Walid Atta

Walid Atta
	Walid Atta playing for AIK
Personal information
Date of birth	28 August 1986 (age 38)
Place of birth	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 1+1⁄2 in)
Position(s)	Centre back
Team information
Current team	Östersunds FK
Youth career
	IF Stendy
	Rannebergens IF
	Gunnilse
Senior career*
Years	Team
2004–2006	Gunnilse
2006–2007	Väsby United
2008–2010	AIK
2008	→ Väsby United (loan)
2010–2011	Lokomotiva
2011–2012	Dinamo Zagreb
2012–2014	Helsingborgs IF
2014–2015	BK Häcken
2015	Gençlerbirliği
2016–	Östersunds FK
International career‡
2008–2009	Sweden U21
2014–	Ethiopia
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 28 April 2016; ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 14 July 2011

Walid Atta ([وليد عطا, Walīd ‘Aṭā] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help)) (Amharic: ዋሊድ አታ) (born 28 August 1986) is an Ethiopian footballer who plays for Östersunds FK as a centre-back.

Career

AIK

In January 2008, Atta joined Swedish top-division side AIK, but was immediately loaned back to Väsby.^[1] He made his first appearance for his new club on 10 April 2008 against GIF Sundsvall at Råsunda Stadium, playing the full game in defence.^[2] In the summer of 2010, Atta's situation at AIK came in doubt when he turned down a contract extension with the club. Together with his agent, he cut off the negotiations with AIK, and stated that he wanted to await bids from clubs outside of Sweden. This angered the AIK supporters, and in the 2–1 win against IF Brommapojkarna, parts of the crowd openly showed their disappointment. Some organized supporters demanded Atta to be disbanded from playing in AIK until he signed a new deal with the club. The club board followed the demands and stopped Atta from participate in AIK's Europa League qualification game against PFC Levski Sofia.^[3] In 2010, Atta was sold to Croatian First Division side NK Lokomotiva.

Dinamo Zagreb

After one season in Lokomotiva, he signed a 5-year contract with Croatian giants Dinamo Zagreb. However, his time at Dinamo was not prosperous, making no appearances apart from a friendly against GOŠK Gabela. In January 2012, the contract was terminated by mutual consent and Atta became a free agent.

Helsingborgs IF

Soon after becoming a free agent, Atta was signed by Allsvenskan side Helsingborgs IF. He has since become a regular in the starting eleven.

BK Häcken

On March 6, 2014 Atta signed with BK Häcken prior to start of the 2014 Allsvenskan campaign.

International

In 2008, Atta also became a member of the Swedish U-21 team, making his debut in a friendly against Ukraine on 5 February 2008, in Alcanena, Portugal.^[4] He played a total of 3 matches for the Swedish U-21 team. In October 2013 he decided to represent Ethiopia at senior level. Atta was supposed to make his debut against Nigeria in the African play-offs for the World Cup in Brazil, but the needed papers did not arrive in time. He finally made his debut in a qualifiers match for the 2015 CAF against Mali in Addis Ababa. Ethiopia lost that match in Addis Ababa but won the second leg in Mali. Walid played in both these matches.^[5]

Honours

AIK

Helsingborgs IF

Svenska Supercupen: 2012

References

External links

Walid Atta at aikfotboll.se Template:Sv icon
Walid Atta at Playerhistory.com

[1] Saihou Jagne och Walid Atta klara för AIK Template:Sv icon

[2] Efterlängtat mål innebar ännu mer efterlängtad vinst Template:Sv icon

[3] Hallå där, Mats Gustavsson... Template:Sv icon

[4] U21 herr: Ola Toivonen segerskytt mot Ukraina Template:Sv icon

[5] Inget VM-playoff för Atta Template:Sv icon

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