebanese Premier League1
2000–01Lebanese Premier League112
2001–02Lebanese Premier League141
Total 25+ 4
Olympic Beirut 2002–03Lebanese Premier League
2003–04Lebanese Premier League4
Total 4+
Freiburg 2004–05Bundesliga290
2005–062. Bundesliga271
2006–072. Bundesliga318
Total 87 9
1. FC Köln 2007–082. Bundesliga315
2008–09Bundesliga301
2009–10Bundesliga312
2010–11Bundesliga282
Total 120 10
Al-Ahli Dubai 2011–12 UAE Pro League 13 2
2012–13 UAE Pro League 22 3
2013–14 UAE Pro League 0 0
Total 35 5
Nejmeh 2016–17 Lebanese Premier League 0 0
Career total 267+ 32+

International
Scores and results list Lebanon's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Mohamad goal.
List of international goals scored by Youssef Mohamad
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
125 June 2000Tripoli Municipal Stadium, Tripoli, Lebanon Kuwait3–13–1Friendly
219 September 2003Bahrain National Stadium, Riffa, Bahrain Bahrain2–43–4Friendly
312 November 2015Saida International Stadium, Beirut, Lebanon Laos1–07–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Club

Olympic Beirut

Al Ahli Dubai

See also

References
  1. "SC Freiburg 3–3 Greuther Fürth" (in German). kicker.de. 22 September 2006. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
  2. "Dortmund prevail in dramatic encounter". bundesliga.de. 17 January 2010. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
  3. "Al Ahli add more teeth to squad, sign Lebanese defender Mohamad". The Gulf Today. Retrieved 3 May 2012.
  4. Melzer, Oliver. "FC Koln's Youssef Mohammad still not an Al Ahli player despite completing a medical in Dubai". Bettot.com. Retrieved 26 August 2012.
  5. "المدافع اللبناني يوسف محمد يعلن اعتزاله". beIN SPORTS (in Arabic). Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  6. "International Matches 1999 - Asia".
  7. Courtney, Barrie (2 February 2005). "2000 MATCHES". RSSSF. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  8. Stokkermans, Karel (4 March 2011). "Asian Nations Cup 2000 Final Tournament - Extended File". RSSSF. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
  9. Cazal, Jean-Michek (2 February 2005). "2003 MATCHES". RSSSF. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  10. عقد المنتخب يكتمل بانضمام محمد وديوب والسفير اللبناني يولم على شرفه (in Arabic). sports-leb.com. Retrieved 26 August 2012.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.