Abdisalam Ibrahim
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Abdisalam Abdulkadir Ibrahim (born 1 May 1991) is a
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 last played as a
midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...
for Ullensaker/Kisa in the
OBOS-ligaen The Norwegian First Division, also called 1. divisjon () and OBOS-ligaen (due to sponsoring ties with OBOS), is the second-highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Each year, the top finishing teams in the 1. divisjon are promo ...
. Born in Somalia, he has represented the Norway national team.


Club career


Early career

Born in
Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...
, Ibrahim moved to Norway in 1998. He began his football career as a youth in Norway with Øyer-Tretten before eventually moving to
Lørenskog is a Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Akershus Counties of Norway, county, Norway. A suburb of Oslo, it is part of the Oslo urban area and the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Romerike. The administrative centre of the municipa ...
, where he played for
Fjellhamar Fjellhamar is a village in Lørenskog, Akershus, Norway, and is located about twenty minutes driving from Oslo. The Fjellhamar school is currently the largest primary school in Norway. Famous residents * Jarle Aambø * Tom Hagen Thomas Hagen i ...
. He got his debut for Fjellhamar's senior team in 2006. He transferred to Manchester City effective from 1 July 2007. In the spring of 2008, he was on the winning team in the FA Youth Cup final, as Manchester City beat Chelsea 4–2 on aggregate. Ibrahim played as a
midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...
. At the age of 18, his style of play was compared by some at the club to then teammate
Patrick Vieira Patrick Paul Vieira (; born 23 June 1976) is a French professional association football, football manager and former player who is the head coach of Serie A club Genoa CFC, Genoa. He was named in the FIFA 100 of the greatest living footballers i ...
. Ibrahim made his senior debut starting on 24 January 2010, in the
FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...
game against
Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The club was formed in ...
. He was on the bench in the 3–1 defeat to
Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...
in the League Cup semi-final at Old Trafford, as well as the match against
Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...
at Eastlands on 31 January. On 21 February 2010, he made his Premier League debut as a substitute for Manchester City in a 0–0 draw against
Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
. Ibrahim was rewarded with a new contract on 7 April 2010, which tied him to the club until 2014. Ibrahim made his League Cup debut and first starting appearance at West Brom on Wednesday, 22 September 2010. On 14 January 2011, it was announced that he would join
Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The club was formed in ...
on loan for one month, this loan period subsequently being extended in mid-February to the end of the season. On 31 July 2011, it was announced that he would join Dutch Eredivisie side
NEC is a Japanese multinational information technology and electronics corporation, headquartered at the NEC Supertower in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It provides IT and network solutions, including cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), Inte ...
on a season-long loan deal. Ibrahim featured in two cup matches and had eight Eredivisie spells scoring one goal before the loan deal was terminated on 22 March on mutual consent because Ibrahim had trouble with his role on the bench for most of the season. Ibrahim spent the second half of the 2012 season on loan with
Strømsgodset Strømsgodset is a former municipality in Vestfold county (from 1964 Buskerud county) in Norway which is today a part of the city of Drammen. History Strømsgodset was originally a small rural annex to the city parish of Bragernes (Drammen). ...
, before he again was on six-month loan to Godset in January 2013. In the 2013 season, Ibrahim played 17 matches for Strømsgodset when the team won the
Tippeligaen Eliteserien () is a professional association football league in Norway and the highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Norwegian First Division ...
, which was his first title as a pro. On 22 January 2014, Ibrahim's was released from his contract at
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 ...
, having resided in the United Kingdom for three and a half years.


Greece

On 24 January 2014, Ibrahim announced that he is joining Greek champions club
Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filåthlon Peiraiós (, Olympic Association of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number of different competitive departments which participate in football, ...
for the next 3.5 years. Ibrahim made just one appearance for the Greek champions and he immediately joined Superleague club
Ergotelis Ergotelis Football Club () is a Greek professional Association football, football club based in Heraklion, Crete, which competes in the Heraklion Football Clubs Association, FCA Heraklion A1, the fourth tier of the Greek football league system, ...
on loan until the end of the season On the beginning of 2014–15 season he returned to Olympiacos. After being released on a free transfer from Olympiacos, Ibrahim signed a two-year contract with the Greek club
Veria Veria (; ), officially transliterated Veroia, historically also spelled Beroea or Berea, is a city in Central Macedonia, in the geographic region of Macedonia, northern Greece, capital of the regional unit of Imathia. It is located north-nor ...
on 24 August 2015. Ibrahim debuted on 29 August 2015 in a 2–0 away win against Panthrakikos. He was sent off against his former club, Olympiacos on the 31 October 2015.


