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Kenny Saief

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Kenny Saief
Saief with the United States in 2017
Personal information
Full name Kenneth Hasan Saief
Date of birth (1993-12-17) December 17, 1993 (age 30)
Place of birth Panama City, Florida, U.S.[1]
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)[2]
Position(s) Left midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Neftçi
Number 5
Youth career
2005–2006 Maccabi Haifa
2006–2008 Hapoel Haifa
2008 Maccabi Netanya
2008–2010 Beitar Nes Tubruk
2010–2011 TSV 1860 München
2011 Bnei Sakhnin
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2010–2011 Bnei Sakhnin 6 (1)
2011–2012 Hapoel Haifa 3 (0)
2012–2013 Ironi Kiryat Shmona 2 (0)
2013–2014 Hapoel Ramat HaSharon 28 (9)
2014–2018 Gent 81 (13)
2018 → Anderlecht (loan) 17 (1)
2018–2022 Anderlecht 12 (0)
2019 → FC Cincinnati (loan) 9 (1)
2020–2021 → Lechia Gdańsk (loan) 33 (1)
2021–2022 → Ashdod (loan) 30 (4)
2022– Neftçi 32 (8)
International career‡
2008–2009 Israel U16 9 (1)
2011 Israel U18 8 (0)
2011 Israel U19 2 (2)
2013–2015 Israel U21 2 (0)
2016 Israel 2 (0)
2017–2018 United States 4 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of May 4, 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of November 15, 2018

Kenneth Hasan "Kenny" Saief (Arabic: كينيث حسن "كيني" سيف, Hebrew: קנת' חסן "קני" סייף; born (1993-12-17)December 17, 1993) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a left midfielder for Azerbaijan Premier League club Neftçi and the United States national team. He played for Israel internationally at both youth and senior levels, before switching allegiance.

Early life

Saief was born in Panama City, Florida, U.S., to Druze-Israeli parents; The family returned to Israel when he was three.[3]

Club career

Saief began his professional career with Bnei Sakhnin in 2011, before he was transferred to Hapoel Haifa one season later. The next year, he moved to Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona and reached the final of the Israel State Cup. Saief made only two appearances however, which resulted in a transfer to Ironi Nir Ramat HaSharon. There he gained more playing opportunities.

Saief attracted the attention of Belgian Pro League team K.A.A. Gent, who signed him for a three-year deal on August 8, 2014.[4] On May 22, 2018, Saief officially signed to Anderlecht.

On March 6, 2019, Saief was loaned to FC Cincinnati of Major League Soccer. On March 24, 2019, Saief scored his first MLS goal against the New England Revolution.[5] On June 11, 2019, Saief's loan was terminated due to injury complications.[6]

On February 12, 2020 he was loaned to Polish Ekstraklasa's Lechia Gdańsk until the end of 2019–20 season.

International career

Saief has represented the Israel national team at various youth levels. He reportedly stated that he expected to play for the United States national team,[7] although he was called up to the Israel national team and made his debut in a friendly 2–1 loss to Croatia.[8]

On June 3, 2017, Saief was called up by the United States as part of their 40-man preliminary roster for the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup.[9] As part of his callup, Saief filed a one-time switch with FIFA, tying him permanently to the US program.[10]

On June 22, 2017, U.S. Soccer confirmed that Saief had been approved by FIFA for a change of association.[11]

He was chosen to make his first start for the United States against Paraguay on March 27, 2018.[12]

Career statistics

As of match played June 1, 2022[13]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup League cup Europe Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Bnei Sakhnin 2010–11 Ligat HaAl 6 0 0 0 0 0 – 6 0
Hapoel Haifa 2012–13 Ligat HaAl 3 0 0 0 1 0 – 4 0
Ironi Kiryat Shmona 2012–13 Ligat HaAl 2 0 0 0 – 0 0 2 0
Ramat HaSharon 2013–14 Ligat HaAl 28 9 3 1 0 0 – 31 10
Gent 2014–15 Pro League 20 2 4 1 – – 24 3
2015–16 28 4 1 0 – 8[a] 0 37 4
2016–17 First Division A 31 7 3 0 – 13[b] 1 47 8
2017–18 3 0 2 0 – 0 0 5 0
Total 82 13 10 1 – 21 1 113 15
Anderlecht (loan) 2017–18 First Division A 17 1 – – – 17 1
Anderlecht 2018–19 12 0 0 0 – 5 0 17 0
2020–21 0 0 0 0 – 0 0 0 0
Total 29 1 0 0 – 5 0 34 1
FC Cincinnati (loan) 2019 Major League Soccer 9 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 0
Lechia Gdańsk (loan) 2019–20 Ekstraklasa 11 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 1
2020–21 22 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 23 0
Total 33 1 1 0 – 0 0 34 1
F.C. Ashdod (loan) 2021–22 Israeli Premier League 30 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 31 4
Career total 202 27 14 2 1 0 26 1 244 27
  1. ^ One appearance in the Belgian Super Cup and seven in the Champions League
  2. ^ Appearance(s) in the Europa League

Honors

Gent

See also

References

  1. ^ "Kenny Saief was born in Panama City Florida" (in Dutch). August 21, 2014. Retrieved August 21, 2014.
  2. ^ "Kenny Saief Football Statistics - WhoScored.com". www.whoscored.com.
  3. ^ "Five Things to Know About U.S. MNT Midfielder Kenny Saief". www.ussoccer.com. May 10, 2016.
  4. ^ "Kenny Saief signs 3-season deal" (in Dutch). Archived from the original on August 9, 2014. Retrieved August 8, 2014.
  5. ^ "Kenny Saief Joins Orange And Blue From RSC Anderlecht". FCCincinnati.com. Retrieved March 6, 2019.
  6. ^ "FC Cincinnati to terminate Kenny Saief loan weeks early". www.theathletic.com. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
  7. ^ "Gent midfielder Saief says it's 'matter of time' before USMNT call-up", SBI Soccer, Ryan Tomlich, December 10, 2015.
  8. ^ "CROATIA VS. ISRAEL 2 – 0". Soccer Way. Retrieved June 25, 2017.
  9. ^ "USA Submits 40-Player Preliminary Roster for 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup =3 June 2017". ussoccer.com.
  10. ^ "FIFA APPROVES CHANGE OF ASSOCIATION REQUEST FOR MIDFIELDER KENNY SAIEF". US Soccer. Retrieved June 25, 2017.
  11. ^ "Kenny Saief seals national team switch from Israel to United States". ESPN FC. June 22, 2017. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  12. ^ "Delgado makes US debut in exhibition vs Paraguay". USA TODAY.
  13. ^ "K. Saief". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
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