Amer Shafi Mahmoud Sabbah (; born 14 February 1982) is a Jordanian former

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 ...

Club career

Shafi began his career 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 ...

and later on became a

. After playing many years for Al-Yarmouk, he joined Al-Wehdat. After his performances in the

2004 AFC Asian Cup The 2004 AFC Asian Cup was the 13th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international association football, football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was held from 17 July to 7 August 2004 in China. ...

, he had offers to play in Europe, but he was not able to leave Jordan due to family conditions and his international career.

International career

Shafi played his first international match with the Jordan national team against

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

on 17 August 2002, which ended in a 1–1 draw. Shafi is and has always been nicknamed the "Whale of Asia" due to his outstanding and incredible acrobatic saves and performances. He scored his first international goal for Jordan in a friendly against

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

on 17 November 2018, letting fly with a long kick that bounced just outside the India penalty area, catching his opposite number Gurpreet Singh Sandhu by surprise. The game ended 2–1 in Jordan's favour. He later played in the

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

and

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) ...

tournaments. On 1 February 2021, he played his last international match in a 2–0 win over

Tajikistan Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Dushanbe is the capital city, capital and most populous city. Tajikistan borders Afghanistan to the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border, south, Uzbekistan to ...

in a friendly match.

Retirement and aftermath

On 8 February 2021, he announced his retirement from football. In March 2021, he joined the coaching staff of the national team.

Career statistics

International

Source:

International goals

:''Scores and results list Jordan's goal tally first.''

Honours

Al-Wehdat * Jordan Premier League: 2007–08, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2017–18 * Jordan FA Cup: 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2013–14 * Jordan FA Shield:

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

* Jordan Super Cup:

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

Al-Faisaly * Jordan FA Cup: 2004–05

References

External links

*
Amer Shafi
at the

Jordan Football Association The Jordan Football Association (JFA; ) is the governing body for football in Jordan. Board members *President: Prince Ali Bin Hussein Current partners * Financial trading partner: CFI Financial Group * Official bank: Arab Bank * Official ...

(availabl
in Arabic
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shafi, Amer 1982 births Living people Jordanian people of Palestinian descent Jordanian men's footballers Jordan men's international footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Jordanian Muslims Al-Wehdat SC players Shabab Al-Ordon SC players Jordanian expatriate men's footballers 2004 AFC Asian Cup players 2011 AFC Asian Cup players 2015 AFC Asian Cup players Expatriate men's footballers in Egypt Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia Jordanian expatriate sportspeople in Egypt Jordanian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Al-Faisaly SC players Ismaily SC players Al-Fayha FC players Saudi Pro League players FIFA Men's Century Club Footballers from Amman Egyptian Premier League players 2019 AFC Asian Cup players 21st-century Jordanian sportsmen