Back to Norway

On 13 January 2016, Ibrahim signed a contract with Norwegian
Tippeligaen Eliteserien () is a professional association football league in Norway and the highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Norwegian First Division ...
club
Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9â ...
. His contract lasts for three years, until 31 December 2018. Ibrahim signed with
Vülerenga Vülerenga () is a neighbourhood in the city of Oslo, Norway, belonging to the borough of Gamle Oslo. Vülerenga is located between the neighbourhoods of Gamlebyen, Jordal, Ensjø, Etterstad and Lodalen. Vülerenga is in particular known for i ...
in March 2017, and left the club again at the end of the 2018 season.


Cyprus

He joined Cypriot team
Pafos Paphos, also spelled as Pafos, is a coastal city in southwest Cyprus and the capital of Paphos District. In classical antiquity, two locations were called Paphos: Old Paphos, today known as Kouklia, and New Paphos. It is the fourth-largest cit ...
as a free agent on deadline day, 31 January 2019. On 30 August he was substituted against
AEK Larnaca AEK Larnaca FC (, "Athletic Union Kition (ancient state), Kition of Larnaca") is a Cyprus, Cypriot professional association football, football club based in Larnaca. The club was formed in 1994 after a merger of two historical Larnaca clubs, EP ...
only 36 minutes into Pafos' second
Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division (), also known as the Cyprus League by Stoiximan for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Cyprus and the highest level of the Cypriot football league system. Operated by the Cyprus Fo ...
game of the season, due to an injury. He was later ruled out for six to eight months.


Italy

On 24 March 2021, he joined Italian third-tier
Serie C The Serie C (), officially known as Serie C NOW for sponsorship purposes, is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing ...
club
Bisceglie Bisceglie (; ) is a city and municipality of 55,251 inhabitants in the province of Barletta-Andria-Trani, in the Apulia region (''Italian'': ''Puglia''), in southern Italy. The municipality has the fourth highest population in the province
.


International career

At international level, Ibrahim has represented Norway at every age group from Under 15 to Under 21. He is still eligible for both his native country Somalia as well as his adopted country, but has stated a desire to represent the Norwegian national team if called up. On 15 January 2014, he made his debut with the national team in a 2–1 away friendly win against
Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...
. Having never featured for Norway in a competitive match, Ibrahim remains potentially eligible for Somalia national team.


Personal life

Abdisalam has an older brother, Abdirashid Ibrahim, a semi-professional footballer formerly of
FC United of Manchester Football Club United of Manchester, more commonly known as FC United, is a semi-professional football club based in Moston, Manchester, England, that competes in the , the seventh tier of the English football league system, and plays home m ...
and Rossendale United. He also has a little brother, Abdijabar Ibrahim, who attends ESSA Academy. Ibrahim was an Arsenal fan when growing up and Patrick Vieira was his hero and more recently Yaya Toure. His nickname is Abdi. Within a few weeks in the late spring of 2013, his younger sister died and Ibrahim became a father for the first time.


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ibrahim, Abdisalam 1991 births Living people People from Burao Footballers from Lørenskog Norwegian men's footballers 21st-century Norwegian sportsmen Somalian men's footballers Norway men's youth international footballers Norway men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football midfielders Manchester City F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players NEC Nijmegen players Strømsgodset Toppfotball players Olympiacos F.C. players Ergotelis F.C. players Veria F.C. players AS Bisceglie Calcio 1913 players Premier League players English Football League players Eredivisie players Eliteserien players Norwegian Second Division players Norwegian people of Somali descent Somalian emigrants to Norway Norwegian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Somalian expatriate men's footballers Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Norway men's international footballers