Abbas Saad: Difference between revisions
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==Coaching career== |
==Coaching career== |
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Saad was coach at [[New South Wales Premier League]] side [[Penrith Nepean United]], and in 2009 was named as Technical Youth Director by [[Sydney Olympic FC]]. He |
Saad was coach at [[New South Wales Premier League]] side [[Penrith Nepean United]], and in 2009 was named as Technical Youth Director by [[Sydney Olympic FC]]. He has also been the Head Coach for the Australian Deaf Football team.<ref>[http://www.deaffootballaustralia.com.au/board.html DFA Executive Board & Committee]</ref> Saad has also served as the Head Coach of the GIS Academy at the Garden International School in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.<ref>[http://www.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Sports/Story/A1Story20110724-290711.html Abbas Saad: Always on the ball], ''New Straits Times'', 24 July 2011</ref> |
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Following his conviction for match-fixing in Singapore, he received a lifetime ban from the [[Football Association of Singapore]], but this was lifted in 2009 and he is now able to be involved in footballing activities in Singapore again.<ref>[http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=649984&sec=global&root=global&cc=4716 Return of the 'Singapore Beckham'], ESPN Soccernet, 28 May 2009</ref><ref>[http://news.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Sports/Story/A1Story20090316-128920.html Party boy now a new man], ''The Straits Times'', 16 March 2009</ref> |
Following his conviction for match-fixing in Singapore, he received a lifetime ban from the [[Football Association of Singapore]], but this was lifted in 2009 and he is now able to be involved in footballing activities in Singapore again.<ref>[http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=649984&sec=global&root=global&cc=4716 Return of the 'Singapore Beckham'], ESPN Soccernet, 28 May 2009</ref><ref>[http://news.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Sports/Story/A1Story20090316-128920.html Party boy now a new man], ''The Straits Times'', 16 March 2009</ref> |
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Revision as of 06:25, 4 March 2012
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Abbas Saad | ||
| Date of birth | 1 December 1968 | ||
| Height | 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Attacking midfielder | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1985 | Sydney City | 14 | (2) |
| 1986-1988 | Sydney Olympic | 105 | (36) |
| 1989-1990 |
Singapore (Malaysian League Team) | 22 | (11) |
| 1991-1993 | Johor | 40 | (16) |
| 1993 | Sydney Olympic | 12 | (1) |
| 1994-1995 |
Singapore (Malaysian League Team) | 26 | (12) |
| 1996-1997 | Sydney Olympic | 12 | (1) |
| 1997-1999 | Sydney United | 27 | (9) |
| 1999-2000 | Northern Spirit | 13 | (3) |
| 2000 | Canterbury-Marrickville | 11 | (6) |
| 2001 | Fraser Park | 10 | (2) |
| 2002 | Auburn United | 10 | (5) |
| 2002-2003 | St George Saints | 11 | (4) |
| 2003 | Belmore Hercules | 9 | (4) |
| 2004 | Al-Saad | 10 | (3) |
| International career | |||
| 1992-1998 |
 Australia | 8 | (1) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Abbas Saad (born 1 December 1967, in Lebanon) is an Australian former international football (soccer) player.
International career
Born in Lebanon, Saad moved to Australia and started a professional footballing career. A midfielder with a good eye for goal, he represented Australia in a match against Russian club Torpedo Moscow and earned his first full cap against Malaysia two years later. After a six-year gap, he was recalled by then Socceroos coach Terry Venables for three games in 1998.[1] In all, he played eight times for his country.
Club career
Saad began his playing career in 1985 at Sydney City, before moving to Sydney Olympic.
He then played in the Malaysian League for Johor and Singapore in the early 1990s. He was a key member of teams which won the League and Malaysia Cup double with both Johor in 1991 and Singapore in 1994.
In the 1994 Malaysia Cup final, Saad scored a hat-trick in Singapore's 4-0 victory over Pahang.
Conviction for match-fixing in Singapore
Shortly after the 1994 triumph, Saad was charged with match-fixing in Singapore. He has always mainatined his innocence of this charge. During his trial, he admitted that he had been approached by his team-mate Michal Vana (a Czech player who was also charged with match-fixing but who jumped bail and left Singapore before he could be tried), who asked Saad to help him win certain matches by large margins during the 1994 season as Vana was betting on the outcome of the games. However Saad stated that he had refused to help Vana try to fix the scores of any games, and had merely told Vana that he would try to help the Singapore team win the games by as many goals as possible as this was his job. Saad had not reported Vana's requests or his knowledge that Vana was betting on games to team officials or the authorities, but stated during his trial that he had did tell Vana that he should stop betting on matches.[2]
In June 1995, the Singapore courts convicted Saad of match-fixing and fined him S$50,000. He then received a global playing ban from FIFA.[3]
Saad continues to maintain that he was innocent of match-fixing, and that he merely knew about attempts by Vana to fix matches was not involved himself.
Resumption to playing career
After his ban ended, Saad played for several teams in the National Soccer League in Australia – Sydney Olympic in 1996–97, Sydney United from 1997–99, and for Northern Spirit FC in the 1999–00 season.
Coaching career
Saad was coach at New South Wales Premier League side Penrith Nepean United, and in 2009 was named as Technical Youth Director by Sydney Olympic FC. He has also been the Head Coach for the Australian Deaf Football team.[4] Saad has also served as the Head Coach of the GIS Academy at the Garden International School in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.[5]
Following his conviction for match-fixing in Singapore, he received a lifetime ban from the Football Association of Singapore, but this was lifted in 2009 and he is now able to be involved in footballing activities in Singapore again.[6][7]
Broadcasting career
Saad's football ban in Singapore was only lifted in March 2009 after almost 14 years. In August 2009, he began appearing as a football expert in the studios of ESPN STAR Sports and for the SingTel coverage of the UEFA Champions League in Singapore, where his popularity once saw him dubbed as "The Singapore Beckham". He is also a regular studio guest for the FourFourTwo TV Show with the SuperSport channel on Malaysian network, Astro.[8]
References
- ^ Abbas: Finally My Hell Is Over, Australian FourFourTwo, 16 March 2009
- ^ Abbas: Vana offered to pay for goals, New Straits Times, 2 June 1995
- ^ "FAS lifts ban imposed on Aussie footballer Abbas Saad in 1995". Channel NewsAsia. 12 March 2009. Retrieved 4 March 2010.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ DFA Executive Board & Committee
- ^ Abbas Saad: Always on the ball, New Straits Times, 24 July 2011
- ^ Return of the 'Singapore Beckham', ESPN Soccernet, 28 May 2009
- ^ Party boy now a new man, The Straits Times, 16 March 2009
- ^ I was convicted of match-fixing: Abbas Saad, New Straits Times, 7 March 2011
External links
- Australian soccer players
- Australia international soccer players
- Australian expatriate soccer players
- Lebanese emigrants to Australia
- Lebanese footballers
- Expatriate footballers in Malaysia
- A.P.I.A. Leichhardt players
- Sydney Olympic players
- Sydney United players
- Northern Spirit FC players
- 1967 births
- Living people