Hatem Abd Elhamed

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Hatem Abd Elhamed
Personal information
Date of birth (1991-03-18) 18 March 1991 (age 33)
Place of birth Kafr Manda, Israel
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Defender
Team information
Current team
Hapoel Haifa
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)
2010–2011Charleroi 1 (0)
2011–2015 Ashdod 79 (1)
2015Dinamo București 13 (3)
2015–2017 Gent 1 (0)
2016–2017Ashdod 27 (0)
2017–2019 Hapoel Be'er Sheva 50 (4)
2019–2021 Celtic 13 (0)
2021–2023 Hapoel Be'er Sheva 42 (0)
2022–2023Hapoel Haifa 22 (1)
2023– Hapoel Haifa 12 (2)
International career
2009 Israel U18 2 (0)
2009 Israel U19 8 (1)
2017– Israel 16 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 15 April 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 15 November 2021

Hatem Abd Elhamed (or Elhamid, Arabic: حاتم عبد الحميد, Hebrew: חאתם עבד אלחמד; born 18 March 1991) is an Israeli professional footballer who plays as a defender for Hapoel Haifa and the Israel national team.

Early life[edit]

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[edit]

Early career[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

In August 2017, he signed a five-year contract at Hapoel Be'er Sheva.

Celtic[edit]

On 24 July 2019, Scottish champions Celtic announced the signing of Abd Elhamed from Hapoel Be’er Sheva on a four-year contract.[10] Celtic manager Neil Lennon said in February 2021 that Abd Elhamed had been suffering from homesickness, as his family was still living in Israel and he was unable to visit them due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[11]

Return to Be'er Sheva[edit]

Abd Elhamed returned to Hapoel Be'er Sheva in February 2021.[11]

International career[edit]

In 2009, Abd Elhamed was selected to represent Israel at the 2009 Maccabiah Games.[12]

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.[13]

In October 2020, Abd Elhamed tested positive for COVID-19 while away on international duty.[14]

Career statistics[edit]

As of match played 1 June 2022
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
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 Ha'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 Ha'Al 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 5 0 1 0 3 0 6 0 15 0
2020–21 Scottish Premiership 8 0 0 0 1 0 6 0 15 0
Celtic Total 13 0 1 0 4 0 12 0 30 0
Hapoel Be'er Sheva 2020–21 Ligat HaAl 9 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 10 0
2021–22 30 0 3 0 1 0 2 0 36 0
2022–23 3 0 1 0 0 0 4 0 8 0
Hapoet Be'er Sheva Total 42 0 5 0 1 0 6 0 54 0
Hapoel Haifa 2022–23 Ligat HaAl 22 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 22 1
Hapoet Haifa Total 22 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 22 1
Career Total 239 6 19 0 26 1 25 0 309 7

Honours[edit]

Hapoel Be'er Sheva
Celtic

References[edit]

  1. ^ Reporter, Jewish News. "Celtic closing in on signing of Arab-Israeli player Hatem Abd Elhamed". jewishnews.timesofisrael.com.
  2. ^ "Israeli-Arab star Hatem Abd Elhamed says it's an 'honour' to sign for Celtic". jewishnews.timesofisrael.com.
  3. ^ @Raphael_Gellar (8 July 2015). "Gent are showing what is so great about Israel. Jewish, Druze &now Muslim footballer. Hatem Abd Elhamed signs w/Gent" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  4. ^ Correspondent, Michael Grant Scottish Football. "Hatem Abd Elhamed: My late brother is with me when I play" – via www.thetimes.co.uk.
  5. ^ "גביע הטוטו ליגת WINNER בית ב'" [Toto Cup Winner League] (in Hebrew). Israel Football Association. Archived from the original on 2 August 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2011.
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ "Hatem Abd Elhamed komt Gentse defensie versterken". Archived from the original on 15 July 2015. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
  9. ^ "אלחמיד הושאל לאשדוד, שהפסידה במשחק אימון". אלחמיד הושאל לאשדוד, שהפסידה במשחק אימון.
  10. ^ "Hatem Abd Elhamed signs and is ready to give everything to Celtic". Celtic F.C. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
  11. ^ a b "Celtic: Hatem Abd Elhamed completes return to Hapoel Be'er Sheva". BBC Sport. 10 February 2021. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  12. ^ "סגלי נבחרות ישראל לטורניר הכדורגל של המכביה". Israel Football Association. 9 July 2009. Archived from the original on 29 June 2009. Retrieved 12 July 2009.
  13. ^ "Poland v Israel game report". UEFA. 10 June 2019.
  14. ^ "Celtic's Elhamed tests positive for Covid-19". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 October 2020.

External links[edit]