Hatem Abd Elhamed
Hatem Abd Elhamed (or Elhamid, Arabic: حاتم عبد الحميد, Hebrew: חאתם עבד אלחמד; born 18 March 1991) is an Arab-Israeli professional association footballer who plays for Scottish Premiership side Celtic as a defender.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 18 March 1991 | ||
| Place of birth | Kafr Manda, Israel | ||
| Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Playing position(s) | Defender | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Celtic | ||
| Number | 44 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2007–2009 | Bnei Sakhnin | ||
| 2009–2010 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2010–2011 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | 0 | (0) |
| 2010–2011 | → Charleroi (loan) | 1 | (0) |
| 2011–2015 | Ashdod | 79 | (1) |
| 2015 | → Dinamo București (loan) | 13 | (3) |
| 2015–2017 | Gent | 1 | (0) |
| 2016–2017 | → Ashdod (loan) | 27 | (0) |
| 2017–2019 | Hapoel Be'er Sheva | 50 | (4) |
| 2019– | Celtic | 4 | (0) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2009 | Israel U18 | 2 | (0) |
| 2009 | Israel U19 | 8 | (1) |
| 2017– | Israel | 8 | (0) |
|
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16 November 2019 ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 16 November 2019 | |||
Early life
Elhamed was born in Kafr Manda, Israel, to a Muslim-Arab family.[1][2][3] His younger brother Muhammad died in a car accident in 2008.[4]
Club career
Early career
Abd Hamed started playing football at the age of 16 in the youth teams of Bnei Sakhnin. He did this for two years, and he was transferred to Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2009. He played one season in the youth series. In the 2010/11 season, he signed a professional contract in his team Maccabi Tel Aviv FC. Abd Elhamed made his professional debut on 8 August 2010 in a Toto Cup match against his boyhood club, Bnei Sakhnin.[5] On 1 February 2011, Abd Elhamid was loaned to Charleroi in Belgium.[6] A month later, he made his league debut for Charleroi, coming on as a substitute for Ederson in the 73rd minute against Standard Liège on 12 March 2011.[7] Charleroi had stipulated a purchase option, but did not purchase the player.
Ashdod
The next season, he was transferred to F.C. Ashdod, a team in the First Division. In his first season, he started 8 times in the basic team, and he was 15 times a substitute. In the following 2012–13 season, he became a regular player in the team. He was 20 times in the starting team and two times a substitute. On 6 January 2013, he scored his first professional goal at the age of 21. This game against Maccabi Haifa ended in a 4–1 defeat. In his third season (2013/14), he was 17 times in the starting team and four times a substitute.
In summer 2014, he started his fourth season at Ashdod. The first sixteen matches of the competition, he was 12 times on the field, of which 7 times in the basic team. Nevertheless, it was decided to send him on loan to the Romenian team Dinamo Bucharest.
His period on loan at the Romanian top team was his second passage outside Israel. He was directly selected for the first team in 13 of the last 17 matches, almost every time as a starting player. On 24 April, he scored his first goal in the team, in a 1–1 draw against Cluj. In May, the last month of the season, he made scored more goals and gave two assists. However, Dinamo Bucharest was not willing to pay the transfer sum of €100,000, so Elhamed returned to Israel. In June 2015, he started a trial at Club Brugge.
In July 2015, he signed until mid-2019 at Belgian side K.A.A. Gent.[8] On 15 July 2016 loaned back to F.C. Ashdod.[9]
Hapoel Be'er Sheva
In August 2017, he signed a five-year contract at Hapoel Be'er Sheva.
International career
In 2009, Abd Elhamid was selected to represent Israel at the 2009 Maccabiah Games.[11]
He made his Israel national football team debut on 10 June 2019 in a Euro 2020 qualifier against Poland, as an 82nd-minute substitute for Nir Bitton.[12]
Career statistics
As of 7 November 2019
| Club | Season | League | Cup | League Cup | Continental | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Maccabi Tel Aviv | 2010–11 | Liga Al | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Charleroi (loan) | 2010–11 | Pro League | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Ashdod | 2011–12 | Ligat HaAl | 23 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 0 |
| 2012–13 | 22 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 1 | ||
| 2013–14 | 21 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | - | 0 | 0 | 22 | 0 | ||
| 2014–15 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 0 | ||
| Ashdod Total | 79 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 90 | 1 | ||
| Dinamo București (loan) | 2014–15 | Liga I | 13 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 3 |
| Gent | 2015–16 | Pro League | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Ashdod (loan) | 2016–17 | Ligat HaAl | 27 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 0 |
| Hapoel Be'er Sheva | 2017–18 | Ligat HaAl | 23 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 39 | 2 |
| 2018–19 | 26 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 3 | ||
| Hapoet Be'er Sheva Total | 49 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 66 | 5 | ||
| Celtic | 2019–20 | Scottish Premiership | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 13 | 0 |
| Career Total | 174 | 8 | 13 | 0 | 24 | 1 | 13 | 0 | 224 | 9 | ||
References
- https://jewishnews.timesofisrael.com/celtic-closing-in-on-signing-of-arab-israeli-player-hatem-abd-elhamed/
- https://jewishnews.timesofisrael.com/israeli-arab-star-hatem-abd-elhamed-says-its-an-honour-to-sign-for-celtic/
- https://twitter.com/raphael_gellar/status/618724456966418432
- https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/hatem-abd-elhamed-my-late-brother-is-with-me-when-i-play-b7v8ghh9w
- "גביע הטוטו ליגת WINNER בית ב'" [Toto Cup Winner League] (in Hebrew). Israel Football Association. Retrieved 19 February 2011.
- Temur, Lior (1 February 2011). אוהדי מכבי ת"א עשויים לפקח על מכירת הכרטיסים [Maccabi T.A. Fans To Look After Ticket Sales] (in Hebrew). One.co.il. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
- Goren, Boaz (12 March 2011). יום רע לישראלים בבלגיה, טוב למליקסון בפולין [A Bad Day For Israelis In Belgium, Good For Melikson In Poland] (in Hebrew). One.co.il. Retrieved 12 March 2011.
- "Hatem Abd Elhamed komt Gentse defensie versterken". Archived from the original on 2015-07-15. Retrieved 2015-07-28.
- "אלחמיד הושאל לאשדוד, שהפסידה במשחק אימון". אלחמיד הושאל לאשדוד, שהפסידה במשחק אימון.
- "Hatem Abd Elhamed signs and is ready to give everything to Celtic". Celtic F.C. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
- "סגלי נבחרות ישראל לטורניר הכדורגל של המכביה". Israel Football Association. 2009-07-09. Archived from the original on 2009-06-29. Retrieved 2009-07-12.
- "Poland v Israel game report". UEFA. 10 June 2019.
- "Celtic champions & Hearts relegated after SPFL ends season". BBC Sport. 18 May 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
External links
- Hatem Abd Elhamed at RomanianSoccer.ro (in Romanian) and StatisticsFootball.com
- Hatem Abd Elhamed at Soccerway
- Hatem Abd Elhamed at National-Football-Teams.com
- עבד אלחמיד חאתם (in Hebrew). Israel Football Association. Archived from the original on 2007-12-18. Retrieved 19 February 2011.