Dia Saba (sometimes Sabi'a or Seba, , ; born 18 November 1992) is an Israeli professional

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 plays as an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for

Israeli Premier League The Israeli Premier League (, Ligat HaAl, ) is a professional association football league in Israel and the highest level of the Israeli football league system. The league is contested by 14 clubs, and operates on a system of promotion and rele ...

club

Maccabi Haifa Maccabi Haifa () is one of the biggest sports clubs in Israel and a part of the Maccabi association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Haifa which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, such as Football, Basketball, Weightl ...

Early life

Saba was born in

Majd al-Krum Majd al-Krum ( ''Majd al-Kurūm'', ) is an Arab citizens of Israel, Arab town located in the Galilee in Israel's Northern District (Israel), Northern District about 16 kilometers (10 miles) east of Acre, Israel, Acre. Its inhabitants are primaril ...

, Israel, to a Muslim-Arab family. He is a cousin of former footballer Ahmad Saba'a.

Career

Saba began his career with the youth selections of

Hapoel Haifa Hapoel Haifa Football Club (, ''Moadon HaKaduregel Hapoel Haifa'') is an Israeli professional football club located in the city of Haifa. The club won one championship (1998–99) and 4 Israeli cups (1962–63, 1965–66 and 1973–74, 2 ...

, and later moved to Beitar Nes Tubruk. In summer 2011, Saba joined

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv () is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such as football, basketball, j ...

and played under manager Motti Ivanir. However, he made only two appearances over four months, and in January 2012 was subsequently loaned to

Hapoel Be'er Sheva Hapoel Be'er Sheva Football Club (, ''Moadon HaKaduregel Hapoel Be'er Sheva'') is an Israeli professional association football, football club from the city of Beersheba, Be'er Sheva, that competes in the Israeli Premier League. The club was estab ...

until the end of the season. On 21 January 2012, Saba made his debut for Hapoel Be'er Sheva, and scored twice in a 2–0 victory over Hapoel Haifa, helping the club to stay in the league. He was then again loaned for half the season. In February 2013 he moved to

Bnei Sakhnin Bnei Sakhnin F.C. (, , ) is an Israeli professional football club based at the Doha Stadium in Sakhnin. They are the most successful club among the Arab-Israeli clubs in the country, having won the State Cup in 2004. History Early years Bn ...

, playing ten league matches and failing to score. Before the 2013–14 season, Saba signed with Maccabi Petah Tikva. The following season he signed a two-year contract with

Maccabi Netanya Maccabi Netanya F.C. () is an Israeli professional football club based in Netanya. Established in 1934, the club was a founding member of the Israeli League in 1949. After winning their first championship in 1971, the club's golden period last ...

. He played with Netanya for four years, scoring 51 goals in 114 appearances in all club competitions, including 24 league goals in the 2017–18 season. On 17 September 2018, Saba returned to Be'er Sheva as Hapoel paid Maccabi Netanya a record transfer fee of €2 million. He signed a four-year contract with Be'er Sheva worth €1.6 million. He made his debut at home against Bnei Yehuda, in a goalless game. Saba scored his first goal for Be'er Sheva on 6 October 2018, in a 4–1 win over Maccabi Petah Tikva. In January 2019, he moved to

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Super League (), commonly known as the Chinese Super League or the CSL (), also known as the China Resources Beverage Chinese Football Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Ch ...

side

Guangzhou R&F Guangzhou City Football Club () was a Chinese professional football club which last competed in the Chinese Super League. The team was based in Guangzhou, Guangdong. The club's name between 2011 and 2020 was Guangzhou R&F, which was short for ' ...

, linking up with fellow Israel national team striker

Eran Zahavi Eran Zahavi (also spelled Zehavi, , ; born 25 July 1987) is an Israeli professional association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward. Zahavi was named Israeli Footballer of the Year twice (2013–14 and ...

. In September 2020, Saba joined

Al-Nasr Al-Nassr Football Club () is a professional football club based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The club competes in the Saudi Pro League, the top tier of the Saudi football league system. Al-Nassr is one of only three clubs to have participated ...

, becoming the first Israeli to play in the United Arab Emirates following the

Israel–United Arab Emirates normalization agreement The Israel–United Arab Emirates normalization agreement, officially the Abraham Accords Peace Agreement: Treaty of Peace, Diplomatic Relations and Full Normalization Between the United Arab Emirates and the State of Israel, was initially agr ...

. On 22 August 2022, Saba joined Turkish

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

club

Sivasspor Sivasspor Kulübü, known as Net Global Sivasspor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish sports club based in Sivas. The primary department of the club is men's football. Formed in 1967, its football department has competed in Süper Lig since t ...

. On 30 January 2023, Saba signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

Maccabi Netanya *

Liga Leumit The Israeli Liga Leumit (, HaLiga HaLeumit, ) is the second division of the professional Israeli association football (soccer) league system. This second-tier league is placed directly below the Israeli Premier League. Structure There are 16 ...

: 2016–17 Maccabi Haifa *

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

Israel Super Cup The Israel Super Cup, also known as the Champion of Champions (, Aluf HaAlufim), is an Israeli association football club competition played as a single match between the winner of the latest Israeli top league champions and the winner of the late ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

Individual * Israel Football Players Organization's Player of the Season: 2017–18 *Israeli Premier League top scorer: 2017–18 (24 goals)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saba, Dia Living people 1992 births Arab citizens of Israel Arab-Israeli footballers Israeli Muslims Footballers from Majd al-Krum Israeli men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Israel men's youth international footballers Israel men's under-21 international footballers Israel men's international footballers Beitar Nes Tubruk F.C. players Maccabi Netanya F.C. players Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. players Hapoel Be'er Sheva F.C. players Bnei Sakhnin F.C. players Maccabi Petah Tikva F.C. players Guangzhou City F.C. players Al-Nasr SC (Dubai) players Sivasspor footballers Maccabi Haifa F.C. players Emirates Club players Israeli Premier League players Liga Leumit players Chinese Super League players UAE Pro League players Süper Lig players Israeli expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in China Expatriate men's footballers in the United Arab Emirates Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Israeli expatriate sportspeople in China Israeli expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates Israeli expatriate sportspeople in Turkey 21st-century Israeli sportsmen