Nayim

Mohamed Alí Amar (born 5 November 1966), known as Nayim, is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a central midfielder.

Nayim
Personal information
Full name Mohamed Alí Amar
Date of birth (1966-11-05) 5 November 1966
Place of birth Ceuta, Spain
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in)
Playing position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
Ceuta
1979–1985 Barcelona
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1984–1985 Barcelona C 27 (9)
1985–1987 Barcelona B 46 (7)
1987–1988 Barcelona 7 (0)
1988–1993 Tottenham Hotspur 112 (11)
1993–1997 Zaragoza 123 (5)
1997–2000 Logroñés 67 (5)
Total 382 (37)
National team
1984–1985 Spain U18 4 (0)
1985 Spain U19 1 (0)
1985 Spain U20 4 (0)
1987 Spain U21 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

He scored a last-minute goal for Real Zaragoza in the 1995 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final against Arsenal,[1] with a 40-yard lob in the final minute of extra time. During eight seasons in La Liga, he played 130 matches and scored five goals.

Having started his professional career with Barcelona, Nayim also represented Tottenham for five years.

Club career

Barcelona / Tottenham

At the age of 12, Nayim left his hometown of Ceuta and joined FC Barcelona's youth academy La Masia,[2] as the first team was managed by Terry Venables, but had very few opportunities over the course of two seasons. He arrived at Tottenham Hotspur in November 1988 originally on loan, signing the following year for £400,000; his first goal for the club came in a 2–0 win at Southampton, and he also found the net in Spurs' 3–0 home success over West Ham United.

Nayim made a total of 23 appearances in 1989–90, helping Tottenham to a third-place finish. The League Cup offered him his first experience of English cup competition, playing in four games en route to the quarter-finals and scoring three times.

The following season proved to be Nayim's most successful in English football. Although the team finished in only 11th, he appeared in 33 league matches and netted five times; his path to a Wembley final was again halted at the League Cup semi-final but, in the FA Cup, they overcame Nottingham Forest 2–1 in the final, with the player replacing injured Paul Gascoigne early in the game and setting up both goals to bring success to White Hart Lane.[3]

Nayim appeared in 31 league contests in 1991–92, adding six appearances in the League Cup campaign, including both legs of the semi-final loss to Nottingham Forest. The following season, he won the Goal of the Month competition for October with a volley against Liverpool;[4] he added a hat-trick in the FA Cup quarter-final at Manchester City, helping his team to a 4–2 win.[5]

Zaragoza

In May 1993, Nayim signed for Real Zaragoza for £500,000. His most notable moment in football came in the final seconds of extra-time in the 1995 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final by lobbing David Seaman from 45 yards to score a last-minute goal and win it 2–1 against Arsenal;[1] nearly two decades later, he told UEFA's website that the strike was premeditated as his experience in England had taught him that the Gunners played a high defensive line.[6]

Later years

Nayim retired in 2000, after a stint with Spanish Segunda División side CD Logroñés. He took up coaching afterwards, managing Atlético Ceuta and serving as assistant to AD Ceuta;[2] in late 2009, he joined former Zaragoza teammate José Aurelio Gay's coaching staff, being named his assistant manager after Marcelino García Toral's sacking.[7]

Nayim returned to his hometown in May 2016, to become sporting director at AD Ceuta FC.[8]

Personal life

Nayim, a Muslim, was the only player of the Islamic faith to compete in the inaugural Premier League season.[9] The eldest of his three children, Youssef, pursued a football career in the same position.[10]

In 2006, the Aragonese village of Trasmoz named a street 'Gol de Nayim' ('Nayim's Goal').[11]

Honours

Club

Barcelona

Tottenham

Zaragoza

International

Spain U20

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References
  1. "1994/95: Nayim's bolt from the blue sinks Arsenal". UEFA. 1 June 1995. Archived from the original on 22 August 2010. Retrieved 28 October 2010.
  2. Ortiz, Beatriz (6 February 2009). "Qué fue de Nayim... el héroe de la Recopa del Zaragoza" [What happened to Nayim...Zaragoza's Cup Winners' Cup hero]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 January 2010.
  3. "Spurs' glory overshadowed by Gazza's pain". ESPN. 15 March 2012. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  4. "Three Tottenham Hotspur cult heroes". Sport.co.uk. 11 March 2010. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  5. "Nayim hat trick overshadowed by riot". The Herald. 8 March 1993. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
  6. Martin, Richard (13 November 2014). "Nayim was 'looking at Seaman the whole night'". UEFA. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
  7. "Los de Guardiola se funden a Gay y sus hombres" [Guardiola's crew melts Gay and his men] (in Spanish). RTVE. 23 October 2010. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  8. "Luhay Hamido y Nayim tomarán las riendas del Ceuta la próxima semana" [Luhay Hamido and Nayim will take the reins at Ceuta next week] (in Spanish). Ceuta Actualidad. 14 May 2016. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
  9. "Premier League: How Muslims are changing English football culture". BBC Sport. 5 July 2013. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
  10. "El Recreativo ficha al hijo mayor de Nayim para su equipo juvenil" [Recreativo sign Nayim's eldest son for their youth team]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 19 August 2014. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
  11. "Vivir en la calle Gol de Nayim" [Living on the Gol de Nayim street]. El Periódico de Aragón (in Spanish). 18 June 2006. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
  12. "The F.A. Community Shield 1991 - Final". leballonrond.fr. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  13. "Zaragoza campeón" [Zaragoza champions] (PDF). Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 21 April 1994. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  14. Díez, Óscar (1 November 2014). "España en los mundiales sub'20: URSS 1985" [Spain in the under’20 World Cups: USSR 1985] (in Spanish). Cuadernos de Fútbol. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
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