Abbas Ahmad Hassan (; born 10 May 1985) is a former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

. Born in Lebanon, Hassan moved to Sweden at a young age. Coming through the youth sector, Hassan made his professional debut at

IF Elfsborg Idrottsföreningen Elfsborg, more commonly known as IF Elfsborg or simply Elfsborg (), is a professional association football, football club based in Borås, Sweden, and is affiliated to the Västergötlands Fotbollförbund. They play in the Alls ...

in 2005. After a loan at

Aalborg BK Aalborg Boldspilklub is a Danish sports club based in the city of Aalborg. The club is also known as AaB for short (cf. logo) or Aalborg BK. Through time the club has had branches in cricket, tennis, ice hockey, handball, and basketball, but curr ...

in 2009–10, Hassan joined

IFK Norrköping Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Norrköping, more commonly known as IFK Norrköping or simply Norrköping, is a Swedish professional association football, football club based in Norrköping. The club is affiliated to Östergötlands Fotbollför ...

, with whom he stayed from 2011 to 2013. That year he returned to IF Elfsborg, playing three years, before moving to

Örgryte IS Örgryte Idrottssällskap, commonly referred to as Örgryte IS, Örgryte () or (especially locally) ÖIS or Öis, is a Swedish sports club based in Gothenburg. It consists of four departments, namely bowling, football, athletics and wrestling. ...

in 2016. In 2017 Hassan moved for the first—and only—time away from Europe, playing in his country of origin, Lebanon. He played for

Nejmeh Nejmeh Sporting Club () is a football club based in Manara, a neighbourhood in Ras Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon, that competes in the . The club was established in Beirut in 1945, and received its license in 1947. Nejmeh have won nine Lebanese Pre ...

between 2017 and 2020, when he retired. Despite representing Sweden at youth level between 2003 and 2006, Hassan played 25 games for

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

at senior level between 2012 and 2018.

Club career

Starting his career in Arvidstorps IK, Hassan moved north in 2002 to

Borås Borås ( , , ) is a city (officially, a locality) and the seat of Borås Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 114,556 inhabitants in 2024. It is widely known for being a textile city, home to worldwide brands and companie ...

and

. He had to wait until 2005 before making his debut for the club. When first choice goalkeeper

Johan Wiland Johan Kristoffer Sellberg-Wiland (born 24 January 1981) is a Swedish former professional association football, footballer who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. Starting off his career in Sweden with IF Elfsborg in the ea ...

got injured, he played well enough to place

Håkan Svensson Alf Tommy Håkan Svensson (born 20 January 1970) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is best remembered for representing Halmstads BK between 1990 and 2002, with which he won two Allsvenskan titles as well ...

, who had been brought in as a short-time replacement for the injured Wiland, on the bench. During the pre-season 2006 he became injured and Wiland reclaimed his place as first choice. In early 2008 Hassan was on trial with the English club

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

. Before the start of the 2009 season it was believed that he would replace Wiland who had left for

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

, however the arrival of Australian goalkeeper

Ante Čović Ante Covic (born 13 June 1975) is an Australian football manager and former soccer goalkeeper, and is the current manager of Bankstown City (Women) in NSW League One. Covic was a member of the Australian national team at the 2006 FIFA World C ...

and Swedish Joakim Wulff saw Hassan becoming third choice and he started to openly state that he wanted to leave the club. On 9 July, it was confirmed that Hassan would leave IF Elfsborg and move to the Danish side

, signing a one-year loan contract. On 29 June (formally on 8 July), he joined the Swedish

Superettan Superettan (; ) is an association football league and the second highest league in the Swedish football league system, league system of Swedish football, Swedish men's football. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and rel ...

club

on a short term contract to replace the injured goalkeeper David Nilsson. On Friday 27 August, he made his debut in

for

against

Ljungskile SK Ljungskile SK is a Swedish football club located in Ljungskile, a town within Uddevalla Municipality. They currently play in the Swedish third tier, Division 1. History Ljungskile SK, formed in 1926, is famous for their promotions between 199 ...

when he replaced goalkeeper Niklas Westberg who had received a one match suspension for his three yellow cards. The match ended 2–1 to

. In December 2010 he signed a 3-year contract with

after the club got promoted to

Allsvenskan Allsvenskan (; ), also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan (, ) is a professional association football league in Sweden and the highest level of the Swedish football league system. Founded in 1924, it operates on a system of promotion and relegatio ...

and formally left

. On 6 February 2013, Abbas returned to 2012 Swedish champions

, after breaking his contract with

. Replacing Andreas Andersson who left as a Bosman from Elfsborg to

International career

Hassan has played his first game with the

Lebanese national team The Lebanon national football team, controlled by the Lebanese Football Association (LFA), have represented Lebanon in association football since their inception in 1933. The squad is governed by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) contin ...

against

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

on 22 January 2012. Abbas' star moment for Lebanon was the game against Iran, where he was man of the match, and helped his team to win, 1–0. Selected and promoted by German goalkeeper coach Christian Schweichler and coach

Theo Bücker Johannes Theodor "Theo" Bücker (born 10 July 1948) is a German football manager and a former player, who is the current coach of the under-15 team of Lebanese club Athletico SC. Coaching career Return to Lebanon On 8 August 2011, Bücker w ...

, he was in inspired form throughout the 90 minutes, produced a string of fine acrobatic saves in the closing stages as Iran threw everything forward, which forced Iran coach

Carlos Queiroz Carlos Manuel Brito Leal de Queiroz (; born 1 March 1953) is a Portuguese football manager. He has served as the manager of his native Portugal's national team, the United Arab Emirates, South Africa, Iran, Colombia, Egypt and Qatar, leading ...

to quote "I think a national hero was born today. For me the score was Abbas Hassan 1 Iran 0." Later, his skills also helped the team during the match against

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

, until Kim Chi-Woo equalized in 97'.

Honours

IF Elfsborg *

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

Svenska Cupen Svenska cupen (, ), also known as the Swedish Cup in English, is a knockout cup competition in Swedish football and the main Swedish football cup. ''Svenska cupen'' usually refers to the men's tournament, although a women's tournament is also ...

: 2013–14 *

Svenska Supercupen Svenska Supercupen, ''Swedish Super Cup'', was a one-off fixture in Swedish football played between the Allsvenskan champions and the winners of Svenska Cupen. The fixture was played in November, after the Allsvenskan season. In the event of a ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

Nejmeh *

Lebanese Elite Cup The Lebanese Elite Cup () was a Lebanese football annual cup competition contested by the top six teams of the previous Lebanese Premier League season. Founded in 1996 as the Super League Cup, the first edition was played by the top five finisher ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Individual *

IFFHS The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for so ...

All-time Lebanon Men's Dream Team

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hassan, Abbas 1985 births Living people People from Marjeyoun District Sportspeople from Nabatieh Governorate Lebanese men's footballers Swedish men's footballers Lebanese emigrants to Sweden Sportspeople of Lebanese descent Naturalized citizens of Sweden Men's association football goalkeepers IF Elfsborg players AaB Fodbold players IFK Norrköping players Örgryte IS players Nejmeh SC players Allsvenskan players Superettan players Lebanese Premier League players Sweden men's youth international footballers Sweden men's under-21 international footballers Lebanon men's international footballers Lebanese expatriate men's footballers Swedish expatriate men's footballers Lebanese expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark 21st-century Swedish sportsmen

Club career

International career

Honours

See also

References

External links