Kamel Zaiem (born 25 May 1983) is a Tunisian

football manager ''Football Manager'', also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008, is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game beg ...

and former player who played 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 ...

Club career

Zaiem started his career by playing with his home town club AS Ariana where he became professional in 2001. After two seasons playing with Ariana in the Tunisian second league, in 2003 he signed with one of the most popular Tunisian clubs, the

Espérance Sportive de Tunis Espérance Sportive de Tunis (), known as ES Tunis or simply EST for short, is a Tunisian professional sports club founded on 15 January 1919 in the Bab Souika neighborhood of Tunis. Its football (soccer), football section has competed in th ...

. Brough as a prospective young player Zaiem will play with Espérance five seasons and becoming an important club player. Until 2008, he won with Espérance two national championships and three cups. By 2008 he had become a national team player, and after five seasons and a number of titles won with Espérance he decided to move abroad, signing with Serbian club

FK Partizan Fudbalski klub Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Партизан, ; ), often referred to in English as Partizan Belgrade, is a Serbian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Belgrade. It forms ...

. However tough competition in the midfield made Zaiem lack much chances to play, and he ended up leaving in the winter break after playing six matches in the

Serbian SuperLiga The Serbian Super League (), also known as Mozzart SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Serbia and the highest level of the Serbian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a sys ...

in six months, but not without collecting the "double" won by the club that season. In early 2009 he decided to move to Arab football, joining

Al-Khor Sports Club Al-Khor Sports Club () is a Qatari professional sports club based in the city of Al Khor. Al-Khor SC is best known for its football team, which competes in the Qatar Stars League from the 2024-25 season again after a short absence of 2 years in ...

playing in the

Qatar Stars League The Qatar Stars League (; abbreviated as QSL), known as Ooredoo Stars League for sponsorship reasons, is the top level football league in Qatar football league system. Contested by 12 teams, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation wi ...

, but in next summer Zaiem will return to Tunisia and wear the shirt number 10 with

Club Sportif Sfaxien Club Sportif Sfaxien (), known as CS Sfaxien or simply CSS for short, is a Tunisian football club based in Sfax. The club was founded in 1928 and its colours are black and white (Bianconero). Their home stadium, Taieb Mhiri Stadium, has a capac ...

. During his two-year spell with Sfaxien, he played the

2010 CAF Confederation Cup The 2010 CAF Confederation Cup was the 7th edition of the CAF Confederation Cup, Africa's secondary club football competition organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). The winners played in the 2011 CAF Super Cup. Schedule Qual ...

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

where they lost against

FUS Rabat Fath Union Sport (), commonly known as FUS Rabat, is a Moroccan professional football club based in Rabat and currently playing in the first division. The club was founded on 10 April 1946. 'Fath Union Sport' is the name of the sports club whi ...

, a 3–2 in aggregate. After the first match having finished with a 0–0 tie, in the second match while the match was tie 1–1 in the start of the second half Zaiem gave the lead to Sfaxien by scoring a penalty in the 49 minute however the Moroccan club scored two more goals in the second half making the final score of 2–3. In summer 2011 Zaiem signed with Egyptian top league club ENPPI. In the summer 2012 Zaiem signed with Tunisian league club

CA Bizertin Club Athlétique Bizertin (), known as CA Bizertin or simply CAB for short, is a Tunisian professional football club based in Bizerte. The club was founded 1928 and its colours are yellow and black. Their home stadium, 15 October Stadium, has a ...

on a two-year contract. He retired in winter 2015.

International career

Zaiem played his first match for the Tunisian national team in 2006. Within the two last seasons with Espérance he had started receiving regularly calls, and he was selected for the Tunisian team at the

2008 Africa Cup of Nations The 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the MTN Africa Cup of Nations due to the competition's sponsorship by MTN, was the 26th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial football tournament for nations affiliated with the Confede ...

. By 2013 he has played 14 matches for Tunisia, having scored twice.

Managerial career

On 22 September 2020, Zaiem was appointed as head coach of Saudi Arabian club Al-Kawkab. On 8 December 2020, Zaiem was sacked after 9 rounds.

Honours

Espérance *

Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 The Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1, formerly known as the Tunisian National Championship between 1956 and 1994, is the highest-level association football, football tournament in Tunisia and is organized by the Tunisian Football Federation and t ...

: 2003–04, 2005–06 *

Tunisian Cup The Tunisian Cup (), formerly known as Tunisian President Cup (1956–2011), is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout football competition in Football in Tunisia, Tunisian football, organized annually by the Tunisian Football Federati ...

: 2006, 2007, 2008 Partizan *

: 2008–09 *

Serbian Cup The Serbian Cup ( Serbian: Куп Србије / Kup Srbije), also known as Mozzart Serbian Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the national football cup of Serbia. The winner of the competition gets a spot in the UEFA Europa League qualifying round. ...

: 2008–09 Sfaxien *

CAF Confederation Cup The CAF Confederation Cup, known as the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup for sponsorship purposes, is an annual association football football team, club competition established in 2004 and organized by Confederation of African Football, CAF ...

runner-up:

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 ...

Bizertin *

: 2013

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zaiem, Kamel 1983 births Living people Tunisian men's footballers 21st-century Tunisian sportsmen Tunisia men's international footballers 2008 Africa Cup of Nations players Men's association football midfielders AS d'Ariana players Espérance Sportive de Tunis players CS Sfaxien players FK Partizan players Serbian SuperLiga players Expatriate men's footballers in Serbia Al-Khor SC players Qatar Stars League players Expatriate men's footballers in Qatar ENPPI SC players Egyptian Premier League players Expatriate men's footballers in Egypt CA Bizertin players Tunisian football managers US Ben Guerdane managers