Adnan Mahmoud Haidar (, ; born 3 August 1989) is a 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 ...

player and coach. 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 ...

, he is a player-assistant coach for Norwegian club . Born and raised in Norway, Haidar represented them at youth level internationally before switching allegiance 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. He represented Lebanon at the

2019 AFC Asian Cup The 2019 AFC Asian Cup (or commonly called the Asian Cup 2019) was the 17th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, the quadrennial international association football, football championship of Asia organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) ...

Early life

Haidar was born in

Drammen Drammen () is a city and municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. The port and river city of Drammen is centrally located in the south-eastern and most populated part of Norway. Drammen municipality also includes smaller towns and villages such ...

, Norway and grew up in the capital

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

, where he lived in the neighborhood.

Club career

Vålerenga

2008 season

Haidar played for 's youth sector until he joined

Vålerenga Vålerenga () is a neighbourhood in the city of Oslo, Norway, belonging to the borough of Gamle Oslo. Vålerenga is located between the neighbourhoods of Gamlebyen, Jordal, Ensjø, Etterstad and Lodalen. Vålerenga is in particular known for i ...

's youth department in 2001. He signed a professional contract with the club in 2008, making his debut against

Lyn Lyn or LYN may refer to: People * Lyn (singer), South Korean singer * Lyn (gamer), South Korean ''Warcraft III'' player * Lyn (given name) * Lyn (surname) In science and technology * Lynx (constellation), standard abbreviation * Lyn (locomotive ...

on 15 September as a substitute. In total, Haidar made three appearances for Vålerenga in all competitions in the 2008 season, also winning the

Norwegian Cup The Norwegian Football Cup () is the main knockout cup competition in Norwegian football. It is run by the Football Association of Norway and has been contested since 1902, making it the oldest football tournament in the country. The tournament ...

in his first season as a professional.

2009: Loan to Skeid

In 2009, he was loaned out to Skeid for the entire season, where he made 11 appearances in the First Division.

2010 season

He returned to Vålerenga for the 2010 season and scored his first and second ever senior goals for Vålerenga in his first game since returning from loan against Oppsal in the

of 2010. He then played his first

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 ...

game of the season against

Start Start can refer to multiple topics: * Takeoff, the phase of flight where an aircraft transitions from moving along the ground to flying through the air * Starting lineup in sports * Track and field#Starts use in race, Starts use in sport race * S ...

in an 8–1 win. He finished the season with six appearances and scoring two goals in all competitions.

2011 season

In the 2011 season, he played ten games in the Tippeligaen, one game in the Norwegian Cup and one game in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

before getting injured late into the season. It was later confirmed that Haidar had been ruled out for the rest of the season. At the end of the season he was released by Vålerenga and became free agent, but before being released he was offered a new contract at Vålerenga but chose to reject the offer because he wanted more first team football. In total he made 21 appearances and scored two goals over three seasons for Vålerenga. He later went to

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

on trial, but returned without a contract. He rejected a new trial proposal at Burnley two weeks later.

Stabæk

In January 2012, Haidar signed for Stabæk as a free agent, and was given the shirt number 10. He made his debut for Stabæk on the first day of the new season, on 25 March 2012 in a 0–0 draw against Aalesund. Haidar stayed with Stabæk after the team was relegated to the First Division, and was a part of the team that won promotion to the Tippeligaen after only one season at the second tier. After the promotion was secured, Haidar was released from his contract and free to find himself a new club.

Return to Norway

In summer 2021, Haidar joined Holmlia in the 4. divisjon. On 22 February 2022, he joined as a player-assistant coach.

International career

Norway

Haidar has represented Norway at youth international level: he played nine matches for the under-16s in 2005 and as seven matches for the under-19 in 2008.

Lebanon

In October 2012, Haidar was called up to represent

, and made his debut for Lebanon in the friendly match against

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

on 16 October. Haidar scored his first goal for Lebanon in the

2012 WAFF Championship The 2012 WAFF Championship was the 7th WAFF Championship, an international tournament for member nations of the West Asian Football Federation. It was hosted by Kuwait from 8 to 20 December 2012. The defending champions were Kuwait. However, the ...

match against

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

on 8 December 2012 when his team won 1–0. In December 2018, Haidar was called up for the

squad; he played against

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

in a 4–1 win, coming on as a 77th-minute substitute.

Style of play

An all-round

, Haidar is not only a physical presence on the pitch but also has good ball control.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Lebanon's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Haidar goal.''

Honours

Vålerenga *

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

runner-up:

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

Ansar *

Lebanese Premier League The Lebanese First Division (), commonly known as the Lebanese Premier League (), is the top division of the Lebanese football league system. Established in 1934 and organized by the Lebanese Football Association (LFA), the Lebanese Premier Leagu ...

runner-up: 2018–19 *

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: 2018–19 *

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 ...

runner-up:

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Lebanese Super Cup The Lebanese Super Cup () is Lebanese football's annual match contested between the champions of the previous Lebanese Premier League season and the holders of the Lebanese FA Cup. If the Lebanese Premier League champions also won the Lebanese FA ...

runner-up: 2017,

Individual * Lebanese Premier League Team of the Season: 2018–19

References

External links

Profile
at the

Norwegian Football Federation The Norwegian Football Federation (, ; NFF) is the governing body of football (soccer), football in Norway. It was formed in 1902 and organises the Norway national football team, men's and Norway women's national football team, women's national te ...

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Haidar, Adnan 1989 births Living people Norwegian people of Lebanese descent Sportspeople of Lebanese descent Footballers from Drammen Lebanese men's footballers Lebanese men's futsal players Norwegian men's footballers Norwegian men's futsal players Men's association football midfielders Vålerenga Fotball players Skeid Fotball players Stabæk Fotball players Bryne FK players Hamarkameratene players Moss FK players KFUM-Kameratene Oslo players Al Ansar FC players Holmlia SK players Eliteserien players Norwegian First Division players Norwegian Second Division players Norwegian Third Division players Norwegian Fourth Division players Lebanese Premier League players Norway men's youth international footballers Lebanon men's international footballers 2019 AFC Asian Cup players Association football coaches International sportspeople born abroad 21st-century Norwegian sportsmen