Abdullah Mohammad Ali Abu Zema (; born 4 April 1976) is a Jordanian professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach and former player.

Playing career

Abu Zema officially announced his retirement in playing football on 25 January 2005, at the age of 29, after sustaining an injury. An international friendly match was played between his country

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

and

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

on 1 August 2005 in

Amman Amman ( , ; , ) is the capital and the largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of four million as of 2021, Amman is Jordan's primate city and is the largest city in the Levant ...

, sponsored by Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein. After playing the first five minutes of the match, Abu Zema gave the captain armband to his teammate Haitham Al-Shboul as well as his 18 jersey shirt to his younger teammate

Hassan Abdel-Fattah Hassan Abdel-Fattah Mahmoud Al-Mahsiri () is a Jordanian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. International goals :''Scores and results list Jordan's goal tally first.'' Participation in International Tourname ...

and left the field.

Managerial career

Assistant coach

After retiring from playing football, Abu Zema became one of the assistant coaches of his national team (2006–09), under head coaches

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(2006–07), and

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(2007–09) until the Iraqi Adnan Hamad took over coaching the national team. When

Dragan Talajić Dragan Talajić (born 25 August 1965) is a Croatian former footballer who is the head coach of Bahrain national football team. Talajić played as a goalkeeper and is a football manager who has managed many clubs in the Middle East, Thailand and ...

became head manager of Shabab Al-Ordon (2009–10), Abu Zema became his assistant coach ever since then. They both then moved to Abu Zema's home club Al-Wehdat (2010–11). When Ra'fat Ali, one of Abu Zema's companions, took proficiency in

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

, Abu Zema and Talajić joined him by coaching his team (2011–12).

Head coach

Abu Zema was appointed for the first time as head coach in February 2013, when he joined Jordanian club Al-Wehdat, where he succeeded Egyptian manager Mohammad Omar. On 11 January 2022, Abu Zema was announced had coach of Ansar. He left at the end of the 2021–22 season.

Career statistics

International

Managerial

Honours

Player

Al-Wehdat *

Jordan League The Jordanian Pro League () is a Jordanian professional league for men's football clubs and represents the top flight of Jordanian football. The championship consists of twelve competing teams in a home and away league system. The league was not ...

: 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–07,

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

, 2004–05 *

Jordan FA Cup The Jordan FA Cup (), also known as the Jordan Cup – CFI () for sponsorship reasons, is Jordan's premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout tournament in men's football (soccer), Al-Faisaly FC (Amman), Al-Faisaly have the record for the mos ...

: 1996, 1997, 2000 *

Jordan Super Cup The Jordan Super Cup () is a Jordanian football championship contested by the winners of Jordan Premier League and the Jordan FA Cup. In the event that a team wins both League and the Cup, the runners up of the Cup play against the winner of Lea ...

: 1997, 1998, 2000, 2005 * Jordan Shield Cup: 1995, 2002, 2004 Al-Wakrah *

Qatar Stars League The Qatar Stars League (; abbreviated as QSL), known as Ooredoo Stars League for sponsorship reasons, is the top level football league in Qatar football league system. Contested by 12 teams, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation wi ...

: 2000–01 Jordan *

Pan Arab Games The Arab Games (), also known as the Pan-Arab Games, are a regional multi-sport event held between nations from the Arab world. They are organized by the Union of Arab National Olympic Committees. The first Games took place in 1953 in Alexandr ...

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

Manager

Al-Wehdat * Jordanian Pro League: 2013–14, 2014–15,

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

* Jordan FA Cup: 2013–14 * Jordan Super Cup: 2014, 2021 * Jordan Shield Cup: 2020 Kuwait SC *

Kuwait Super Cup The Kuwait Super Cup () is football competition in Kuwait organised by the Kuwait Football Association (KFA) since 2008. Until the 2022–23 season, the competition served as the opening match of the season and was played between the champions of ...

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 ...

Ansar *

Lebanese FA Cup The Lebanon Cup (), commonly known as the Lebanese FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in domestic Lebanese football. In the first FA Cup final, held on 26 June 1938, Nahda beat Hilmi-Sport 3–2 in the replay (after drawing 1� ...

runner-up: 2021–22

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Abu Zema, Abdullah 1976 births Living people Jordanian people of Palestinian descent Jordanian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Al-Wehdat SC players Al-Wakrah SC players Jordanian Pro League players Qatar Stars League players Jordan men's international footballers 2004 AFC Asian Cup players Jordanian football managers Al-Wehdat SC managers Jordan national football team managers Kuwait SC managers Al Ansar FC managers Jordanian Pro League managers Kuwait Premier League managers Lebanese Premier League managers Jordanian expatriate men's footballers Jordanian expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Expatriate men's footballers in Qatar Jordanian expatriate football managers Jordanian expatriate sportspeople in Kuwait Expatriate football managers in Kuwait Expatriate football managers in Lebanon