Ali Hamam

Ali Hamam

Personal information
Date of birth	(1986-08-25) 25 August 1986
Place of birth	Beirut, Lebanon
Position(s)	Right Back , Center Back
Team information
Current team	Zob Ahan
Number	18
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2008–2014	Al-Nejmeh	185	(11)
2014–	Zob Ahan	41	(0)
International career‡
2009–	Lebanon	22	(3)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of May 17, 2015 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 12 November 2015

Ali Hamam (Arabic: علي حمام; born 25 August 1986) is a Lebanese footballer who plays for Zob Ahan in Iran Pro League.

He started his career with Al-Taqaddom Anqoun, where his talent attracted the attention of the Al-Ahli Sports Club, which won the Lebanese Second Division. He played for Al-Ahli Sports Club in the Lebanese Premier League in the 2007/2008 season but the team was relegated to the Lebanese Second Division after coming in 12th position. Ali Hamam attracted high attention of the media and the coaches in this season due to his young age and impressive performance. He did not wait long before transferring to Al-Nejmeh which is considered one of the strongest teams in Lebanese Premier League with the largest number of fans in Lebanon.

He played for Al-Nejmeh from the 2008/2009 season until the 2013/2014 season where he triumphed the league championship twice, once in the first season and another in his last season. He scored 11 goals and Al-Nejmeh with him was always in the first three places in the League throughout all these spectacular six seasons. When Hamam was playing for Al-Nejmeh, the team won the championship twice, was a runner-up trice, and was in third place only once 2010/2011 season, only one point after the Al-Safa. He also achieved the Lebanese Super Cup and the Lebanese Elite Cup in his last season in 2014, which was a great year for him, carrying the three trophies, and achieving even more with the national team.

At international level, he joined the Lebanon since 2009 and played several official and friendly matches. He played 5 matches for Lebanon at 2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification and all 4 matches at 2009 Nehru Cup International Football Tournament.

He also played for the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC) where Lebanon won 2-1 over South Korea in a historic match, won 1-0 over Kuwait in Kuwait, and 3-1 over United Arab Emirates, causing the resignation of the latter team's coach. With these wins and an added 2-2 tie with Kuwait, the Lebanon secured a spot in the second round of qualifications with its 10 points, and Hamam was a member of the starting squad in all these games. In the second round, Hamam played as well but despite winning over Iran, and achieving a tie with South Korea, and Uzbekistan, Lebanon could not make better than the fifth place, and was therefore disqualified, where Iran and South Korea secured their seats in the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

For the 2015 AFC Asian Cup qualification, Ali played 6 matches for Lebanon against Iran, Kuwait, and Thailand, but the team failed to qualify, falling in the third place above Thailand. The team almost secured the best third place in all groups, but a difference of one goal made China take his spot, leaving Lebanon in the second best third place.

In 2014, he transferred to Iran to play for Zob Ahan for an estimated price of around 200,000 Euros. His current market value is considered to be approximately 250,000 euros.

Club Career Statistics

As of 28 May 2015.

Club	Division	Season	League		Hazfi Cup		Asia		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Zob Ahan	Pro League	2014–15	26	0	5	0	–	–	31	0
		2015–16	15	0	3	0	0	0	18	0
Career Total			41	0	8	0	0	0	49	0

Honours

Club

Zob Ahan

• Hazfi Cup (1): 2014–15

External links

• Ali Hamam at National-Football-Teams.com
• Profile at World Football
• http://ca.soccerway.com/players/ali-hamam/70716/