Haitham Ali Mohamad Al Haj Ali Zein (; born 6 January 1979), or simply Haitham Zein, is a Lebanese 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 forward. He played for numerous

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 ...

clubs, mainly at Tadamon Sour, and represented

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 ...

internationally.

Early life

Zein was born in Iraq to parents from Borj Ech Chemali, Lebanon; he began playing football aged 11 in the streets of the

Al-Anbar Governorate Al Anbar Governorate (; ''muḥāfaẓat al-’Anbār''), or Anbar Province, is the largest governorate in Iraq by area. Encompassing much of the country's western territory, it shares borders with Syria, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. The population ...

. He then moved to Lebanon with his family due to the

Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

Club career

Tadamon Sour

Zein signed for Tadamon Sour's youth team in 1994. He made his senior debut in 1995, coming on as an 80th-minute substitute against Bourj at the

Saida Municipal Stadium The Saida Municipal Stadium (), also known as the Martyr Rafic Hariri Stadium (), is a 22,600 capacity multi-purpose stadium in Sidon, Lebanon. The stadium was built in 1999 on the expanded grounds of the old stadium, as one of the venues to h ...

; trailing 2–1, Zein scored a goal and assisted two, helping his side overturn the result to 4–2. He played with Tadamon until 2005, scoring 94 league goals.

Nejmeh

On 9 November 2005, Zein moved to Nejmeh, spending half a season. He described his short experience at Nejmeh as negative.

Bahrain SC

He moved abroad to Bahrain SC in 2006.

Return to Lebanon

He returned to Lebanon in 2008, signing for Chabab Ghazieh, before moving to Islah Borj Shmali the following season. Zein was among the league's top scorers in the 2010–11 Lebanese Premier League, scoring eight goals. In October 2011, he signed for Salam Sour, making 15 appearances for the side and scoring three goals. He retired that season. Zein scored 113 goals in the

– 138 considering his goals scored in the cancelled 2000–01 season.

International career

In 2002, Zein played for the Lebanon Olympic team at the

2002 Asian Games The 2002 Asian Games, officially known as the XIV Asian Games and also known as Busan 2002 (), were an international multi-sport event held in Busan, South Korea from September 29 to October 14, 2002. Due to schedule impediments the football tour ...

, scoring a goal in an 11–0 win against

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. He played for the senior team between 1998 and 2004. He played 50 international matches, scoring 16 goals.

Managerial career

Between 2016 and 2017, Zein was part of the technical staff of his former club Islah Borj Shmali.

Personal life

Zein's nephew,

Mahdi Zein Mahdi Wissam Zein (; born 23 May 2000) is a Lebanese footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Nejmeh. Club career On 29 April 2019, Nejmeh renewed the contract of Zein for five years, renewable for two additional seasons. On 2 April 20 ...

, also plays football.

Honours

Tadamon Sour *

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� ...

: 2000–01 Individual * Lebanese Premier League top scorer: 1998–99, 2000–01 * Lebanese Premier League Team of the Season: 1998–99

References

External links

*
Haitham Zein
at

RSSSF The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (''RSSSF'') is an international organisation dedicated to collecting statistics about association football. The foundation aims to build an exhaustive archive of football-related information from around ...

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zein, Haitham 1979 births Living people People from Fallujah Lebanese men's footballers 21st-century Lebanese sportsmen Men's association football forwards Tadamon SC Sour players Nejmeh SC players Bahrain SC players Chabab SC Ghazieh players Islah Borj Al Shmali Club players Salam Sour SC players Lebanese Premier League players Bahraini Premier League players Lebanon men's youth international footballers Lebanon men's international footballers Asian Games footballers for Lebanon Footballers at the 1998 Asian Games Footballers at the 2002 Asian Games 2000 AFC Asian Cup players Lebanese expatriate men's footballers Lebanese expatriate sportspeople in Bahrain Expatriate men's footballers in Bahrain Lebanese Premier League top scorers International sportspeople born abroad