David Najem (

Dari Dari (; endonym: ), Dari Persian (, , or , ), or Eastern Persian is the variety of the Persian language spoken in Afghanistan. Dari is the Afghan government's official term for the Persian language;Lazard, G.Darī – The New Persian ...

: داوید نجم; born May 26, 1992) is a professional footballer who plays as a defender for the Afghanistan national team. Najem grew up in Clifton, New Jersey and attended Paramus Catholic High School, where he set school career records for both goals and points.

Career

Early career

Najem was a member of the New York Red Bulls Academy since the age of 14 and played with the U-23 team during his college career. He attended Paramus Catholic High School, where he captained the team for two seasons and set the school record for career goals scored with 54. In 2010, Najem enrolled at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, and played four seasons with the men's soccer team. During his senior year in 2013, he was awarded as the Ivy League Offensive player of the year, tallying five goals and six assists.

Eintracht Bamberg

After graduating from Columbia, Najem went on trial with lower division clubs in Germany and eventually signed with FC Eintracht Bamberg from the

Regionalliga Bayern The Regionalliga Bayern () is the highest association football league in the state of Bavaria () and the Bavarian football league system. It is one of five Regionalligas in German football, the fourth tier of the German football league system, b ...

league in 2014.

New York Red Bulls II

On May 19, 2016, Najem returned to the United States to sign with New York Red Bulls II. Najem will partner up with manager, John Wolyniec who formerly played for the New York Red Bulls and coached him in the academy. Najem made his official debut for the club coming on as a late match substitute in a 1–0 victory against FC Montreal. After starting in every match during the clubs playoff run, on October 23, 2016, Najem helped the club to a 5–1 victory over Swope Park Rangers in the 2016 USL Cup Final.

Tampa Bay Rowdies

Najem signed with the Tampa Bay Rowdies on January 11, 2018.

New Mexico United

In January 2020, Najem joined New Mexico United.

International

He made his debut for Afghanistan national football team on June 7, 2019, in a friendly against

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 ...

, as a starter.

Personal life

David's brother,

Adam Adam is the name given in Genesis 1–5 to the first human. Adam is the first human-being aware of God, and features as such in various belief systems (including Judaism, Christianity, Gnosticism and Islam). According to Christianity, Adam ...

, is also a professional footballer.

Career statistics

Club statistics

International statistics

Honors

Club

New York Red Bulls II * USL Cup:

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Najem, David 1992 births Living people Afghan men's footballers Afghanistan men's international footballers American people of Afghan descent American men's soccer players Men's association football midfielders Columbia Lions men's soccer players Columbia College (New York) alumni FC Eintracht Bamberg players New York Red Bulls II players Sportspeople from Livingston, New Jersey Soccer players from Essex County, New Jersey Soccer players from Clifton, New Jersey Sportspeople of Afghan descent Tampa Bay Rowdies players USL Championship players Paramus Catholic High School alumni New Mexico United players 21st-century American sportsmen