Joseph Abou Mrad (; 18 April 1933 – 28 October 2003) was a Lebanese

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 ...

and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

. He played as a striker for

Racing Beirut Racing Club (), known as Racing Beirut or simply Racing, is a football club based in Achrafieh, a district in Beirut, Lebanon, that competes in the . They play their home matches at the Fouad Chehab Stadium and are primarily supported by the ...

and the Lebanon national team. Abou Mrad was awarded

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 ...

top-scorer with 18 goals during the 1964–65 season. Abou Mrad played for the Lebanon national team, and scored the opening goal at the

Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium (CCSC) () is a multi-purpose stadium with a capacity of 49,500 seats, located in the Bir Hassan area of Beirut, Lebanon. The stadium, equipped with sport of athletics, athletics facilities, is the largest in th ...

in 1957 against Romanian club Energia Ploiești. He was also the captain of the national team in 1966. Abou Mrad was Racing Beirut's

sporting director A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The ...

in 1971. He coached

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 ...

during the 1970s, failing to qualify Lebanon to the

Asian Cup The AFC Asian Cup is the primary association football competition contested by the senior list of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), determining the contin ...

during their first qualifications in

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

Club career

Abou Mrad started his senior career at Intisar Chiyah, before moving to

club

in 1953, with whom he stayed until his retirement in 1966. Abou Mrad helped his side win two league titles, in 1955–56 and 1964–65. In the latter season, Abou Mrad was the season top-goalscorer, with 18 goals. This award was both preceded and succeeded by fellow national

Levon Altonian Levon Aram Altounian (; 15 February 1936 – 6 September 2020) was a Lebanese footballer who played as a right winger or an attacking midfielder. Altounian played his whole club career at Homenetmen, between 1952 and 1973, finishing as top scor ...

. Abou Mrad retired from football in 1966.

International career

Abou Mrad represented

internationally between 1953 and 1966. He played in a friendly against

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

, on 23 January 1955, scoring one goal in a 2–3 defeat. Abou Mrad also played in another friendly against Hungary, on 29 February 1966, which ended in a 1–4 defeat. In 1957 Abou Mrad scored in the

's opening game against Romanian club Energia Ploiești. Abou Mrad captained Lebanon at the

1966 Arab Cup The 1966 Arab Cup was the third edition of the Arab Cup hosted by Baghdad, Iraq. The host nation and defending champions Iraq won the title for the 2nd time. At the tournament's closing ceremony, the chairman of the Arab Cup Organising Committee ...

, where Lebanon came fourth.

Managerial career

On 18 January 1971, Abou Mrad was nominated

by the club's General Assembly. He coached

from 1971 to 1973 and from 1976 to 1979, failing to qualify Lebanon to the

during their first qualifications in

and

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

Career statistics

International

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

Honours

Player

Racing Beirut *

: 1955–56, 1964–65 Lebanon *

Pan Arab Games The Arab Games (), also known as the Pan-Arab Games, are a regional multi-sport event held between nations from the Arab world. They are organized by the Union of Arab National Olympic Committees. The first Games took place in 1953 in Alexandr ...

third place:

1957 Events January * January 1 – The Saarland joins West Germany. * January 3 – Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch. * January 5 – South African player Russell Endean becomes the first batsman to be Dismissal (cricke ...

Arab Cup The FIFA Arab Cup (), or Arab Cup, is an international association football competition organized by FIFA. It is held every four years with the participation of senior men's national teams of the Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA), ...

third place:

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...

Individual * Lebanese Premier League top goalscorer: 1964–65

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Abou Mrad, Joseph 1933 births 2003 deaths Men's association football forwards Lebanese men's footballers Lebanese Premier League players Racing Club Beirut players Lebanon men's international footballers Lebanese football managers Lebanon national football team managers Lebanese Premier League top scorers